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IMAC鈥檚 role in the Pacific focuses on vaccination training and support for the Comirnaty (Pfizer) vaccine. However, closed borders during the height of the pandemic forced much of the training to go fully remote. Local conditions also presented challenges.

鈥淭he internet connections on some of the islands did not permit everyone to use Zoom or in some cases to access the online learning platform at all,鈥� says Moelagi Leilani Jackson, IMAC鈥檚 Pacific Islands programme manager. 鈥淲e used a train-the-trainer approach where countries would select their leads, we鈥檇 train them, and they鈥檇 train the nurses who didn鈥檛 have access to the internet.鈥�

IMAC shipped over equipment in advance to ensure learners had access to the items being demonstrated. It also provided printable materials.

Working out how to keep vaccines cold was another challenge. For long-term storage, the Comirnaty vaccine must be kept at the ultra-cold temperature of -70 Celsius.

Initially, vaccines bound for Tokelau 鈥� the most isolated of the seven countries 鈥� were transported on a chartered naval ship, in a -20-degree freezer. Subsequently, a process to transport vaccines by flight and chartered boat was found to be possible with the vaccine stored at -70.

鈥淏eing able to get it there in the ultra-cold state is a huge gain for the Pacific Islands in terms of having more transport time to their outreach centres,鈥� says Bernadette Heaphy, IMAC鈥檚 cold chain lead. 鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty cool, literally.鈥�