Table 2 Consensus statements to end COVID-19 as a public health threat
From: A multinational Delphi consensus to end the COVID-19 public health threat
Statement | Grade | A (%) | SA (%) | SD (%) | D (%) | N (%) | NQ (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Communication | ||||||||
STMT1.1 | The volume and velocity of information during the COVID-19 pandemic have made it difficult for people to assess the accuracy of information. | A | 81 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 316 | 0 |
STMT1.2 | Public health authorities contribute to the dissemination of false information when their communications do not reflect current scientific understanding that transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is primarily airborne. | A | 68 | 24 | 6 | 3 | 313 | 1 |
STMT1.3 | Governments have inconsistently counteracted false information in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. | A | 70 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 312 | 1 |
STMT1.4 | Sources of false information undermine the social cohesion needed for an effective public health response. | A | 91 | 8 | 1 | 0* | 316 | 0 |
STMT1.5 | During the pandemic, public health officials have ineffectively engaged populations that have low levels of trust in government. | A | 69 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 312 | 1 |
STMT1.6 | Blaming unvaccinated individuals for continuation of the pandemic shifts attention away from government accountability. | B | 57 | 31 | 8 | 4 | 307 | 3 |
STMT1.7 | A government’s decision to reduce COVID-19 pandemic control measures does not mean that the threat to public health has ended. | A | 94 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 315 | 0 |
Health systems | ||||||||
STMT2.1 | The world has not implemented an evidence-based, globally agreed-upon set of minimum COVID-19 pandemic response standards addressing monitoring, prevention, treatment and care. | A | 73 | 18 | 6 | 3 | 309 | 1 |
STMT2.2 | There continue to be systemic risks of COVID-19 infection for healthcare workers in many healthcare settings. | A | 82 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 306 | 2 |
STMT2.3 | Health systems are continuing to face abnormal staffing shortages due to the mental and physical health impacts on their workers from the COVID-19 pandemic. | A | 79 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 305 | 3 |
STMT2.4 | Healthcare workers continue to experience unaddressed mental health issues due to the pandemic. | A | 81 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 296 | 5 |
STMT2.5 | Governments have not always addressed the high out-of-pocket expenditure to consumers for some pandemic control measures (for example, testing) and personal protective equipment (for example, facemasks). | A | 78 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 310 | 1 |
STMT2.6 | The COVID-19 pandemic continues to reveal vulnerabilities in the global supply-chain framework for essential public health supplies. | A | 91 | 8 | 1 | 0* | 306 | 2 |
STMT2.7 | The COVID-19 pandemic has catalysed opportunities for rapid innovation in digital health solutions throughout the care continuum. | A | 84 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 308 | 1 |
STMT2.8 | Leveraging economies of scale and scope through multicountry pooled procurement can enable health systems to increase access to essential medicines and supplies during public health crises. | A | 85 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 305 | 2 |
STMT2.9 | Community-based interventions and services to address the pandemic continue to be underused by health systems. | A | 79 | 19 | 2 | 0* | 302 | 4 |
Vaccination | ||||||||
STMT3.1 | When the risk of harm to others is sufficiently severe, governments may determine that the right of all individuals to good health overrides the autonomy of any one individual to choose not to be vaccinated. | A | 68 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 309 | 1 |
STMT3.2 | Individual medical autonomy acknowledges that individuals who have decision-making capacity have the right to make decisions regarding vaccination, even when their decisions contradict their healthcare providers’ recommendations. | B | 59 | 25 | 8 | 8 | 306 | 2 |
STMT3.3 | Vaccine hesitancy, which ranges from delay to refusal despite the availability of vaccine services, remains a major challenge to ending the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health threat. | A | 75 | 21 | 3 | 1 | 309 | 1 |
STMT3.4 | Discussing vaccine hesitancy as primarily a function of information or worldview is inaccurate, as vaccine hesitancy is a multifactorial phenomenon comprising other factors (for example, socioeconomic). | A | 82 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 308 | 1 |
STMT3.5 | Continued low levels of trust in information from government sources are associated with vaccine hesitancy. | A | 78 | 17 | 4 | 2 | 309 | 1 |
STMT3.6 | Vaccination alone is insufficient to end the COVID-19 pandemic as a public health threat. | A | 83 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 311 | 0 |
