Welcome to episode 20 of Contain This, brought to you by the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security. This episode is hosted by Camilla Burkot, a senior adviser with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Vaccine Access Taskforce, which will oversee the Australian Government’s recently announced Regional Vaccine Access and Health Security Initiative. This initiative will help to ensure that people across the Pacific and Southeast Asia are able to access safe, effective and affordable COVID-19 vaccines when they become available by supporting both procurement of vaccine doses and strengthening immunization policy and delivery pathways in our region. On today’s show, we will discuss the issue of vaccine uptake in the Indo-Pacific region with two experts in the fields of vaccine development and delivery from Australia and Indonesia. We'll also hear from the field with the story of a senior immunisation nurse from Tonga.Camilla will begin by talking to Professor Julie Leask from the Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Sydney. She's a member of the Australian Regional Immunisation Alliance, visiting professorial fellow at the National Centre for Immunization Research and Surveillance and holds a range of advisory roles with the World Health Organization. In addition, Julie has recently been appointed to the Expert Advisory Group that will guide the new Regional Vaccine Access and Health Security Initiative.You will then hear from Sister Afu Tei about her experience as an immunisation nurse in Tonga. Sister Afu Tei is the Supervising Public Health Sister, Reproductive Health Project Co-ordinator and National EPI Co-ordinator in Tonga. Lastly, Camilla speaks with Professor Amin Soebandrio is a lecturer in clinical microbiology at University’s Indonesia and chairman of the Eijkman Institute for Molecular Biology, a nonprofit research body under the Ministry of Research and Technology and National Agency for Research and Innovation located in Jakarta. He is also honorary professor at the University of Sydney Medical School has played a key role in building strong relationships between the Indonesian and Australian medical research communities. At the beginning of the pandemic, Professor Amin oversaw the laboratory that analyzed samples from the earliest COVID-19 cases in Indonesia. Now, the institute’s work has turned towards vaccine development. For more information about the Indo-Pacific Centre for Health Security, visit our website https://indopacifichealthsecurity.dfat.gov.au. Connect with us on Twitter via @CentreHealthSec and @AusAmbRHSWe air an episode every fortnight so make sure you subscribe to receive our updates.Enjoy,Contain This Team

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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