Machine learning algorithms can help public health officials identify areas of high vaccine hesitancy by ZIP code to better target messaging and outreach and counter misinformation.
By scrapping the requirement, the Indonesian government can improve equality of access to basic services and protections that are sorely needed now and in the post-pandemic future.
First CDC signed off on a COVID-19 vaccine for adults, then teens. Now US children ages 5 to 11 are officially eligible for shots. Here’s the science on why each group needs to be considered separately.
When making the decision whether to vaccinate children aged five to 11 against COVID-19, regulators in Canada must rely on sound ethics as well as sound science.
Regulators are currently reviewing the safety and efficacy data of the Pfizer vaccine for five to 11 year olds before deciding whether to approve its use in this age group.
Public health experts know that schools are likely sites for the spread of disease, and laws tying school attendance to vaccination go back to the 1800s.
Vaccination prepares the body’s immune system in the same way “natural” exposure to infection does. It just does it in a safer, controlled way with a much lower dose.
People who oppose vaccination won’t be swayed by statistics. To convince them, it is necessary to share real-life experiences and stories with which they will identify.
In Fiji, 95% of adults have received one jab and 80% are fully vaccinated. In PNG, however, less than 1% of the population is fully vaccinated – and the country is giving away its vaccines.
Trust is needed to curb vaccine hesitancy. Governments need to explain vaccines and other public health measures, while also speaking to the broader purpose of caring for the community we belong to.
A growing body of research shows that nutrition, sleep, exercise and a host of other lifestyle choices can help optimize the immune system. But they are no substitute for life-saving vaccines.
Dean Faculty of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand; and Director of the SAMRC Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, University of the Witwatersrand