For anyone who has worked on crop improvement in Africa over the last three decades, the flood of misinformation around vaccines evokes an eerie sense of déjà vu.
As New Zealand prepares to roll out COVID-19 vaccines to the general population, health authorities will need to reach those who remain hesitant through information sources they trust.
An unidentified doctor talks with a boy who holds a lollipop reward after participating in a measles vaccine research program in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, in 1963.
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Vaccination has been controversial from its beginning. Gaining people’s trust in vaccines has been crucial. An important part of that is a strong communications plan.
Our new research found gaps in COVID information available to culturally and linguistically diverse communities. But there are ways we can improve — because community ownership is crucial.
We analysed the public communication strategies that Australia and France used to promote childhood immunisation. There are lessons to be learned for the government’s current COVID vaccine campaign.
Black patients can be wary of the medical establishment.
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Though COVID-19 has killed Black Americans at nearly twice the rate as white Americans, Black people are the least likely racial group to say they’re eager to get the vaccine.
Roald Dahl with his wife Patricia Neal and children Olivia (right) Tessa, and Theo (in pram).
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The pandemic will not end for anyone, anywhere until it is controlled in every country. Tanzania’s approach will make it that much harder for normality to return.
Medical students’ backgrounds often reflect the diversity of local communities, which can allow them more access and trust for vaccination efforts.
Bryan Goodchild/UMass Medical School
One university is showing how the vaccine corps concept can speed up vaccination rates, including launching a large-scale vaccination site staffed by hundreds of students and volunteers.
Vaccine hesitancy will not go away fast. In fact, there are parallels in the physical world to how quickly or slowly an object returns to its normal state.
Maria Saravia, a worker at the University of Southern California’s Keck Hospital, adjusts her mother’s mask before her COVID-19 vaccination.
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Getting a vaccine is proving difficult for many older people now, but the mad rush for the vaccine won’t last long. Many people don’t want to get one at all, and that will impede herd immunity.
It’s no secret many kids (and adults) don’t like needles. But where needle phobia can be a barrier to vaccine acceptance, it’s important to set your children up not to fear injections. Here’s how.
Vaccine hesitancy has resulted in multiple vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. Research on vaccine hesitancy in South Africa is limited. But growing evidence suggests that it’s becoming a problem.
Establishing public trust is now central to any decisions regarding the inoculation of our child population.
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Historically, we immunized children against diseases like polio that were a clear danger to them, but COVID-19 is usually mild in children. However, herd immunity is unlikely without vaccinating kids.
Achieving high COVID-19 vaccine uptake among health workers will not only protect these critical staff members, it will also support high levels of uptake among the general public.
If too many Americans refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine, achieving population immunity will be difficult.
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Paediatrician at the Royal Childrens Hospital and Associate Professor and Clinician Scientist, University of Melbourne and MCRI, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Senior Scientist, Cochrane South Africa, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Honorary researcher, Division of Social & Behavioural Sciences, School of Public Health, UCT, South African Medical Research Council
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford