One thing has been crystal clear during the COVID-19 pandemic—credible, consistent, and understandable information is critical for guiding the actions of citizens. This has been especially true when it comes to the development and roll out of vaccines. The pandemic has seen the science surrounding COVID-19 and information about it evolve at a rapid pace. A victim of this situation has certainly been the way in which risks and benefits associated with COVID-19 vaccines have been presented and explained by public health officials and politicians.
While we are getting more and more Canadians immunized against COVID-19, the pandemic has caused substantial modifications to immunization services across Canada. Strategies to mitigate barriers to immunizations during the pandemic need to be implemented in order to avoid immunity gaps that could lead to an eventual increase in vaccine preventable diseases.
Scenarios like this can be avoided through well-planned communication approaches and the application of basic risk communication principles.
This webinar will provide insights on:
• the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immunization and vaccine confidence
• how to summarize evidence about these vaccines and present it in plain language;
• how to communicate numbers and probabilities appropriately;
• ways in which problems with communicating about uncertainty can be avoided;
• using comparisons effectively;
• countering misinformation;
• tools and methods that can be used to craft and evaluate key messages before disseminating them; and
• strategies to optimize vaccine conversations and build vaccine confidence to support continued immunization against all vaccine-preventable diseases.
Kelly Grindrod is an Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo and the Pharmacy Lead for the Region of Waterloo Vaccine Task Force. She is the lead and founder for Pharmacy5in5, which is a popular pharmacy learning platform that develops multimedia tools to provide information and education about medications and vaccinations. Over the pandemic, she has co-developed several patient and clinician resources to combat misinformation and support patient decision-making about vaccines.
Kelly's presentations is available at: cpha.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/webinars/2021-10-05-Grindrod-RiskCommsWebinar.pdf
Anton Holland is the President and CEO of NIVA Inc., a science communication and knowledge mobilization firm based in Ottawa. Anton and his team of communication professionals help organizations with a science, engineering, environmental or health focus transform complex subject matter into powerful content that’s clear, understandable, and relevant to its intended audiences. Leading NIVA's risk communication practice, Anton has over 30 years of experience as a researcher, science writer, knowledge broker, and communication strategist working with federal, provincial, and municipal health authorities, as well as NGOs and industry.
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