Johns Hopkins Launches Free Virtual Course to Train “Ambassadors” to Talk with Parents About COVID Vaccines for Children
Vaccination is a key strategy for preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19. Vaccines are available for children 5 years and older, but many parents have questions about vaccinations. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Consortium for School-Based Health Solutions, has launched a free 2-hour online course called "COVID Vaccine Ambassador Training: How to Talk to Parents." The course, instructed by Dr. Rupali Limaye and designed with support from IVAC's Alexandra Michel and Gretchen Schulz, has already been completed by over 5,000 people on Coursera. It prepares parents of school-age children, PTAs, community members, and school staff to be Vaccine Ambassadors for children. After completing the course, Vaccine Ambassadors will be able to share knowledge about COVID-19 and the COVID-19 vaccine, engage in conversations about vaccine hesitancy in a respectful and empathetic way, and direct people to credible sources for further information about the COVID-19 vaccine.
The course was featured in the New York Times, NPR, and Today. |
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| This video walks you through three evidence-backed communication techniques that can help you talk with other parents about COVID-19 vaccines. |
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How will Omicron Affect the Spread of COVID-19 in the U.S.?
The COVID-19 Scenario Hub, led at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health by IVAC's Dr. Shaun Truelove, recently produced its 12th round of longer-term projections for the spread and public health impact of COVID-19 in the U.S., including projections from six modeling teams. While substantial uncertainty remains, projections show promising rapid declines in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, either already underway or in the near future, in every state. Most models project that both cases and hospitalizations peaked in January 2022 in most states. The omicron wave continues to be marked by high numbers of cases but dramatically reduced severity. Explore scenario projections here.
Listen to the latest podcast from Public Health On Call detailing the modeling for the omicron wave. |
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VIRA Vaccine Chatbot is now on WhatsApp
VIRA, the Vaccine Information Resource Assistant, is an adaptive chatbot that uses IBM technology by listening to questions and providing immediate, expert-vetted answers and responses regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. Accessing this resource is even easier now–users can chat with VIRA on WhatsApp at +1 410-401-0306 or via direct link. The WhatsApp adaptation is powered by the Vonage Messages API that enables notifications, a critical way for users to stay up-to-date in an ever changing pandemic environment. |
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A Scorecard to Monitor the Immunization Agenda 2030
IVAC has been commissioned through the USAID-supported MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership Project, led at the BSPH by Dr. Chizoba Wonodi, to work in cooperation with Immunization Agenda 2030 work groups to design and produce an interactive scorecard. The scorecard will feature interactive dashboards tracking global, regional, and country-level progress against Impact Goals and Strategic Priority indicators. An earlier, infographic-style scorecard launched at last year's World Health Assembly.
Please tell us in a brief online questionnaire how the scorecard will help you and others seek, share, and use data on global, regional, and country-level immunization program performance.
Begin Survey. |
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| Upcoming Webinar & Conference |
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Register for Webinar on COVID-19 Vaccine Message Testing in India
Join us for an IVAC webinar, “Making COVID-19 vaccines APPEALing: Pilot message testing in India," on February 17th from 10am-11am ET. In this interactive webinar, you will first learn about the findings from a literature review that examined message appeals and their effectiveness in nudging people toward vaccine acceptance. You will then see how various appeals were tested among individuals in India to see which appeals are most persuasive in vaccine decision-making.
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Register Now to Join the VARN2022 Conference
Join the Sabin Vaccine Institute and its Vaccination Acceptance Research Network (VARN) at their inaugural VARN Conference on March 1-3, 2022! Registration is currently open and will be closing on February 21, 2022. |
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[Video] How COVID-19 Vaccines Work: A Kid Friendly Explanation
Rupali Limaye, PhD, of IVAC and the BSPH, presents an engaging and kid-friendly explanation of how COVID-19 mRNA vaccines work. This video provides examples and fun imagery to help kids and people of all ages easily understand the science behind it.
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