The COVID-19 pandemic created a raft of fresh challenges for everyone, but perhaps none so vexed as a new vaccine debate.
Until COVID-19 vaccines become available in 2020, the controversy over vaccines was relatively low level and easy to ignore.
Then the pandemic hit, and suddenly everyone was faced with a decision on whether to vaccinate themselves, and later whether to vaccinate their children.
Associate Professor
Jane Frawley
Unprecedented resources and international cooperation meant effective vaccines were developed and rolled out around 12 months after the start of the pandemic. Unfortunately, the speed of vaccine development created fertile soil for safety fears and misinformation.
This is where Dr Jane Frawley and her team from the School of Public Health stepped in.
They created an online interactive resource for adults and children, first in English and later translated and culturally adapted into five other languages: Mandarin, Cantonese, Greek, Vietnamese and Arabic.
The idea is to help people make decisions by presenting evidence-based information in simple language that helps people compare risks.
Dr Jane Frawley
How it works
The five-step tool simply titled “Should I get the COVID-19 vaccine?” is currently available for adults and children (aged 5 to 15), with a third decision aid for children aged 6 months to 5 years with medical risk currently in development.
The pages start by providing information about the virus and the vaccines, before walking people through the comparative risks of vaccination (Astra Zeneca, Pfizer and Moderna) against the risks of associated with infection.
So, for example, people see the risks of hospitalisation, intensive care or death for their age group as a result of COVID-19 (without a vaccine) compared with the risks associated with vaccination.
They can then check their personal risk profile, before completing a questionnaire about values – community benefit, ability to see family and friends, whether they fear other people’s judgement and so on.
Jane stressed that this was simply about presenting the evidence, and not about persuading people to take the vaccine. The aim is simply that the decision is properly informed. There is now talk about adapting the technology to other vaccines starting with the flu vaccine in pregnancy (in development) followed by the flu vaccine for children and then adults.
“This project has taught me so much,” Jane said.
One thing is the importance of science communication. As academics, we talk to each other all the time, but of course our research is for everyone, and communities need to be able to access and understand the work.
Dr Jane Frawley
“It was challenging to present complex scientific information at a Year 8 reading level, and in ways that are culturally appropriate, but we got there in the end, and we’re really thrilled with the results.”
Find out more
For more information about our research impact in the Faculty of Health or for collaboration opportunities, contact:
Professor Angela Dawson
Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Health
E: Angela.Dawson@uts.edu.au
T: +61 (02) 9514 4892
PO Box 123 Broadway NSW 2007 Australia