Vaccine Communication in a Pandemic

This book addresses the global need for effective, ethical and evidence-based health communication, against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights how health communication can facilitate effective responses to disease threats, build vaccine literacy and strengthen the public's trust in governments and health institutions. The volume offers a variety of communication perspectives from leading international experts, with particular attention to the interrelated subjects of vaccine literacy and trust. Chapters present conceptual frameworks, research evidence, and novel ideas about ways to build trust, craft and target communication interventions, leverage digital technologies, integrate public health and health systems, apply health diplomacy, engage multiple sectors, and foster a vaccine-protected world. Vaccine Communication in a Pandemic will be an invaluable resource for scholars, researchers and practitioners of communication studies, public health and health literacy, health and public policy, media advocacy, media studies and mass communication. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives.

Dr. Scott C. Ratzan has three decades of pioneering accomplishments domestically and globally in health communication, health literacy and strategic diplomacy. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives. He holds professorial positions at CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, and the University of St Andrews School of Medicine. He serves on the Board of Global Health for the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine and has edited several books including the Mad Cow Crisis: Health and the Public Good (1998) and AIDS: Effective Health Communication for the 90s (1993).

Preface-Getting Past Sisyphus: Effective Communication is the Foundation to Our Success Introduction to Vaccine Communication in a Pandemic: Strengthening Vaccine Literacy, Restoring Trust and Engaging Communities to Foster Vaccine Confidence and Uptake PART 1 - THE PANDEMIC AND VACCINE COMMUNICATION ENVIRONMENT: VISIONS AND REALITIES 1. COVID-19: An Urgent Call for Coordinated, Trusted Sources to Tell Everyone What They Need to Know and Do 2. Vaccine Literacy-Helping Everyone Decide to Accept Vaccination 3. Building Vaccine Literacy in a Pandemic: How One Team of Public Health Students Is Responding 4. What Is the World Doing about COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance? 5. Anti-Vaxxers, Politicization of Science, and the Need for Trust in Pandemic Response 6. An Assessment of the Rapid Decline of Trust in US Sources of Public Information about COVID-19 7. Creating a Robust Digital Communications Strategy for the US Department of Health & Human Services PART 2 - PREPARING FOR COVID-19 VACCINE ACCEPTANCE: ASSESSING HESITANCY AND PREDICTING INTENT 8. Health Communication and Decision Making about Vaccine Clinical Trials during a Pandemic 9. Which Beliefs Predict Intention to Get Vaccinated against COVID-19? A Mixed-Methods Reasoned Action Approach Applied to Health Communication 10. Hesitant or Not? The Association of Age, Gender, and Education with Potential Acceptance of a COVID-19 Vaccine: A Country-level Analysis 11. Vaccine Hesitancy and Demand for Immunization in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Implications for the Region and Beyond 12. Communication, Health Literacy and a Systems Approach for Mitigating the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case for Massive Vaccine Roll-out in Israel 13. An Investigation of Low COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions among Black Americans: The Role of Behavioral Beliefs and Trust in COVID-19 Information Sources 14. Community-based Strategies to Engage Pastors Can Help Address Vaccine Hesitancy and Health Disparities in Black Communities 15. Preparing for A COVID-19 Vaccine: A Mixed Methods Study of Vaccine Hesitant Parents PART 3 - MOBILIZING FOR COVID-19 VACCINE ACCEPTANCE: COLLABORATION, PLANS AND SOURCES 16. Building Confidence to CONVINCE 17. A Select Bibliography of Actions to Promote Vaccine Literacy: A Resource for Health Communication