CALL TO ACTION 1:

1. Promote vaccine understanding, confidence and acceptance through high-quality communication and conversations. This can include getting involved with local bridging organizations such as Immunization Action Coalition and Braver Angels. It can also include advocating for better clinical conversations to encourage trust and leveraging AI to help people work through questions and concerns.

Consider seeking out your local immunization coalition to offer help. You don't need to be a medical professional to be useful here—it takes project managers, graphic designers, PR experience, librarians, social workers, etc. Many of these coalitions are side-of-desk work and volunteer work for the members, so energy and enthusiasm will likely be welcomed.

Here are ways to have conversations:

• Conversations with friends and family–learn from bridging organizatons like Braver Angels, which encourages listening to and understanding others with different points of view
• Here is a paper on the effectiveness of Braver Angels
• Support health communicators for better conversations–consider donating!
• https://dukeghic.org/our-work/trust-in-health/
• https://www.arclet.com/
• Conversations between providers and patients–consider advocating for improved communication training as part of clinical training
• For example, learn about the AIMS approach here. (Longer paper here.)
• Conversations with chatbots can make a difference! Try one out here from the Clarity Foundation.
• Here is a paper on the effectiveness of chatbots in changing beliefs.
• Conversations with your legislators (notes from Scott)
• There are a lot of different ways people are going after vaccines in state legislatures, including through blood and organ donation disclosures. You can look at sites like legiscan or get on relevant committee listservs, then write to or call your legislators.

Messenger Matters: Vaccine Trust

Concrete examples of behavioral changes towards vaccines, reinforcing that if you don’t get the messenger right the message doesn’t matter:

• Experimental Evidence on the Effectiveness of Nonexperts for Improving Vaccine Demand (White T Shirt Study) 
• 'Safe and Effective' Is FDA-Speak. It's Time to Put It to Bed, Medpage Today
• KFF Tracking Poll on Health Information and Trust, January 2025 
• Communicating Doctors’ Consensus Persistently Increases COVID-19 vaccinations
• TUSKEGEE AND THE HEALTH OF BLACK MEN
• Visual policy narrative messaging improves COVID-19 vaccine uptake 
• No evidence that collective-good appeals best promote COVID-related health behaviors 
• Pro-social, such as specific immuno-compromised child: Stimulating Influenza Vaccination via Prosocial Motives 
• A lack of perceived benefits and a gap in knowledge distinguish the vaccine hesitant from vaccine accepting during the COVID-19 pandemic 
• Improving Public Understanding of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS)

Current Events:

• NIH to terminate or limit grants related to vaccine hesitancy, Washington Post 
• Backlash in Kenya over livestock vaccines and belching cows, BBC 
• Thousands of Schools Fall Below Recommended Measles Vaccination Rate, WSJ
• How Kennedy Could Make It Harder for You and Your Family to Get Vaccinated, By Michael T. Osterholm and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, NYT 

Current Recommendations:

• Vaccination Recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics
• ACIP Vaccine Recommendations
• Prepping for vaccines for kids, Immunize BC

CALL TO ACTION 2:

2. Support and strengthen organizations that are vital for protecting U.S. and global health. Together, organizations such as the NIH, DOD, (BARDA, DARPA?) CDC, FDA, and WHO monitor what is happening nationally and globally, facilitate research & development and sharing scientific advances in response to threats, and enable other parts of the world to develop and/or manufacture/produce their own vaccines and generate self-reliance.

There are a lot of different ways people are going after vaccines in state legislatures, including through blood and organ donation disclosures. You can look at sites like legiscan (https://legiscan.com/) or get on relevant committee listservs. Some other organizations are:

• CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/
• FDA: https://www.fda.gov/
• WHO: https://www.who.int/
• NIH: https://www.nih.gov/
• Health Trust Initiative, Duke University https://dukeghic.org/our-work/trust-in-health/
• Clarity Foundation: https://clarityfoundation.com/be-confident-bc

CALL TO ACTION 3:

3. Advocate for continued investment in scientific research inclusive of vaccine research and development to enable discoveries to transition from bench discovery to delivery to demand, which has yielded high rates of return on investment through better health, reduced healthcare costs, and economic development.

• A path to Covid-19 vaccine equity
• Shiny New Toys and Matchbox Cars: Vaccine Diplomacy Requires Balancing Emerging and Traditional Technologies
• Global regulatory reforms to promote equitable vaccine access in the next pandemic
• “Running the Gauntlet”: Formidable challenges in advancing neglected tropical diseases vaccines from development through licensure
• Funding of Clinical Trials and Reported Drug Efficacy
• Progress with COVID vaccine development and implementation
• Resources, Production Scales and Time Required for Producing RNA Vaccines for the Global Pandemic Demand
• Deciphering Immune Responses; a Comparative Analysis of influenza Vaccination Platforms, Jones, C.H. et al, 2024

MORE FROM AND ABOUT OUR PANELISTS:

• Maria Elena Botazzi:
• The Vaccine Game Changer: Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi 
• Heather Lanthorn:
• Heather’s slides from the forum
• Joe Martin:
• Joe Martin’s slides from the forum
• Mike Osterholm:
• Mike’s slides from the forum
• The Big One, Mike Osterholm, Hachette Book Group 
• Dr. Osterholm’s podcast here
• Jono Quick
• Jono’s book, The End of Epidemics