Scientists at the University of Arizona have joined a national effort to educate the general public about COVID-19 vaccination. Dr. Felicia Goodrum, Professor in the Department of Immunobiology, College of Medicine, and Dr. James Alwine, Visiting Professor in the Department of Immunobiology, are among more than 50 scientific experts from across the US, including virologists, infectious disease specialists, medical doctors and other top experts who have rolled out a program of virtual town hall meetings to answer questions from the public about the COVID vaccine.
The program, called “COVID-19 Vaccine Education” is sponsored by the American Society for Virology and the American Society of Microbiology, two of the nation’s leading professional organizations in the area of infectious diseases. The program’s website, asv.org/education is where the general public can go to sign up for free virtual town halls.
COVID-19 Vaccine Education is seeking to bring fact-based scientific information to a wide variety of Americans including those living in rural and urban areas, particularly communities of color that have been hardest hit during the pandemic. Local and national outreach, as well as social media are being used to bring the program to those who are hesitant to be vaccinated or who have questions about the various vaccines being offered. Questions about safety, speed of vaccine development, side effects, efficacy and new variants will be answered with the latest scientific information available. The town halls will be hosted by pairs or groups of experts, and the sessions will run 45 minutes to an hour.
Dr. Goodrum says, “The COVID-19 vaccines are our best path towards ending the pandemic. We have now vaccinated 100s or millions of people in the US. It is exceptionally clear through the clinical trials that led to their emergency use authorization from the FDA and through the massive vaccination campaign that the vaccines are safe and effective. They even protect against the known variants of SARS-CoV-2 that have emerged. I am happy to have an opportunity to educate the public about this important achievement in science.”
Dr. Goodrum and Dr. Alwine will be hosting a COVID-19 Vaccine Education town hall with Dr. Grant McFadden and Dr. Brenda Hogue from Arizona State University and BioDesign on March 30th at 7PM MST.
To view and register for the town halls please visit: https://asv.org/education/
