Vaccine Communication in a Pandemic: Improving Vaccine Literacy to Reduce Hesitancy, Restore Trust and Immunize Communities

"As the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to present new challenges, it will become increasingly incumbent upon all of us to advance effective vaccine communication and collaborate at all levels of society to promote interdisciplinary and cross-sector cooperation." - Scott C. Ratzan, Editor

As the contributions to this special issue of the Journal of Health Communication highlight, the availability of COVID-19 vaccines alone cannot stem the pandemic without communication to galvanise behaviour change, support political action, attract global funding, and sustain healthcare delivery and public health measures that enable vaccination delivery. These efforts are particularly pertinent in light of the onslaught of confusing and contradictory messages about COVID-19 and the vaccines - the so-called "infodemic" - that threatens to undermine the public trust on which successful public health programmes are grounded. In this context, the articles explore the global need for effective, ethical, and evidence-based communication that ultimately helps facilitate timely acceptance of the vaccines.

The authors' voices represent a variety of communication perspectives from throughout the world, with particular attention to the interrelated subjects of vaccine literacy and trust. The articles and commentaries present conceptual frameworks, research evidence, and ideas about ways to build trust, craft and target communication interventions, leverage digital technologies, integrate public health and health systems, apply health diplomacy, and engage multiple sectors in fostering a vaccine-protected world.

Following the Editor's introduction, main contents include:

• "COVID-19: An Urgent Call for Coordinated, Trusted Sources to Tell Everyone What They Need to Know and Do" - by Scott C. Ratzan, Lawrence O. Gostin, Najmedin Meshkati, Kenneth Rabin & Ruth M. Parker [pages 747-49]
• "Vaccine Literacy: Helping Everyone Decide to Accept Vaccination" - by Scott C. Ratzan & Ruth M. Parker [pages 750-52]
• "Building Vaccine Literacy in a Pandemic: How One Team of Public Health Students Is Responding" - by Matthew M Masiello, Paige Harton & Ruth M. Parker [pages 753-56]
• "What Is the World Doing about COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance?" - by Yvonne MacPherson [pages 757-60]
• "Anti-Vaxxers, Politicization of Science, and the Need for Trust in Pandemic Response" - by Thomas May [pages 761-63]
• "An Assessment of the Rapid Decline of Trust in US Sources of Public Information about COVID-19" - by Carl A. Latkin, Lauren Dayton, Justin C. Strickland, Brian Colon, Rajiv Rimal & Basmattee Boodram [pages 764-73]
• "Creating a Robust Digital Communications Strategy for the US Department of Health & Human Services" - by Mark A. Weber, Thomas E. Backer & Stacey Palosky [pages 774-79]
• "Health Communication and Decision Making about Vaccine Clinical Trials during a Pandemic" - by Aisha T. Langford [pages 780-89]
• "Which Beliefs Predict Intention to Get Vaccinated against COVID-19? A Mixed-Methods Reasoned Action Approach Applied to Health Communication" - by Jennifer A. Lueck & Alaina Spiers [pages 790-98]
• "Hesitant or Not? The Association of Age, Gender, and Education with Potential Acceptance of a COVID-19 Vaccine: A Country-level Analysis" - by Jeffrey V. Lazarus, Katarzyna Wyka, Lauren Rauh, Kenneth Rabin, Scott Ratzan, Lawrence O. Gostin, Heidi J. Larson & Ayman El-Mohandes [pages 799-807]
• "Vaccine Hesitancy and Demand for Immunization in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Implications for the Region and Beyond" - by Rafael Obregon, Mario Mosquera, Sergiu Tomsa & Ketan Chitnis [pages 808-15]
• "Communication, Health Literacy and a Systems Approach for Mitigating the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case for Massive Vaccine Roll-out in Israel" - by Diane Levin-Zamir [pages 816-18]
• "An Investigation of Low COVID-19 Vaccination Intentions among Black Americans: The Role of Behavioral Beliefs and Trust in COVID-19 Information Sources" - by Chioma Woko, Leeann Siegel & Robert Hornik [pages 819-26]
• "Community-based Strategies to Engage Pastors Can Help Address Vaccine Hesitancy and Health Disparities in Black Communities" - by Lois Privor-Dumm & Terris King [pages 827-30]
• "Preparing for A COVID-19 Vaccine: A Mixed Methods Study of Vaccine Hesitant Parents" - by Matthew E. Rhodes, Beth Sundstrom, Emily Ritter, Brooke W. McKeever & Robert McKeever [pages 831-37]
• "Building Confidence to CONVINCE" - by Heidi J. Larson, Nancy Lee, Kenneth H. Rabin, Lauren Rauh & Scott C. Ratzan [pages 838-42]
• "A Select Bibliography of Actions to Promote Vaccine Literacy: A Resource for Health Communication" - by Lauren D. Rauh, Hannah S. Lathan, Matthew M. Masiello, Scott C. Ratzan & Ruth M. Parker [pages 843-58]