Queen’s Health Sciences has been awarded $440,000 for a project promoting COVID-19 vaccination across the Kingston, Frontenac, Lexington and Addington (KFL&A) health region.
The local project received new federal funding from the Immunization Partnership Fund (IPF), which supports projects that increase confidence, acceptance, and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.
A collaboration between QHS, KFL&A Public Health Unit, and Home Base Housing, the project’s goals include education, promotion, and outreach. It is developing evidence-informed educational materials for the general population and to help healthcare practitioners and frontline community organizations reach the vaccine-hesitant and vulnerable individuals – including marginalized groups. The ongoing project launched in July 2021 to develop both digital tools for healthcare providers (e.g. an online module and webinars) and public education resources (e.g. infographics, videos, and social media content). These elements will be completed and released throughout 2022 and into early 2023.
The team has already completed early analysis around vaccine hesitancy, drafted questionnaires and is organizing interviews with community partners. The project will also involve interprofessional collaboration with health data researchers at QHS to mine social media content related to vaccine hesitancy, as well as employ data from Canadian Primary Care Sentinal Surveillance Network (CPCSSN) and Eastern Ontario Network (EON) to look at vaccination trends regionally.
“Vaccination literacy and vaccination uptake play an important role in helping protect our communities against COVID-19,” said principal investigator Rosemary Wilson, the School of Nursing’s Associate Director, Graduate Programs and an Associate Professor. “This project will make a real impact in people’s lives, and we are thankful for the support of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).”
To date, close to 100 community-based projects have been launched with the Public Health Agency of Canada’s IPF funding, with a goal to increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence and uptake across Canada.
“The spread of misinformation can cause real harm and put our progress in the fight against COVID-19 in jeopardy,” Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos said in a release. “The Immunization Partnership Fund is helping trusted organizations across Canada to share credible COVID-19 vaccine information with their communities. By crowding out misinformation, we can support vaccination efforts across Canada and protect more people―and communities—from COVID-19.”