Vaccine Questions Answered
In 2020, a very talented undergraduate, Lois Mason conducted her final year project with Dr Georgia Perona-Wright, one of the CVRs associate researchers. Covid vaccines were being developed, and we wanted to support conversations around the vaccines, exploring the information available, and enabling people to make confident, informed decisions.
Lois designed and animated several short videos, explaining how vaccines work, and discussing answers to some common questions about the Covid vaccines. Her second and subsequent videos were funded by a British Society for Immunology "Communicating Immunology" grant. Click on the links here to watch the videos.
Vaccines and the immune system
Lois’s Undergraduate Dissertation focused on the power of social media in tackling vaccine hesitancy and misinformation. The timely nature of the project was significant as the video was released as the UK began to announce approval of the COVID-19 vaccinations. The aim of this video was to empower the viewer to confidently make informed decisions about the vaccination by increasing their understanding of how the immune system response to infection, and how vaccination works.
Why should I get the vaccine if I’m fit and healthy?
After listening to concerns of different underserved communities, this question was identified as one which needed to be addressed. The video explains that it’s important to get the COVID-19 to protect both yourself and others around you. An incredible team of translators were recruited to translate the video captions into 12 languages from around the globe and contribute to tackling language barriers in science communication.
Should I get the COVID-19 vaccine if I am pregnant
As the UK Government declared pregnant individuals to be a high priority group for vaccination, and a significant majority of pregnant people hospitalised with COVID-19 were unvaccinated, it was decided that this is an important audience to target. This video discusses risks to mother and baby associated with COVID-19 infection and vaccination and how effective vaccination is in pregnancy. Ongoing efforts are being made to continue translating the video transcript to read underserved audiences.
To learn more about this project, visit The Perona-Wright Laboratory website.
Vaccine Questions Answered Team
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Lois Mason
Engagement and Communications Officer
MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research
Project Lead and Animator
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Dr Georgia Perona-Wright
Senior Lecturer
Centre for Immunobiology
Institute for Infection, Immunity and InflammationAcademic Lead
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Faye Watson
Engagement and Communications Coordinator
MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research
Public Engagement Support
