COVID-19 vaccination attitudes, values, intentions: US parents for their children, September 2021.

Objectives: To compare vaccine-related attitudes and values of parents of children 2-17 years old to other adults, examine intentions to vaccinate their children, and identify factors associated with intending to vaccinate children.

Methods: A nationally representative survey was conducted in September 2021 (just before the EUA for children 5-11 years old) using Ipsos KnowledgePanel, a probability-based web panel. The survey measured COVID-19 vaccination status, intentions, attitudes, values, and trust in public health authorities among US adults.

The Crosscurrents Dialogue Model: 2019-2023.

The failure to consult with the public in policymaking can result in less sound and supportable policies. The Crosscurrents Dialogue Model (CDM) was developed to explore if Americans with different political perspectives could have useful policy conversations. To date, the CDM participants have addressed 10 separate topics such as health care and immigration and reached agreements each time.

Factors Affecting SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Intent and Decision Making Among African American, Native American, and Hispanic Participants in a Qualitative Study.

Limited studies are available on how decisions and perceptions on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination have changed since the start of vaccination availability. We performed a qualitative study to identify factors critical to SARS-CoV-2 vaccination decision making and how perspectives evolved among African American/Black, Native American, and Hispanic communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and social and economic disadvantage. We conducted 16 virtual meetings, with 232 participants in wave 1 meetings (December 2020) and with 206 returning participants in wave 2 meetings (January and February 2021).

COVID-19 Vaccination Status, Attitudes, and Values among US Adults in September 2021.

Background: The Delta COVID-19 variant caused a resurgence in cases and deaths during the summer of 2021, particularly among the unvaccinated, highlighting the need to increase vaccine coverage. We describe a survey conducted in September 2021, in the midst of the Delta variant surge, after the FDA fully approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine for ages 16+ and issued an emergency use authorization for ages 12−15. Methods and Findings: US adults were surveyed to measure COVID-19 vaccination status, intentions, attitudes, values, and trust in public health authorities.

Walking the Tightrope: Reevaluating science communication in the era of COVID-19 vaccines.

Scientists are trained to be skeptical and not overstate the existing evidence. This cautiousness is a valuable asset when working in scientific research, where the goal is the pursuit of knowledge and truth. It becomes a handicap when scientists are asked to communicate to the public about pressing topics such as COVID-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 vaccination attitudes, values and intentions among United States adults prior to emergency use authorization.

Introduction: Safe and effective vaccines against Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) provide the best opportunity to control the pandemic. Having safe and efficacious vaccines available is only half the equation; people must also take them. We describe a study to identify COVID-19 vaccine attitudes, values and intentions immediately preceding authorization of COVID-19 vaccines in the US.

Strengthening public health ethics at the centers for disease control and prevention.

In early 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched an initiative to strengthen leadership in public health ethics. This resulted in the formation of an external Ethics Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee to the Director, an internal CDC Public Health Ethics Committee, and the creation of a new position, the CDC Public Health Ethics Coordinator, to oversee the activities of these two committees and to serve as the main point of contact for public health ethics at the agency. Through this effort, the CDC is collaborating with the Ethics Subcommittee to develop ethical guidance documents that address specific public health program concerns, including pandemic influenza, emergency preparedness and response, and genomics.

Getting the science right and doing the right science in vaccine safety.

Because of the potential for conflicts of interest, Salmon et al. propose in this issue the creation of an independent vaccine safety board to assume responsibility for assessing the safety of licensed vaccines.We believe that the current system at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) facilitates needed interactions between those involved in risk assessment and risk management, provides substantial safeguards against conflicts of interest, and results in sound decisions.

Elimination of measles and of disparities in measles childhood vaccine coverage among racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States.

The gap in measles vaccine coverage between white and nonwhite children was as large as 18% in 1970. During the measles epidemic of 1989-1991, attack rates among nonwhite children <5 years of age were 4- to 7-fold higher than rates among white children. Because of the epidemic and of the known disparity in vaccine coverage and risk of disease, a dual strategy to eliminate measles in the United States was implemented: universal interventions likely to reach the majority of children and targeted interventions more likely to reach nonwhite children.