The development and global deployment of COVID-19 vaccines have been touted as the best way for the world to emerge from the ongoing pandemic. Millions of people around the world have been vaccinated, but many haven’t for a variety of reasons. The University of Maryland School of Pharmacy’s annual Francis S. Balassone Memorial Lecture on Nov. 10 sought to help faculty, staff, students, and other attendees understand and address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
The lecture – held in Pharmacy Hall with a virtual option – began with a showing of the documentary Vaccination from the Misinformation Virus. The PBS film focuses on the influence of social media in creating biases against vaccines. It seeks to overcome those biases and help viewers understand why vaccines are safe, crucial to community health, and save millions of lives annually.
The documentary showing was followed by a panel discussion with two community advocates: Joni Holifield, founder of the grassroots organization Heart Smiles, and Ania McNair, who runs the non-profit Not for Sale Youth. They were invited to the lecture by Deanna Tran, PharmD, an associate professor of pharmacy practice and science who is one of three pharmacists serving on Maryland’s COVID-19 Vaccination Technical Advisory Group, whose role is to ensure the equitable distribution of the vaccine across the state. She is active in providing immunizations to patients in her current practice site and assisting in flu and COVID-19 vaccination clinics, as well as educating and training pharmacists and student pharmacists on the American Pharmacists Association Immunization Certificate program.