COMM-C 591:

CRISIS COMMUNICATION

Spring 2014

(April 28, 2014)

Influenza Vaccination Project

Introduction

I. Anti-vaccination movement

A. Anti-vaccination misperceptions are based on non-scientific sources

B. Anti-vaccination group claims that the ingredients of vaccines would result in adverse effects despite actually vaccinations have reduced the rate of mortality

C. Anti-vaccination group claims that vaccination would result in overloading our immune systems (e.g., antigens)

D. Anti-vaccination group claims that better hygiene and sanitation would result in massive decrease in disease rather than vaccination

E. Anti-vaccination group facilitates the diffusion of information (e.g., don't trust the government, vaccines bring about autism, etc.) via social media such as Facebook

II. The results of anti-vaccination movement

A. Vaccination rates have been reduced

B. Our immune systems have been weakened

C. The number of diseases has been increased

III. Despite the number of patients are high, the public regards the influenza as self-limiting disease. Therefore, this perception would result in people's relatively low attention to and participation in vaccination when compare to vaccinations for other diseases.

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Therefore, there is a need for promoting influenza vaccination.

Body

I. Problems

A. Misperceptions regarding influenza vaccination

1. Influenza is self-limiting disease

2. The safety of influenza vaccination is low

3. The efficacy of influenza vaccination is low

B. Disparities in influenza vaccination

Besides anti-vaccination groups' misperceptions regarding influenza vaccination, disparities in influenza vaccination is another problem that has resulted in low vaccination rates. Especially, disparities in influenza vaccination are prominent among people who are at higher risk of influenza, including children, adolescents and older people.

For example, individuals aged 65 and older who reported receiving an influenza vaccination within the past 12 months were 67.2% among non-Hispanic Whites, 46.8% among non-Hispanic Blacks, and 44.8% among Hispanics/Latinos (Barnes & Schiller, 2007). In addition, only 51% of those aged 6 months...