By: Lillian L.Q. Witting, MPH, Coordinator, Research, Education, and Programs

Vaccinations are a major accomplishment of the 20th century. Despite this accomplishment, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the inadequacy of the health care system to respond to public health emergencies. Challenges arose in ensuring immunity for high-risk populations — such as those with chronic diseases — while public health information was produced too quickly for patients to conduct informed decisions, leading to public distrust.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a turn, it is still present in our everyday lives. To provide information about COVID-19 vaccine technologies and combat the spread of misinformation, the National Health Council (NHC) has released Issue 2 of its research brief series titled Understanding COVID-19 Technology and Vaccine Hesitancy among Patients with Chronic Disease. Accompanied with the research brief is an interactive infographic featuring key elements of the brief that can be downloaded as a PDF or printed for educational purposes.

This brief is part of an ongoing research series that aims to highlight specific issues. We view our NHC members as critical partners in the promotion of evidence-based information and science that informs our patients, advocates, caregivers, and policymakers. It is our hope that this research brief and infographic are widely used to dispel myths and improve the uptake of evidence-based research related to COVID-19.

You can view the interactive infographic at the NHC’s website and download the research brief here.