ABSTRACT
Background: Vaccinations are successful, cost-effective tools to prevent the spread of certain infectious diseases. Many colleges conduct vaccination campaigns on their campuses for various vaccine-preventable diseases, including measles, mumps, influenza, HPV, and most recently, for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19. Implementing these campaigns requires substantial effort and understanding their effectiveness is an important factor in justifying these programs. Aim: This scoping review aims to identify, review, and summarize existing evaluation methods for vaccination campaigns on college campuses in order to provide evaluation guidance for institutions planning future vaccination campaigns. Methods: Publications that focused on vaccination campaigns on college campuses for students and/or faculty and staff and described their evaluation methods were included in our analysis. A systematic search of the literature identified 2,101 articles. After duplicates were removed, titles and abstracts were screened, and references searched, 43 articles were identified for full-text review. Sixteen articles provided evaluation information and were systematically reviewed. Results: Interventions targeted a variety of vaccine-preventable diseases, with the majority either aiming to increase HPV vaccine uptake or vaccinate against meningococcal serogroups. Most studies reported on campaigns that included both educational activities and provided vaccinations. Evaluation methods varied widely. Some studies measured vaccine-related knowledge and attitudes. Vaccine uptake was most commonly measured as a simple count of doses administered. Conclusions: College campus vaccination campaigns are evaluated in multiple ways, with little consistency in how the effectiveness of campaigns are measured. There is a need to develop clear evaluation methods for college vaccination programs, especially how to calculate vaccination rates associated with these efforts.
ABSTRACT
After the emergency use authorization of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations in the United States, existing pharmacy infrastructure was leveraged to disseminate vaccines. However, the national uptake of COVID-19 vaccines remains poor. This survey study of Mississippi pharmacists aimed to identify barriers to providing COVID-19 vaccination among pharmacists in practice settings that provided other vaccines. A thematic analysis was used to analyze open-ended survey responses. This study found that the greatest identified barrier to COVID-19 vaccination for pharmacists was patient willingness. The thematic analysis revealed logistical barriers, vaccine hesitancy, and rural pharmacy distribution concerns. These findings suggest that pharmacists require further training in overcoming vaccine hesitancy, and potentially indicate a need for the distribution of vaccination responsibilities to additional pharmacy staff members.
ABSTRACT
The national or local lockdowns in response to COVID-19 forced education systems to rapidly shift from in-person to distance learning. The hasty transition undoubtedly imposed tremendous challenges on teachers, students and distance learning infrastructure. The purpose of this study was to investigate how high school science teachers who had previously been trained in flipped-learning and advanced educational technology through the Science Teaching Excites Medical Interest (STEMI) program perceived their transition to distance learning during this pandemic. In this study eleven teachers were interviewed with a semi-structured interview guide. Data were analyzed using the deductive-inductive content analytic approach. Our results indicated that teachers reported having more confidence in using technology for teaching online due in part to their participation in the STEMI program. They also reported internet access as one of the most significant barriers, both for students and teachers. While some teachers thought that students may feel more in control of learning due to absence of time and place limits with distance learning, others may struggle to stay engaged without the classroom support they would normally have received. Teachers generally experienced increased workloads and harder work–life balance with online teaching. In spite of the unforeseen challenges, the pandemic situation afforded teachers with opportunities to adopt different technology in teaching and foresee the need for technology integration in order to better prepare for the unexpected in the future.