PHA launches COVID-19 vaccination toolkit to support uptake
The Public Health Agency (PHA) has launched a COVID-19 vaccination toolkit to support organisations in promoting the COVID-19 vaccine and increasing uptake.
Dr Jillian Johnston, Joint Interim Assistant Director in Health Protection at the PHA, said: “COVID-19 has not gone away and getting vaccinated provides the best protection for individuals and the wider community. The purpose of this toolkit is to provide a central point of access to materials and resources for individuals and organisations seeking to promote COVID-19 vaccination within their local communities.”
The toolkit is designed for use by HSC Trusts, Community Pharmacies and local councils, as well as groups from the community and voluntary sector, and contains resources targeted at the general population, as well as materials specifically designed for low-uptake groups. The resources are not intended to be used for the purpose of providing clinical advice, but to support the design and implementation of interventions to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake.
Dr Johnston continued by saying: “Since the start of the COVID-19 vaccinations in December 2020 uptake has varied across the target groups; the most recent group to be eligible for vaccination is the 5 to 11 year olds. It has only been a couple of months but we haven’t seen the initial surge that other groups experienced, and to date only 1.39% have taken up the offer. There are several possible reasons for this, for example parents worrying about the safety of the vaccine vs benefit of being vaccinated, or just simply not knowing where to get their child vaccinated. Parents of these children need signposted to the correct information and this is where the toolkit will support organisations seeking to promote COVID-19 vaccination by giving them the tools to do this.”
The toolkit is broken down by age and specific groups such as pregnant woman and minority communities, allowing organisations to easily find the resources they need to support individuals to make an informed decision about getting vaccinated.
In addition to links to the wide range of PHA publications and resources that have been produced to support the COVID-19 vaccination programme, the toolkit also contains ‘good practice’ examples of interventions to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake that have already been implemented across Northern Ireland and other regions in the UK.
Dr Johnston concluded: “COVID-19 cases still remain high, but being fully vaccinated provides the best protection; it not only boosts your immunity against the risk of severe disease, but helps protect more vulnerable members of the community in advance of any potential future wave of COVID-19. So whether it’s first, second, booster or spring booster dose, if you’re eligible now is the time to take up the offer.”
The COVID-19 vaccination toolkit can be found at covidvaccinetoolkitni.info