Project Vaccine
Town Hall Report Just 10 months after vaccine development began, the FDA issued its first COVID-19 vaccine emergency use authorization (EUA). With this profound moment came both relief and uncertainty. In response, the Museum of Science, Boston hosted four Town Hall events to convene members of the public and experts from academic, industry, government, and community-based organizations. These events allowed attendees to hear and share community concerns, questions, proposed solutions, and current science, while providing space for attendees to carefully consider the vaccination decisions ahead.
TIMELINE SNAPSHOT BY THE NUMBERS
4
Live Town Halls
900
live virtual attendees
Over 5000
asynchronous viewers
Town Hall 1
Town Hall 2
Town Hall 3
Town Hall 4
Exploring Public Confidence in the COVID Vaccination
Rolling Out the Vaccine
Recruiting for Clinical Trials
1•26•21
2•23•21
What Does the Future Hold? 3•23•21
12•14•20 December 2020
January 2021
February
March
April
Emergency Use Authorization
Emergency Use Authorization
Emergency Use Authorization
Pfizer Vaccine
Moderna Vaccine
Janssen Vaccine
12•11•20
12•18•20
2•27•21
Who attended these virtual Town Hall events? Characteristics of attendees shared some similarities—and some differences—with prior in-person Forum events hosted by science centers across the U.S. that also addressed societal and ethical topics (e.g., Climate Change).1
Why collect demographic information? These data help us know more about who was interested in learning about vaccination decisions (such as women and older adults in this case), and where we might need to focus future efforts to broaden participation at these events.
1. Todd et al., 2019
Participant demographics Geographic reach The following attendee characteristics are based on survey results from a sample of 155 Town Hall attendees, compared to audiences who attended similar public forums in-person at science centers around the US.
93% NEW ENGLAND
WHITE
Project Vaccine Town Halls Race/ Ethnicity Science Center Public
ASIAN BLACK HISPANIC
75% 60%
Forums
10% 6% 6% 8%
11%
8% 6% 6% OTHER MULTIPLE
WOMEN
Gender
Project Vaccine Town Halls
71%
Science Center Public Forums
60%
MEN 29% 38% “I don’t identify as either”
Age
18–24 YRS
25–44 YRS
Project Vaccine Town Halls
14%
Science Center Public Forums
15%
45–64 YRS
65+ YRS
44% 38%
41% 32%
16%