Youth Voices for Vaccines

When thinking about vaccine advocacy, we can look to the COVID-19 pandemic to see the importance of fighting misinformation and disinformation to promote the health of our community. However, vaccine advocacy extends beyond the pandemic, and has been a crucial to furthering global health in the past few decades. To upkeep progress, we all must raise our voices for sustainable change, and young voices—those of future leadership—are of utmost importance.

Vaccine advocacy has had a significant role in helping reduce and even eradicate diseases. Vaccines for smallpox, measles, and polio have been integral to saving hundreds of millions of lives worldwide. Advocacy has been a key part of that story, whether by increasing vaccine acceptance or by unlocking funding for global vaccine programs. However, the threat of infectious disease is still not evenly felt throughout the world, and in many countries, vaccines are not as accessible as they might be for us. With hundreds of communities facing disparities in vaccine access, we cannot achieve the equitable health outcomes that the fantastic power of vaccines should make possible. 

Advocacy does not solely influence public health outcomes or policies but also has the power to uplift communities. Advocacy is the vehicle that unites people from all walks of life around a shared goal, such as improving health outcomes through immunization interventions. Communities are created around a shared cause, which helps make sustainable change. 

In an increasingly globalized world, we are more connected than ever. This increased connection heightens our responsibility to advocate for equity and mobilize vaccines globally. As students, we are positioned to elicit change that will help millions of people live their best and healthiest lives.  

The first step is to increase awareness about vaccine disparities. We are positioned to share information with our peers, whether it is virtually or in the classroom, which makes it easy for us to start a dialogue around this burden and discuss solutions we can contribute to. 

Beyond sharing information with just our peers, harnessing digital literacy to help accelerate change is valuable. We are skilled at navigating digital platforms and social media, so we have a unique vehicle to fight against vaccine misinformation. By posting videos, comments, or reposting content that shares accurate information from credible resources, we can help important content reach new audiences, creating a ripple effect in our community and fostering a culture of change. 

It is important to amplify posts and material from trusted sources, like those of Shot@Life. These resources serve to educate and motivate people to be a part of the solution and make a vaccine equitable world a reality. 

Our ability to engage in meaningful conversations about vaccine advocacy comes from our unique perspectives. Each of us, with our diverse backgrounds and experiences, brings something special to the table, enriching the discourse, reaching new people, and innovating new approaches to reduce vaccine disparities worldwide. 

As we engage meaningfully to help achieve vaccine equity globally, we must be mindful of our power as students and as young people. Our unique perspectives and skill sets position us to spark long-term change; when we are equipped with the knowledge needed to join this fight, we can become lifelong advocates for vaccine mobilization and work to be a part of the solution. 

Interested in joining Shot@Life as a College Ambassador? Click here to learn more and apply today!