Project intro

TAG Disseminated lay-friendly, vaccine-centered community educational materials through a hub on TAG’s website and hosted community webinars to address questions about COVID-19 vaccines. Over the past 24 months, through TAG’s work with both CoVPN and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), we have created a wealth of community-oriented vaccine literacy materials that answer common questions and hesitations about vaccine development, with a specific emphasis on engaging Black, Latinx, and other communities of color. These materials have now been made available to a wider community network. In such critical times for vaccine access, it is essential that health and research advocates from a broad spectrum of communities– particularly those disproportionately impacted by the pandemic– can access this information. TAG solicited community advocate perspectives on key questions related to ethical conduct for COVID-19 clinical trials, novel recruitment strategies, and the complexities of emerging initiatives to develop effective prevention and treatment options for COVID-19.

Project outcomes/deliverables

The resultant community advocate and engagement materials and information created through this work have now been made easily accessible to a broader community within a single access point within TAG’s COVID-19 web portal.

Please see PDFs below, or visit this link.

Understanding the Vaccine Development Process

Report Summary: Breaking Barriers: Surveying Community Perspectives of COVID-19 Vaccine Research

COVID-19 Variants and Vaccine Boosters — Where Are We?

Team Members

Emily Ward is a second-year CSSW student on the clinical track and hopes to work as a school social worker after graduation. Previously, she received her Bachelor's in Psychology at the University at Albany, SUNY. In undergrad, she worked in three distinct research labs. She is extremely passionate about being an advocate to help dismantle targeted health disparities in the mental health community and aims to help alleviate stigma of mental illness as a whole. In her free time, she likes running, painting and taking pictures with her cat!

Abraham Johnson is a public health educator and HIV/AIDS Advocate whose experience in the community health arena spans 6 years. Abraham joined TAG in 2020 as the HIV Community Engagement Officer where he supports the community engagement efforts for the HIV project. He has a strong theoretical background in public health education, as well as practical experience both inside and outside academic and rural settings. Prior to joining TAG, Abraham worked at FHI 360 as the community programs associate for the HIV Prevention Trials Network, International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trails Network and the Microbicides Trials Network. He holds a master’s degree in Public Health from Georgia Southern University and a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Savannah State University. During his free time, Abraham enjoys traveling, trying different restaurants, and listening to his favorite artists.