Communications
Five
Key Elements – All smallpox communications plans should
address (22.V13.58-73)
The first element
that your plan needs to address is the target populations or audiences.
You need to start by identifying the primary populations or audiences
that you need to reach with your messages and your efforts. There
are four audiences that should be considered.
- People for
whom smallpox vaccination is now recommended. This group of people
is going to have a number of questions and a number of needs
relative to communications and education.
- People for
whom smallpox vaccination is now recommended, but who are contraindicated
or are not interested in receiving smallpox vaccine. These people
are going to want reassurances that they, too, are protected
without being vaccinated.
- People for
whom the vaccination recommendation will or may be extended.
There are obviously some people who will be among the first to
receive smallpox vaccination and others for whom smallpox vaccination
is recommended, but they will not be part of the immediate vaccination
efforts. These people will have questions as to when will they
be able to receive smallpox vaccine and why they will have to
wait for a few weeks before they can get it.
- A fourth
group that you need to be prepared for is the general public,
including the media. You need to be thinking about the kinds
of messages that you want to disseminate and provide to members
of the general public about your program and about these recommendations.
The second important
thing to do in terms of developing a communications plan is to
articulate or develop your primary communications messages. This
needs to be done on two levels. First, what are your overall communications
messages? What do you want to say to everybody? After you’ve
articulated or identified those messages, the next thing you need
to do is identify the primary messages for each of your identified
populations or audiences.
The CDC has
a number of primary messages regarding smallpox vaccination. “The
probability of an intentional release of the smallpox virus is
low, but since the consequences of an outbreak would be great,
we must be prepared.” One of the first messages is in regards
to the likelihood of a smallpox release or outbreak. Their primary
message states that the probability of an intentional release of
smallpox virus is low, but since the consequences would be great,
we must be prepared.
“ Our
recommendations strengthen national and state preparedness by making
licensed vaccine available to those people who would be called
upon to respond to a smallpox release or outbreak.” The second
primary message speaks to the need for these recommendations and
the purpose of these recommendations. These recommendations strengthen
national and state preparedness by making licensed vaccine available
to those people who would be called upon to respond to a smallpox
release or outbreak.
“ Smallpox
vaccination before a confirmed smallpox case or outbreak provides
response teams and other first responders personal protection from
smallpox disease. It thus enables them to rapidly take the actions
necessary to protect the public, which includes identifying people
who need to vaccinated to control the outbreak as well as establishing
public vaccination clinics.” The third primary message speaks
to why it’s important that these people receive smallpox
vaccination. And the message there is that smallpox vaccination
before a confirmed smallpox case or outbreak provides response
team members and other first responders personal protection from
smallpox disease.
“ By protecting
those people who would be initially called upon to respond: We
further strengthen our abilty to protect the public; We increase
the capacity and capabilities of the public health system and the
nation’s hospitals to respond to, and control, a smallpox
outbreak.” Thanks to this personal protection from smallpox
disease, it enables them to rapidly take the actions necessary
to protect the public, which includes identifying people who need
to be vaccinated to control the outbreak as well as establishing
public vaccination clinics. In other words, by vaccinating the
people who would first be called upon to respond to a smallpox
outbreak, we are strengthening our ability to quickly and effectively
respond and in doing so, we are protecting the public.
The third part
of effective communication plans is to get prepared now to communicate
about vaccine reactions, vaccine risks, and adverse events. We
have learned there’s much interest among people when it comes
to immunization, such as the kinds of reactions that are typical
and the risks associated with immunization and vaccine adverse
events – including how to recognize them, how to respond
to them, and who to call if a person thinks that they may be experiencing
an adverse event. You need to have all the aforementioned information
ready to go right now in order to effectively communicate to people
when they want that information. In addition, you need to establish
your systems and methods for getting messages, information and
materials to your intended populations today.
Finally, you
can also expect there’s going to be a lot of interest and
demand from the media, the public, and policymakers for information
and it’s important that you establish the protocols for meeting
those demands so that your response staff can continue to do their
work. You should assume there will be frequent, perhaps daily,
information requests from the media and public. They will want
updates and status reports. They’ll be interested in the
number of people who are eligible to be vaccinated, the number
of people you have vaccinated, and the number of people who have
suffered reactions to the vaccine. You need to have systems in
place to get that kind of information on a regular and frequent
basis and also have systems in place so that the media and members
of the public know where to get that information.
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