Communications

Creating Your Pre-Event Communications

CDC’s Smallpox Preparedness Communication Goals

One of the primary CDC preparedness goals is to increase awareness and understanding of smallpox preparedness activities, including the recommendations on who should be vaccinated. The preparedness activities were developed to:

  1. Help instill and educate the public – or help instill and extend public confidence in national, state and local ability to respond to and effectively manage a smallpox release or outbreak.
  2. Provide accurate, consistent, timely and comprehensive information and resources. We have learned that there are many audiences and these audiences need to have a wide range of materials.
  3. Assist state, local and health care professional communication efforts.

Assumptions in the development of the CDC Smallpox Preparedness Communication Plans were that:

  1. Most people, including health care providers, need more information about smallpox disease, smallpox vaccine, and smallpox vaccination.
  2. Smallpox vaccinations will generate interests and requests for information from many people. This includes the public, the media, and the families of those affected. There will be a lot of people interested in what smallpox is, a lot of people interested in the specifics of smallpox vaccination, and we need to be prepared to answer and respond to requests from a lot of different sources.
  3. Many systems will be needed to distribute our messages, to provide updates, and to provide information to a wide range of people. One of the things that will probably be invaluable in this effort is developing partnerships and networks that can help get messages, updates and materials to the intended target audiences.
  4. The first serious adverse reactions – whether they are claimed or real – will generate much local and national media attention and public interest. People are going to want to know the specifics about what happened, why the person may have had the adverse reaction, and what is being done as a result of this report. 
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