And I'm going to pass it on over to Kendra Morgan, my colleague, who will be welcoming our presenters and moderating today's session. Welcome and thank you so much to all of you who are gathered here today. >> Thanks, Jennifer. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much to our production team behind the scenes and all of our panelists who have joined us today. My name is Kendra Morgan and I want to thank you for joining us for this webinar from the REopening archives, libraries and museums project from understanding COVID-19 vaccines. This is looking at vaccines and how they relate to the operations of archives, libraries and museums in the role of cultural institutions in the community. We have a great panel of speakers lined up to share information and resources with all of you today. And looking forward to hearing from all of you in chat. So please share resources and questions as we move through the next 90 minutes. We are joined by Crosby Kemper and Elisabeth Wilhelm. As well as Erica Kimmerling from the association of science and technology centers and Amy Marino from the Smithsonian. So great panel of speakers. I'm pleased to welcome Crosby from the institute of museum and library services. Thanks for joining us. >> Thank you very much, Kendra. Thanks, everybody, for being here. Stellar line up of panelists. Today is a marker of a turn of the REALM project. We set it up originally to have more certainty about the effect of the virus on materials and spaces. And the original research that's been done continues to report on it. And literature reviews. There is a turn now to focus on the vaccine roll out vaccine education and needs of our community of libraries and our communities with their libraries and museums. As we look at the pandemic, epidemiology is essentially the science of probabilities. And we hear the phrase trust the science. Trying to work out the science of the virus. Trust the probabilities is a less. It's really important that there is understanding around what we're doing with the pandemic as it turns to the vaccine roll out in the beginning of the end. Vaccine confidence is what we need to instill. There's a slow roll out of confidence as more and more people become vaccinated as their neighbors become vaccinated. And we all see the declines in various communities. The turn to vaccine -- education vaccine confidence, I think you'll see this as the beginning with an effort that will continue. And with Aztec to engaged in this effort today. Around research that needs to be done and the education that needs to be done for the future, post pandemic future in which I believe that libraries will in particular be much more significantly involved in local healthcare policy and response. So I'll turn it over to the expert panelists. And thank you, all, for being involved in what has been a national effort of libraries and museums to be a part of the solution to this pandemic. >> Thank you. And I'll echo my sentiments for being here today and continuing to learn about the topic. I wanted to share this map because it's something that we have been paying a lot of attention to. I know I have in both my professional and my personal life. This is a map from the CDC that looks at the COVID-19 vaccination rates in the United States. I encourage you to check this out. It's a map that changes daily. It's something that's really important to remember. What we are discussing today is information that can and will change. Be mindful of the landscape and currency of resources and continuing to learn and share more everyday. It's fantastic to see that map growing in more and more vaccinations. That dark blue is making me happy. So I wanted to share just a few things about realm if any of you are new to the project. This is a partnership of three organizations. IMLS, OCLC and B.A. TTELLE engaged in the past year on project activities. We're supported by a steering committee and two working groups helping to inform and support the development of project activities. We hear from those of you on the front lines and questions from visitors and staff. Do keep the questions and comments coming. We are looking to review and research, continue to engage with representatives and subject matter experts and archives, libraries and museums. There was a lot of testing in materials early on in the realm project. We are synthesizing everything we learn. The tool kit materials that are available from the realm project are all freely available on the realm web site. They are posted under creative comments to reuse. And continuing to share project information through webinars like this. The scope of the project is really to better understand how S ARS is working and impacts local decision making and development of operational practices and procedures. We understand that there is an enormous amount of strain that has come with this pandemic and the staff of your organizations are really having to face the reality of that daily. So we're listening, we're learning and adapting along the way. That's what led us to this new focus on vaccines and variants is the importance of these emerging priorities. So for many of our institutions, we're still working with a lot of unknowns. New science is continuing to come out and continuing to pay attention to it and surface it as it's relevant. With so much variability among our institutions not just around the globe but here in the United States. Local regulations, state regulations, we're encouraging you to take this information and work it into your policy needs. Through the project, we have conducted four reviews of the scientific literature that's been published all with an eye towards how it impacts libraries and museums. Three of those reports are systematic literature reviews. Published on the spread of COVID-19 and how it would impact our facilities. We have made a shift for the fourth report. Which is now available. And it's to look at the vaccines and variants. There are a few highlights that I wanted to share and focus on some of the questions that we looked at. This is research that we partnered with BATTELLE on. There are two key questions we looked at. The implications of the vaccination for public health policies. And what differences have been found as it relates to spread, attenuation and disappear on surfaces. And the effectiveness of public health interventions. You'll find a link in the chat to the latest research briefing which is on vaccines and variance. Again, identified by our steering committee and working groups as clear priorities Forrel many to explore. I encourage you to check out the full briefing. One of the things we wanted to reinforce is the research constantly evolving. There's been an incredible volume of research released in the last 15 months. Research on Coronavirus is something that's been going on for quite sometime. It isn't a new virus. The researchers already have a lot of information to build on. We're able to grow our understanding. So this is just a highlight of a few of the things turned up in the briefing around unknowns about vaccines and variance. The idea of an unknown, it really makes sense because we're looking at the impact of a global population with so many differences and unique circumstances. For example, data on how long immunity will last for vaccines. That's going to evolve as we have more time to see the long-term efficacy and capture that information. The same thing goes for how well the vaccines will protect against future variants. So this is just a little bit about the unknowns. I do encourage you to dig into that resource briefing. You'll also find a link to a vaccine round up that our tool kit editors have put together showing resources from a range of publications that can help shed additional light on this. We have created several resources to help you as you think about reopening your institutions or expanding services and these resources are all available on the project web site. Two that might be particular interest are one on decision making and one on reopening considerations. And these really capture some of the big buckets you want to look at. We plan to release mask policies and institutions cultural institutions as well as volunteer management. You can keep up through the REALM web site. And one good way to do that is to sign up for mailing list. We'll reach out when new resources are made available. So that's the background on REALM and where we are with the current state of the research. And now I'm going to turn it over to Elisabeth Wilhelm who is the co-lead of the confidence team at the CDC to talk about strategies for promoting COVID-19 vaccine confidence. Thank you for joining us. >> Hi. I'm glad I get to be with you. If you have comments or questions, feel free to drop them in the chat. I wanted to talk about vaccine confidence and where we're at in the United States and hard earned advice and guidance on how we can build confidence and the role that all of you can play in getting more vaccines in the arms and closer to the end of this pandemic. First just to say that the public really is becoming more confident in COVID-19 vaccines as more people get vaccinated. I think the illustration of the United States becoming more and more blue, that's what we want to see. And recognizing that since December, we've had over 20% of Americans have gotten vaccinated which is wonderful to see. That number climbs everyday. As you can see, as time has gone on, the sliver of folks who are really the wait and see or fence sitters, people who are the moveable middle which is what HHS calls this group really has narrowed. As more and more people are shifting towards the dark blue you are seeing to getting the vaccine as soon as possible. And different groups of people are at different parts of thinking and feeling about vaccines. Or those people that have questions. Or people who want to wait and see. We're constantly overwhelmed on a daily base. This week has been no exception to this. And recognizing that we need to meet people where they are at. And also ensure that we offer them the information in a way they are looking for and answer the questions that they have. So just to say that we're going to continue following this and reach people where they are at and recognizing that these things are shifting everyday. So vaccine demand really does fall on a spectrum. And just to recognize that people fall at different parts on the spectrum. You have out right refusal. Very few humans do this. Most us made it to adulthood because we were vaccinated. It's a norm in the United States and Canada and a very strong social norm. And to say we're building on that. And as we're moving to the right-hand side of this diagram, we want to be building active vaccines recognizing that most people are in the middle. The wait and see approach. And recognizing that vaccine confidence comes in three parts which is trust in the vaccine, the vaccinator and the system that it came from. If you don't have trust in all three, it's really difficult to move folks closer to the right-hand side of this diagram. And just to say that sometimes we can leverage the trust that people have and specific parts of that vaccine vaccinator piece to be a bridge for conversation for answering questions and answering concerns. To give you an example if someone has questions or concerns about the safety of a specific vaccine but they trust their nurse practitioner or healthcare provider or doctor, that person should be equipped to have a conversation with patient about the vaccine and listen to questions or concerns. Really, what we're all about when it comes to vaccine confidence is it requires conversations. So we'll be lovingly called a pyramid. There are a lot of different aspects that make up high up tick of a vaccine. We are in a place where there's limited supply and high demand. People are lining up and scrambling for appointments. Recognizing that if which want to have high up tick in coverage so everybody can get vaccinated, it requires three things. Access. Physical proximity to vaccines. Equity. And making sure that we're making the vaccine distribution as equitable as possible. And finally, trust which is that vaccine competence piece. It requires all three compony ets for us to have high uptick. Usually, there is some sort of issue that is intertwined with some of these other aspects. It's not only just confidence or trust. There are access barriers that are real and impacts people's ability to get vaccinated. So I like to say that just because you are confident in the vaccine doesn't shorten the distance between you and the vaccine. So at CDC, we have a strategy for how we want to promote vaccine confidence which is called vaccinate with confidence. It is based on three pillars. This is a very busy slide. What I will do is focus on the last bucket. The first one is about building trust. That is having clear consistent accurate communication and build those visible actions to build trust in the vaccine. Also point out there is something unique that is compatible with the folks in this room which is that last piece. The harm and spread of misinformation as it relates to vaccines or any type of health issues extremely damaging or harmful. There are steps we can take to help people deal with the overwhelming information and misinformation they are facing. It's what WHO calls the infodemic. This is something we've been spending time on recognizing health literacy are really important if we want people to find the information they are looking for, judge accuracy and credibility and make healthcare decisions based on that information. The second bucket also relates to healthcare personnel. We want people to feel empowered. How can we expect them to recommend it to their patients and offer counseling support to them. That comes down to empathetic conversations. And finally, this is where all of you come in. Engaging communities and individuals. What we really want to be do something engaging communities in a sustainable, equitable and build trust and increase collaboration. What this comes down to is the fact you need to have a conversation. Blasting messages one way is not going to do the job. And recognizing that people have fears, concerns and we should be having conversations where people can ask those questions and be heard and learn more and hear that from trusted sources. And ultimately, what that comes down to is collaborating trusted messengers to tailor and share materials for diverse communities. So you've heard this phrase a lot I'm sure. And we lean in to trust messages. Address mis information. Feedback loops. So I would like to take this a step further and say trusted spaces. When you have a pastor or mom saying you should get vaccinated, protect yourself and family, it's way more powerful if you say we'll offer pop up vaccination services on Friday night or Sunday afternoon. And you are welcome to bring family and grandma. It's not just the messages but spaces getting us closer to COVID-19 as we know it. This is I don't think a surprise to anybody. Building trust is a process and not an end state. It's our job to let communities know it is okay to have questions especially for those hurt by societal systems. Structural racism is real. Many communities have not been well served. Earlier in the pandemic and having lived experiences of discrimination. And just to say that it takes a lot to build trust in places where there is very little trust in the middle of a pandemic. I wanted to emphasize that we need to do more things that are worthy of the trust and the individuals we want to offer a vaccine to. It will take more than one conversation to change minds. And just recognizing that vaccine hesitancy especially when it is rooted in lack of trust rather than lack of information is best addressed to trusted messengers and spaces. Ultimately, we want people to be informed and make their own decision about whether vaccine is right for them. I know that this can be really challenging. We all have family members and friends and colleagues who have concerns who might have seen misinformation or don't trust the vaccine or the process. And these can be really challenging conversations. I think what we can do is listen with empathy and care. And I'll talk about that later on. So messages and communication are not efficient to increase vaccine confidence. Being confident in vaccines requires addressing the equity barriers as well. So when we talk about why might there be low up tick in a community as an organization to address it, we have to remember that we need to help address the access and equity barriers. And that goes hand in hand and two-way dialogue and that's something that we can all do. Or experts can go a long way to have people feel heard. So how do we address hesitancy that comes from misinformation? A friend of mine who is an amazing misinformation expert has a great expression which says don't mute your uncles. We all have that uncle or that person in our lives that share information that pushes all the emotional buttons and recognizing that there's a tend we see stuff that causes a strong emotional reaction. If you think back to your time line, how many baby and wedding announcements compared to things that make you angry or upset? That points to the fact we tend to share things that really push our emotional buttons. That's the kind of stuff that's shared and gains traction. When we're having conversations with people who have been living in a pandemic for a year, we all have a lot of stress, a lot of anxiety, can be difficult to separate myth from fact. It's usually out of a concern for others. And there's some things we can do to address there. We have two years as one mouth and listen twice as much as we speak. Why is this person sharing this information and how might support them and acknowledge their feelings. And I think we can also use this as an opportunity to ask permission to share information. Can you share information about a source they trust that might have answers to their questions? And this helps us avoid the trap of shutting down a conversation by saying I got a link for that. It's not always the big federal agency. Trusted sources mean different things to different people of the what you can do is help identify the trusted sources. And when you are addressing this information on social media, address the underlying concern but avoid repeating this information. If you want to address the information gap that someone is concerned about how vaccines might change their DNA or might be expressing concerns about how they might have questions. Next slide please. So I'll just end and say we have a lot of materials on the CDC web site that is available. This is a small snapshot. Slides and stickers and key messages, content in a lot of different languages. And all happily shared. You can do what you want to make them locally. They are there as a resource for you. With that, I look forward to our conversation after this talk. >> Thank you. There's been great chat going on. Questions and people sharing experiences around talking to co-workers. What can management be allowed to implement. And that goes back to earlier discussions around needing to engage your local experts and decision makers. Many libraries are part of the local government. Museums. Archives can be independent and private entities. So the rules that may apply to each of these institutions is so different. And can be helpful in helping to contextualize this information. And we do encourage you to reach out to your local offices, your health departments. If you are part of an organization that has access to an attorney to think about some of the ways that you might be engaging with your staff. And what options you might want to present. We encourage you to do that. We did have a few questions come through. I'm going to save them a little bit for the end as we move through our presentations. Our next presenter is Erica Kimmerling from the association of science and technology centers to talk about the role of community institutions and vaccines. Thanks for being here. >> Thank you. And good afternoon, everyone. It is a pleasure to be speaking with all of you today. I'm a senior advisor for science engagement policy and partnerships at the association of science and technology centers. Prior to joining ASTC, I studied the complex and evolving relationship between science and society at the American academy of arts and sciences. This initiative looked at the perception of science including trust on scientific issues. And science institutions like museums to activities. I bring all this up because this is the lens I consider the role of community institutions and their ability to contribute to the COVID-19 vaccine. -- vaccination effort. Provide you with additional tools and ways of thinking about community engagement around COVID-19 vaccination. I want to provide you with a pathway of envisioning your role and strengths. Explore the breakdown among different demographic and economic groups. And the basics around public opinion polling. We're going to find and vet this information so you can find local information that is relevant to your community. And then given these data, really, I'll dig into the reason why community institutions like yours have a role given what we know about how trust is earned and maintained. And I will share my favorite resources for potential programming and other efforts to increase vaccine uptake. So polling data can be powerful. It can flag areas of concern. And future areas for further communication and engagement. And as I've been tracking the latest data for the COVID-19 vaccine, I've leaned on two major sources, the Kaiser foundation monitor and the research center Coronavirus research page. And these are two of my favorite polling sources. They've been really surveying attitudes for months since the fall of 2020. And they update their data on a fairly regular base. The monitor does it on a monthly basis. And the timing and the frequency of this survey data is particularly important given everything that's been said so far about these attitudes being so dynamic. If you were to look at the data in December and November, the data looks very different. And similarly, we really don't know what the pause in the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will impact how people feel. It's important to stay up to date. I encourage you in addition to look at the national sources to think about is there reputable polling in your local area? Now, what do I mean by reputable? I consider these sources trust worthy. They use proven survey methodologies. This is different than online flesh polls. Things you might see on Twitter. These sources can be overly biased to measure the attitudes of users or social media platform and not really representative of the whole population. It's always good to look at their framing of the question. Less reliable polls we have a leading answer that influences the data. So you believe this thing, don't you? That's the type of thing that is a real flag and not super useful. What's nice about looking at data sources is you can see how asking a question changes the answers. So these data are useful tools. Your own understanding will impact any effort you take. So that's about about 13%. That data hasn't changed a lot overtime. They will definitely not get a COVID-19 vaccine. Among republicans at 29%. Along with people who live in rural areas around 20%. And 18% of people say they will not get the vaccines. These groups are not mutually exclues I have been. So challenging to surface and split these things apart. One thing I will say is the latest research indicates that for people who are younger, there is less fear around the adverse side affects of getting COVID-19. And maybe less experience the impacts of the virus given there's less crowding in populated areas. We know it can be traced to general institutions, the media, the political environment and that plays into how people feel about it. What recent research suggests is that the messaging around things like the idea gets used to normal. Some people have not been modifying their behavior to begin with. Important to think about who you are talking to when you are about to pursue engagement effort. One thing I want to pause before I talk about wait and see is I would caution anyone against who is looking at this data to come to the conclusion that a particular person group is antivacser. It puts walls up. Logically speaking, it's best practice to not otherwise someone else for the attitudes that they have. People have reasons for being hesitant. And this is why what Elizabeth was talking about. Listening first and foremost and speaking less is important. The way to go is to not look at particular people and start to use name calling. So the wait and see population. This is the other major category that's come up already. And what is fascinating is since March it was down. More people are switching from wait and see or likely to get vaccinated. And the difference between this category and the definitely not is you are seeing more respondents the higher level of responses are from black respondents, Hispanic. People within the 18 to 29 age bracket and up tick among independence. So the people who are wait and see are different than the people who are definitely not. Your strategy may be different. Versus people who just distrust institutions full stop. And this can be different over the summer as more information comes out. So those are attitudes. When we think about why people have concerns, the top responses, this is now from the research center. For people who are saying they are probably or definitely will not get a vaccine, top concern is side affects that 72% listing that as a major reason and 72% as a minor reason. The other concerns are the vaccines were developed and tested too quickly. More people want to know how well they work. There's also concerns about the way the medical care system has worked in the past. And people don't think they need to get it. Speaking of trusted messengers from the vaccine monitor. There was a question from people who said asking people who were deciding on whether or not they would get a vaccine, 79% said they would consult a doctor, nurse or other healthcare provider when deciding what to do. So that just reminds us that who we partner with and the voices we bring in, if you are doing any work, bring nothing a local healthcare provider is most likely going to provide a trusted source of information whereas local public health departments are trusted at different levels based on who you talk to. And I think there's a mix responses to whether or not family or friends although the social norming component speaking to family and friends is also important. The one group you do not see on this list is like local and national politicians are not helpful trusted messengers. There's been focus groups talking to people of different political beliefs and a lot of indication is that speaking and hearing from their local politician has not provided them with the information that they need. So thinking about who you are partnering with is critical. So now turning to why community institutions what is the role? I wanted to continue focusing on the data a little bit and show a survey from a few years ago. And although science and technology centers are not a common source, out of all the other specialty course sources, they had -- people thought they got their facts right. This perception agrees with data from other sources that indicates museums and libraries are trusted sources of information. It's more than just getting facts right. There is not necessarily a political or profit driven agenda to the information that is provided. You know how to discuss and frame content M a matter that embraces the values and the local context. It is because of this, played a role in issues like climate change dialogue. But not just the science of climate change but the local impacts of rising sea levels. It's because of this role you see things like the Smithsonian institutions on human origins designed to promote dialogue. For this exhibit programming, the libraries tailor the content to local community and feedback from community members and religious scientific backgrounds. And people came out of that with an enriched understanding of what it means to be human. So it's really about these are spaces that are known for challenging dialogues. And worked in this way in the past. This is not a new role to think about in the context of COVID-19 vaccine. I wanted to discuss what I see are the strengths and assets of the institutions that you can think about what you might want to do. We expect there to be a need for greater engagement to step in and meet this moment. To increase uptake, it really needs to be reflective of the needs, conditions and values of your local community. It's not just about addressing the hesitancy but the access. To that end, some of the core strengths are your experience with vetting information and telling local stories. The experience is partners to know where the vacs anation grabs are and needs to be capacity. Based on those types of needs, one of the biggest assets is physical infrastructure. May be need for a new vaccination site. Needs for computer and technical support. A lot of that happens online. And, again, there is going to need to be space for neutral conversations and listening sources and to be a source of information. So it really does matter these institutions are neutral sites for discussion and further information. Not to mention the staff at museums and libraries have strengths whether it's exhibit designs, dialogue or deep community engagement. All of the above can play a role. And lastly, I cannot emphasize the importance of being known members of your community as an individuals that interact with people on a regular basis. Your decision on whether or not to get a vaccine. That can go a long way. So I want to recognize that this is exactly the type of work we've been doing throughout the pandemic. Child care service for healthcare workers when that need was flagged by local officials. Garden boxes and more. And providing personal protective equipment and other healthcare workers when it was in short supply. And some science museums in the U. K starting to serve as locations for vaccinations. And one of the other things is this information and resource sharing started during the pandemic, on the image on your screen is materials from an exhibit developed by the New York hall of science being displayed at the science center. The New York hall of sciences exhibit on science behind the news is now at 106 institutions across 19 countries. So the type of information sharing that is possible allows this work to be scaled and adapted. So I'm not really going to go too much more down this path. I know Amy will talk about the exciting work that will allow for that information sharing. In my last couple minutes, I wanted to point you to some of my favorite resources for starting to think about engagement communication. These are genre sources. But are a good place to start. The top resource is over the summer from the Hopkins center for security. And social sciences and overview of the key issues. Released guidance on vaccine communication along with the public interest communications. Those are two really practitioner focused resources. And I'm going to second the materials on the CDC's vaccination web site. There are tools that are useful thinking about what you can do and how to be effective. The other thing is has a handy one pager of dos and don'ts. It's not just about the data. It's about the stories and individuals. A one size fits all approach does not work. We need to listen, use accessible language. On what we should not do. I want to reemphasize the need to not be dismissive. I've been having these conversations with my family. And there are fears of the fevers and some of the mild side affects that happened. And helpful to be honest and talk about your personal experience. With respect to addressing this information. This information is not new. The public health communication have been working on this for a while. Gave the same example of problem of addressing this information which is to not address the myth and this is from a great academic paper on the topic. And the solution is if you are addressing the information based on how we know if your brain works, don't say the myth up fronts. And it stays embedded. So the solution being based on the cognitive sciences is to surround the information with facts. If you do use it, give a warning up front that misinformation is coming. If you are worried about how to tap down on information, I highly suggest digging into the literature that exists from these fields. And that's it for me. Thank you so much for listening. And I'm happy to answer your questions in the chat. >> Thank you so much, Erica. It is great to pull out some of the research that's been done really for years. This ability to talk to people about personal experiences or how to communicate with people. We're benefiting from the fact that a lot of research has already been done into these topics. We can pull those resources out and help them apply to our current situation. One of the questions that someone pulled up was do the surveys that KFF were conducting. Ask if there's a concern around vaccines that may be causing hesitancy. That's one of the things we heard from people and medical professionals. Do you know if that's one of the questions they looked at? >> I know they changed their questions at specific issues. I do not know all of the data off the top of my head. I will look into it. >> I will reiterate that idea of sharing experiences can have so much power. Some of the work that WebJunction has done through funded project on opioids and how libraries are supporting their community. One of the things we heard in a library where they were training individuals with comes with a whole host of questions. Help reverse an overdose. But as people participated in training shared their experience they appreciated the opportunity to learn something new. They didn't feel obligated to take the steps. By sharing story ss -- this was something people can participate in. We have an opportunity to learn more. I encourage you to continue to have these conversations. All right. Next speaker who has had a very big day. Amy Marino with the Smithsonian just launched a new site and excited to have her share the resources made available. Thank you for joining us. >> Thank you, all of you. Hi, my name is Amy. I'm in the office that oversees science museums and research centers. This aims to leverage the trust in cultural organizations to educate and to support the national vaccination effort. We believe that every one of us has a right to trusted information especially when it comes to your health. Vaccination is a choice that impacts you, your family and also your community. We created vaccines to help make an informed decision and answer questions about them and discuss them with their family, friends and in your community. We've heard from previous speakers about the number of Americans who are not inclined to get the vaccine. Where are those individuals getting that information? Most Americans consider museums to be trust worthy sources of information more so than government agencies and newspapers. We are a trusted messengers and we offer trusted spaces. We know that Americans want to see their cultural organizations become more engaged, more inclusive, and more people oriented. The b aipoc community is more likely to stay informed and connected. So we ask this effort offers an opportunity for museums, libraries, and all other cultural organizations to help their communities in a new and creative way. We also hope the project might breakdown the discipline silos and help us encourage collaboration. So the campaign has three component parts. First, our web site. Vaccines Vaccinesandus.org. We did lawn of today. If you do take a look please let us know what you think. Bring that to our attention. All of the resources are available in an open access format. That means that they are free for you to download and use in any way that you wish. We hope that the content is approachable and we will continue to try to add content in additional languages. On the site, we will share calendar of events. That is still forthcoming in the next few days. And finally, our poster campaign. This is a way that anyone can become involved. Business owners and any of our interested neighbors. We'll have posters available for you to download and share in your community. What makes vaccines for us so unique is the collaboration. We say this is for us by us. And that us is a village. 10 organizations and three independent museum professionals collaborated with the Smithsonian to develop a national approach to vaccine education. Museums in the country did a seriously amazing thing. They shared their contact with us. We understood our vision. The vaccines, the community impact and their history. Now, despite being closed, we collectively aim to become active community partners and health information. Our goal was to create a resource hub that could be accessible and useable by individuals, groups and, of course, all museums, libraries and cultural organizations. I've been at the Smithsonian for almost two decades. I have to say, today is a personal and organizational milestone. I know my codirector is listening and shares excitement today. This is the first time you will see a web site with content. I'm inspired by the organizations you see here. Our supporters also shared in this vision. I hope that you'll hear from them. These valuable organizations to promote vaccines to us. Looking closer, we organized all of the content into 6 areas that you see here. This slide is about the same. I wanted to highlight that we have American sign language content thanks to an amazing series provided by the CDC. We need you to help us. This collaboration is for all of us. Together, we can learn and answer questions. We can share our personal experiences, our community experiences, express ourselves and our cultures. We want you to share the science, the art, music, videos, all of these tips and clips we've provided on us. Created info graph or video or some approachable information please share it with us. You can send a note to vaccines and us. And as our calendar takes shape, we would love to include event happening in our community. These don't have to be professional designs. Come together with family and show us why you are getting vaccines. We want positive art that helps us share that we are here for information shares. Here's a closeup of a sample poster. This one is a sample but easy to print at home. If you have the ability to print posters, that's terrific. And you see we have both the vaccines and us logo along with the Smithsonian. That's a place you can put your organization logo. So this will be exciting but you might be wondering how it relates to you and your organization. So I wanted to provide a few general examples. We'd love for you to download the poster and put it on your web site. We can print a few copies. Put one in the window maybe at your local drug store or the store front that's on the Main Street. Knowing your audience includes many retired people, you can add this FAQ to a web site. With an invitation to a zoom conversation about comfort food in Iowa. You can download a poster and put it on your web site. Maybe it's a few posters that you like. You can print a few copies and have local businesses share them. Maybe your staff can take them to the local beauty shop and display them or hang them on a few lamp posts. You can add COVI book. And link to your resource for families. And mention resources are available in Spanish, Chinese and German or the language is spoken in your community. And explore the articles we featured in tools and resources. This is a section about children during COVID-19. And finally, what about your library? The central office has to ask each branch to hang a poster on the front door and the windows. Perhaps during the month of June. All of the branches can host in-person conversations on the topic of prejudice and hostility. As people register online, they can be sent the resource. Can a virus turn us against each other? Each branch can structure a conversation tailored to its audience. Maybe one will have participants listen to and discuss Dr. Cruz comments. We hope to have first-person narratives. So there you are. You are the first audience to preview our site and we cannot wait to see how you might use it. Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Amy. The chat comments have been so positive. Really enthusiastic. Excited about the resource and being able to make it available publically. So congratulations. I know it's a huge milestone. And I'm sure you are looking forward to next week when you can launch to the public. So I think it's the 21st. We'll be sharing that around to our partners. I hope you'll see it in a variety of sources beginning on April 21st. >> Great. Thank you so much. And I did find it inspiring you noted this is the first time the Smithsonian is hosting content from other organizations which is so telling about how hard people are working together right now. There is truly unpress dented level of collaboration as we are all working to get information out there to share the best of what is available to our communities and really take advantage of the strengths that our partners can bring. So that was something that I have felt throughout the REALM project to be able to depend on members of our steering committee and working groups who represent some of the fantastic organizations that are part of cultural institutions across the United States. And I'm glad that was your experience as well with getting this content pulled together and it really is a fantastic project and we're happy to be able to highlight it. One of the questions that someone asked was if you plan to include any input from people who don't want to get vaccinated as part of the other side of the conversation. >> It's such an important question. We believe the first-person narratives are critical whether you are on the fence. Maybe really reluctant. You'll see the first person section really multiply as we move forward through our campaign. We have a couple of those now. You'll find those in mama Linda's friends. This is associated with appeal in Baltimore. Got together a group of black elders to talk about how they felt about getting the vaccine. If you listen to the stories, you'll hear not everyone was willing to go ahead and do it. Some were still having hesitation. So while we do want to promote information, we are highlighting stories who have not made decisions for themselves. >> Great. Thank you. All right. Let me go on to our next slide. We have gone through all of our formal presentations. Thank you, again, to all of our panelists. We have a great amount of time left over for doing some Q and A. Couple of things that have come through. One of the questions was a general question around whether we think the vaccine is going to be a requirement like other vaccines to enroll in public schools. And I think this is going to be a hyper local decision that is going to be bottom in every school district. Every state is going to be addressing it. We have 50 different ways of operating. It's going to be a real local effort. One of the unknowns right now is when a vaccine might be available for people under the age of 16. Currently, there's only one vaccine for 16 and over. The others are for 18 and over. So there's a lot of development that would still have to happen in order for that would be part of the conversation. >> If you have another question, go ahead. >> Please do. >> Those are really important questions. First of all, I would imagine similar in Canada. Because the vaccines are under emergency youth authorization means they cannot be mandated. And whether or not vaccination should be mandated is up to businesses, communities and local policy makers. Generally speaking, the two tools we encourage would be the very bottom of your list. They tend to be coercive. It's essentially it's a shortcut for getting people vaccinated and avoiding the harder work. And healthcare places with vaccination status will impact whether or not you'll be continue to be employed there. And seeing this among businesses they'll make their own decisions whether or not they would like to hire people vaccinated. So the realities is this is already happening. Some have said if you want to come back to real world learning together on campus in the fall, expect to be vaccinated. Expect to be happening. And further in terms of consensus supply. Comes to access. One dose vaccine versus two dose vaccines has different logistics associated with it in terms of getting one and done. And don't need to follow up two weeks later. And so that has an impact on workplaces and similar situations. So that's one consideration. When it comes to vaccines for people under the age of 16, pediatric trials are ongoing. As we learn more, there will be recommendations whether or not we'll be offering vaccines to kids. Having said that, it's quite clear the general direction will be offering vaccines to as many people as possible whethers vaccines are safe and effective. Having said that, something that is unique about offering COVID-19 vaccines to schoolchildren is the fact that most other vaccines we have is also true in Canada is it's given to toddlers and infants. We have a lot of interventions and support materials to parents. And talking to them as being hesitant. And offering vaccines to kids who have their own questions about vaccines. And want them to be empowered. So that's going to become a reality. A really amazing opportunity to educate two children and how vaccines work. And protect fellow students in class. I would like to highlight one of my favorite health literacy XHAFRMs comes from Canada. And that's kids boost immunity. It's really awesome web site. I'll share a link to it in the chat. Essentially, it's -- you sign up as an individual. There are resources, lesson plans and other materials available for teaching education for different grade levels. Kids learn about the immune system and learn about I seizes and epidemics and updated content for COVID-19 vaccines. Basically, kids learn about these things. They take quizzes. For every correct answer they give, funding is donated to ensure that UNISEF and others are able to vaccine a kid. That is a huge compeller to not only learn about vaccines and doing good for another kid in the world. And combined education. And really innovative format. I'll share a link to that in the chat. >> Thank you so much. And another question that came through around heard immunity. Do you know if 70% vaccination rate nationally is what we're looking to target for herd immunity? >> The science is still out on that. That comes you down to natural immunity. You having gotten infected in the past and how long you have antibodies and continued protection from being infected against versus immunity from vaccination and how long that lasts. And taking into account the on-going variance and what that means for evasion of current vaccines and does it impact their efficacy. So really complicated picture. And if you are interested in staying abreast of the latest and greatest coming out in terms of research and guidance, I would subscribe to mortality weekly report which highlights in a quick summary and need to want to know about the current state of vaccine science. So I'll share that link. Someone already did. >> Our team is on it. So here's a question that bother closing argument and Elisabeth may want to weigh in on. Started to experience people saying they are fully vaccinated and want to enter without complying for a mask rule. What are techniques about the value of continuing to wear a mask. >> The current guidance is you should continue wearing a mask staying 6 feet apart from others even if you have been fully vaccinated. Although the vaccine might protect you, the science is still out on whether it protects others from having COVID-19 transmitted to them by you. And I can link to the chat for that. Just to say that I think we might be seeing more of that where people are letting their guard down. When we reach a point where most people got vaccinated, it's going to be tempting to stop wearing masks and socially distancing. What we can do is keep maintaining the social norm. It sucks you are in a position where you have to remind people to keep their masks on. That becomes a safety issue if you have people not willing to follow the rules. I'm imagining you've had to deal with this problem before. Coming into a closed building. Hearing to all of the mitigation measures. >> Thank you. >> I did want to pause for a second and say while the guidance is still being figured out social norming element is key. If you think about letting people in without wearing a mask, not everyone is going to be vaccinated. So it has to be that mask wearing is maintained. Continuing that until everyone is able to be safe is essential. Is that something that people will print off directly. >> So right now it would be available for organizations or households. I am working with hopefully a poster printing partner. If you don't have the means to do that, we are looking for a partner in the community. I'll keep the site and keep everyone updated with information if that become available. >> One of the questions that's come up has been a hot topic of quarantining. A lot of libraries adopted a quarantine period for materials returned to the library after being used. Some of that is based on research that we did through the REALM project. Other quarantine periods. We're trying to encourage people to talk to their local health departments. And the question is how will this impact the quarantine periods as people become vaccinated. And that's one of the things we've encouraged people to look at without the past year. How is local infection rate or spread happening in community. If you have low questions we have heard of quarantine times from not at all. Many have chosen not to quarantine from one day to 7 days. Those days and ranges have changed. A lot of time that's done with local health department. We're helping to advise based on new information that's coming out of CDC about the risk of infected objects. A lot of it is continuing to evolve. That will start to have an impact on materials. And I can see people putting the range in chat around stopping to -- stopping quarantine. Some people still doing 72 hours. And we'll see that continuing as we go through the next few months. So let's move on to our next question. Are there any estimates at this point on howl vaccines can limit the damage that COVID-19 and any variance may cause? So connected to that idea at the rates of that may decrease. How do we balance the fact there's a lot we don't know and some of the information shared around what we don't know and -- anyone want to elaborate on that? that? >> There has been a new unit set up. It's looking at people infected after having been fully vaccinated to understand what are the potential reasons why. And the numbers of people who have been reinfected is extremely low. Understanding how they play a role is a really huge focus. We heard reports of people infected that then got vaccinated. These are long haulers experience all types of symptoms. And reports of people who felt better or had fewer symptoms. That's also like another interesting path. And another benefit that if it bears out, one of the reasons we suggest people get vaccinated is if you've been infected, this can alleviate your symptoms. What we don't know is how the variants are affecting the vaccines available in the United States. There's a lot more variants working other populations for vaccines that are not offered here yet. You'll be the first to know one way or the other. >> Thank you. So one of the things we talked about was the pause that's been put on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Is anyone looking to see what the impact of that decision is going to have on vaccine confidence and attitudes? >> Actually. Look different now between when we met yesterday and when we'll reconvene. Decided not to make a decision. And I would imagine the impact on that will be different than if they made a decision one way or the other. Our job would have been to communicate and support and narrate the reasons why. We're trying to take those recommendations forward to explain the rational for why these decisions were made. This is injecting a level of uncertainty and concern. And will be until there is decision made. It's also impacting vaccine confidence among our friends and neighbors and among other parts of the world looking to the decisions happening in the United States to inform their own decision making about vaccines being offered in their countries. It's extremely concerning. I think what's concerning is there's an equity component to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that is less clearer. People who would prefer the one dose approach, they might have more vaccine fears. It's a lot easier for them to get to a pop up site. And you how that might impact. We'll all know a lot more. Just to say the pause I would imagine and what we're expecting to see might be -- will continue that confidence. >> Great. Thanks. So there was a question about the briefing and there were two questions we looked at on that. The individual asked if there would be a more in-depth presentation. It does dive into what the researchers found. This is something we're continuing to evolve resources on as we learn more. We do plan to continue those. I expect there will be one or two more focused on vaccines and variance as the high level priorities right now. So you can expect to see those resources and dig into what you find in the shared resource which is in the chat. There's another question about when public libraries might be able to offer in-person story times to prehuffK audiences. Our colleagues at children's museums being able to resume some of their activities. Local decisions for how many people can be in public spaces. We're looking to -- looking at capacity and choosing to have 25% of capacity or 50% of capacity based on certain bench marks. I know you are all anxious to get that service back. It's such a core part of what libraries do. All right. What we have been seeing recently after vaccinations have started to become more common place is cases are actually continuing to increase in some communities. Can you talk a little bit about what the CDC is seeing around that trend? >> That is the subject of a lot of concern and a lot of very TAERTHed research to figure out why. We need to double down on every single way that we can in order to prevent spread. Continuing to mask and socially distance and get vaccinated. At this point, that's all we can really say. Again, subscribe. You'll know as soon as we know. I hope can help keep you up to date to O the latest and greatest. We're learning something new everyday which is adding to the confusion people are experiencing. I'm hoping that MMWR might help parsed in some of that. >> Thank you. I do want to reiterate one of the questions around conversations with staff around vaccinations in the United States. There are often HIPPA rules around health information. You should seek local guidance from folks on the legal side to make sure you are following all rules and procedures. One of the things we have talked about is how challenging the change and information can be. We are constantly looking for new information. Staying subscribed to resources that can provide you with the latest news is really important. I'm going to be looking anxiously at the vaccines and us site as they continue to release things and have conversations and highlight them. I really encourage those of you who are in a position to think about how you can help to share this information. What can you do to put out and amplify the message of vaccines and us? Information that the CDC is sharing. What role to play. Continuing to social distance,- the value and begin the vaccines. I think there were a few questions we weren't able to get to. And we'll be sure to try and answer some of those on the web site. Jennifer, any closing thoughts? >> Thank you so much to all of our presenters and all of you who joined today. Our captioner. I'm going to send you to a survey. We'll share that with the panel as well. And guide our on-going programming. And I'll send you all an email later today once the recording is posted. And for those of you gathering on YouTube, you have the link to where you can go and find that recording. Thank you, all, everyone. Carry on and we'll see you next time at a WebJunction webinar.