New CVEEP Survey: Pandemic Preparedness and Public Understanding of Vaccine Science
About Our Survey
- The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted strengths in the United States’ public health infrastructure and the pharmaceutical industry’s ability to quickly respond to the challenge by quickly focusing their efforts to develop vaccines and treatments targeting the virus. The pandemic also showed us areas for improvement – including vaccine education, awareness, and access – when it comes to being ready for future health threats like infectious diseases.
- We conducted a survey to explore the current perceptions of consumers and pharmacists who led much of the country’s vaccination efforts, to better understand how prepared we feel as a country for the next pandemic or health crisis.
Strengthening access to vaccines and vaccine innovation is critical to the future of public health and preparedness.
- More than 8 in 10 consumers and more than 9 in 10 pharmacists believe vaccines protect us from future public health threats.
- Majority of consumers and pharmacists believe it is important for the U.S. to prioritize vaccine development and distribution to prepare for future public health threats.
“These survey results clearly show that strengthening research and development, along with ensuring equitable access to all available vaccines, is critical to our preparedness for the next pandemic. Americans want a better understanding of the science behind vaccines and more control over their healthcare decisions. It’s essential to provide trusted information to empower individuals and build confidence in vaccines as a public health tool.”
Americans are looking for a better understanding of the science behind vaccines.
- Overwhelmingly, consumers (94%) and pharmacists (95%) believe we need to help people understand basic medical and scientific terms/concepts so that we are all better equipped to handle infectious disease related public health threats.
- 9 out of 10 of consumers (90%) and more than 8 out of 10 pharmacists (88%) prefer having choices when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines. Similarly, 89% of consumers expressed a preference for selecting the specific COVID-19 vaccine they receive.
Credible, fact-based information is crucial to promoting trust and awareness of the risk of severe infectious diseases and preparedness for the next public health threat.
- More than 7 in 10 consumers and 8 in 10 pharmacists say trustworthy (72% consumers, 85% pharmacists) and clear and easy to understand information (70% consumers, 80% pharmacists) about infectious disease therapies and treatments, including vaccines and medicines, is very important in preparing for future public health threats.
