Background: The ongoing Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that originated as a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China in late December 2019 has continued to cause significant damage to the world population and global economy.1 In April 2020, Sri Lanka receivedglobal recognition, ranking 10th in The Global Response to Infectious Diseases [GRID] indexfor the preparedness of health systems in managing the pandemic.2 In the year that has elapsed, there have been advancements to the development of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, some of which have been approved for emergency use. The current challenges in Sri Lanka include the production and distribution of vaccines, but moreover educating civilians and overcoming COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy. Most of the healthcare and emergency workers have received vaccines, and the vaccines are now being rolled out to the general public. We have identified elderly, pregnant women and factory workers as high-risk vulnerable population for COVID-19 infection, severe complications and death in Sri Lanka.

Method: This target population is known to trust healthcare providers and scientists. Hence, the trusted personnels delivering scientifically accurate information to the target population is an effective approach. Thus, an infographic on COVID-19 vaccines that can be shared to Sri Lankans and circulated via newspapers, television and radio media should assist in overcoming these barriers among high risk populations such as the elderly, pregnant women and factory workers.

The vaccine infographic and media messages will explain the basics of immune response, safety and efficacy of immunization. Furthermore, the high-risk populations will be surveyed to identify specific causes of vaccine mistrust to be addressed in the infographic. Local printing companies in hot-spot areas will be contacted to distribute the infographic through print media. Popular live television channels based in Jaffna, Sri Lanka namely IBC Tamil and DAN Television will broadcast the infographic through talk-shows. The program will be hosted by Professor Palaniyar, a Senior Scientist involved in COVID-19 researh, in alliance with Physicians at Jaffna Hospitals, whereby they will be relaying scientific information, sharing their experiences on vaccinations and answering any questions that the public may have. In addition to television, radio stations are an important means of communicating information to the mass public in Sri Lanka. The talk shows will also be conducted at radio stations for those who do not have access to television. Overall, it is important that these broadcasting platforms are used as it will allow citizens to become better educated in order to overcome mistrust and hesitancy to make an informed decision.

Conclusion: The underserved communities and high-risk populations in Sri Lanka have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. In order to end the pandemic and achieve population immunity, a large majority of the people need to be vaccinated. Therefore, it is important to address their concerns and educate them in order to restore trust in the medical system and healthcare interventions. We plan to complete these activities in the next three months.

Acknowledgements: We thank the TASME Women in STEM Leadership Program and its Faculty members for providing this learning opportunity.

Keywords: COVID-19, vaccine, vaccine hesitancy

1. Huang C, Wang Y, Li X, et al. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):497-506. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30183-5

2. D’Souza C, Ratnatunga J. GRID Index: Tracking the Global Leadership Response in the COVID-19 Crisis. J Appl Manag Account Res. 2020;18(May):17-26.