Essay contest for students in grades 6-12
The 2025 Maurice R. Hilleman Essay Contest is open! Students in grades 6 through 12 in the U.S. and Canada can submit essays related to this year’s writing prompt by Feb. 6, 2025, to compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to participate in the virtual celebratory event in the spring of 2025.
New for 2025, our Vaccine Makers Project team (VMP) has developed resources to help students submit their best essay, including a new “Tip Talk” video, contest checklist, and a compilation of writing tools and resources from a variety of sources.
Find out more or share the contest with the students in your life today:
New YouTube channel and video series
The Vaccine Education Center (VEC) has a new YouTube channel where you can find our latest videos, a series of playlists related to specific topics, and other recommended YouTube channels.
Previously, our vaccine-related videos were posted on the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s YouTube channel, and our scientific animations and film clips on the Vaccine Makers Project YouTube channel. You will still find our materials on both of those channels, but moving forward, our new vaccine-related videos will be on the VEC-dedicated channel.
As an example, the VEC-dedicated channel has two new video series:
- Vaccines and Infectious Diseases in the News is a new monthly video series featuring Dr. Paul Offit, the VEC’s Director, discussing the latest news and science about vaccine-related topics.
- Vaccine Policymaking — Behind the Scenes with the ACIP Consumer Rep is a new series of YouTube Shorts featuring Charlotte Moser, the VEC’s Co-Director and the current ACIP consumer rep, discussing how vaccine policymaking works, including who is involved (more people than most realize) and what information is reviewed and discussed to inform decisions.
Thinking about critical thinking
Miss Trust is a publication on Substack that “investigates health and social issues through a critical thinking lens.” With articles focused on the process of critical thinking, individual infectious diseases, and a nursing student’s experience in “Tales from the Bedpan,” you’re likely to find something of interest.
Check it out or join the conversation.
When politicization of science results in lack of access to healthcare resources
Science denialism, the rejection of evidence-based information and understanding, has been festering for several years, and the trauma of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and experiences fostered the tendency to dismiss scientific findings in favor of unsubstantiated claims among even more people.
The results of this denial can be demonstrated in various ways related to the pandemic:
- During the pandemic, we saw people advocating the use of unsubstantiated “treatments,” like ivermectin, which were proven not to work and could be dangerous, yet some people continued to eschew the science and seek unfounded treatments.
- According to a survey of about 1,500 U.S. adults in the spring of 2023 (Economist/YouGov), about two-thirds of respondents believed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, originated from a lab leak, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. (For more on this, see Dr. Offit’s presentation, “Preventing the Next Pandemic: Why It Is Important to Know the Origin of SARS-CoV-2.”)
Unfortunately, this denialism has also extended to the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, with officials in Texas banned from promoting the vaccine and the surgeon general of Florida recommending against its use in that state. Recently, this denialism took an even darker turn when public health officials who oversee six counties in Idaho were barred from offering the COVID-19 vaccine based on votes by a board of elected officials. While the vaccine remains available from other entities in the state, some of those who most often rely on health department programs and clinics in the affected counties are likely to find themselves without other options.
Find out more about the situation in Idaho from this MedPage Today article. (Note: You may need to create a free account to view this article.)
Science denialism comes at a cost. Unfortunately, science denialism related to infectious diseases will measure that cost in lives lost.
Essay contest for students in grades 6-12
The 2025 Maurice R. Hilleman Essay Contest is open! Students in grades 6 through 12 in the U.S. and Canada can submit essays related to this year’s writing prompt by Feb. 6, 2025, to compete for cash prizes and the opportunity to participate in the virtual celebratory event in the spring of 2025.
New for 2025, our Vaccine Makers Project team (VMP) has developed resources to help students submit their best essay, including a new “Tip Talk” video, contest checklist, and a compilation of writing tools and resources from a variety of sources.
Find out more or share the contest with the students in your life today:
New YouTube channel and video series
The Vaccine Education Center (VEC) has a new YouTube channel where you can find our latest videos, a series of playlists related to specific topics, and other recommended YouTube channels.
Previously, our vaccine-related videos were posted on the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s YouTube channel, and our scientific animations and film clips on the Vaccine Makers Project YouTube channel. You will still find our materials on both of those channels, but moving forward, our new vaccine-related videos will be on the VEC-dedicated channel.
As an example, the VEC-dedicated channel has two new video series:
- Vaccines and Infectious Diseases in the News is a new monthly video series featuring Dr. Paul Offit, the VEC’s Director, discussing the latest news and science about vaccine-related topics.
- Vaccine Policymaking — Behind the Scenes with the ACIP Consumer Rep is a new series of YouTube Shorts featuring Charlotte Moser, the VEC’s Co-Director and the current ACIP consumer rep, discussing how vaccine policymaking works, including who is involved (more people than most realize) and what information is reviewed and discussed to inform decisions.
Thinking about critical thinking
Miss Trust is a publication on Substack that “investigates health and social issues through a critical thinking lens.” With articles focused on the process of critical thinking, individual infectious diseases, and a nursing student’s experience in “Tales from the Bedpan,” you’re likely to find something of interest.
Check it out or join the conversation.
When politicization of science results in lack of access to healthcare resources
Science denialism, the rejection of evidence-based information and understanding, has been festering for several years, and the trauma of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and experiences fostered the tendency to dismiss scientific findings in favor of unsubstantiated claims among even more people.
The results of this denial can be demonstrated in various ways related to the pandemic:
- During the pandemic, we saw people advocating the use of unsubstantiated “treatments,” like ivermectin, which were proven not to work and could be dangerous, yet some people continued to eschew the science and seek unfounded treatments.
- According to a survey of about 1,500 U.S. adults in the spring of 2023 (Economist/YouGov), about two-thirds of respondents believed that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, originated from a lab leak, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. (For more on this, see Dr. Offit’s presentation, “Preventing the Next Pandemic: Why It Is Important to Know the Origin of SARS-CoV-2.”)
Unfortunately, this denialism has also extended to the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, with officials in Texas banned from promoting the vaccine and the surgeon general of Florida recommending against its use in that state. Recently, this denialism took an even darker turn when public health officials who oversee six counties in Idaho were barred from offering the COVID-19 vaccine based on votes by a board of elected officials. While the vaccine remains available from other entities in the state, some of those who most often rely on health department programs and clinics in the affected counties are likely to find themselves without other options.
Find out more about the situation in Idaho from this MedPage Today article. (Note: You may need to create a free account to view this article.)
Science denialism comes at a cost. Unfortunately, science denialism related to infectious diseases will measure that cost in lives lost.