L. Arthi Krishnaswami, an Adjunct of Practice at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design, recently served as the project lead for the newly launched School Vaccine Hub. Launched by Brooklyn Laboratory Charter Schools (LAB) and EquityByDesign.org, School Vaccine Hub is designed to be a centralized platform with credible vaccine information, accompanying lesson plans and curricular tools that schools can use to promote the uptake of COVID-19 vaccinations while addressing fears and concerns about vaccines in America's diverse public school communities.
Schools and educational facilities will be able to access School Vaccine Hub for resources and content to share with its students, teachers and members of the academic community. The videos, infographics, and articles are gathered from accredited and respected health institutions. It also aims to promote vaccination equity with schools across the nation.
"Schools are a central point of contact for many communities, and with the right information, they can be empowered to play a crucial role in building trust in their communities," said Krishnaswami.
The website aims to be a free and trustworthy online resource to aid local school communities in preparation for COVID-19 vaccinations. This platform started to take shape in December 2020 but as vaccines started to become accessible in the US, there was a lack of resources for schools and educators to learn about their next steps.
The design team had first started curating and collecting materials from sources such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the World Health Organization and slowly added other media sources such as CNN, NPR, ProPublica, The Atlantic, Quartz, the New York Times, and the 19th. It will also be taking data from the COVID Collaborative, a national assembly of leading experts and institutions that partnered with the Ad Council to create a COVID-19 vaccine public education campaign.
The logo and visuals for School Vaccine Hub were also designed by School of Design Alumna Serina Liu (BDes '20).
This platform plans to grow over time with updates and news as circumstances change. With these new and existing additions, this platform will be a credible and reliable resource that schools utilize to encourage the rise of COVID vaccinations in school communities and help address fears and concerns that might be occurring.