16 Year Old Talent Creates Animation To Educate Public About Vaccinations

A 16 year old school girl has created an animated video to educate the public about vaccinations. The video was created in conjunction with Cognitant Group, the Oxford based healthtech company whose mission is to empower patients with clear, reliable health information. The school girl, from St. Marys School Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire (whose identity is being kept anonymous due to the strong feelings sometimes attached to vaccinations), chose Cognitant for her work experience as she wants to study medicine when she leaves school. With support from Cognitant’s medical writing and clinical advisory team, she wrote, designed and produced the animation as part of this work experience.

From essential childhood immunisations like the MMR to the flu vaccination, there are concerns that vaccination uptake will drop in the aftermath of COVID-19, with people being afraid to visit clinics to get routine vaccinations. Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisations at Public Health England, has said: “The national immunisation programme remains in place to protect the nation’s health and no one should be in any doubt of the devastating impact of diseases such as measles, meningitis and pneumonia. During this time, it is important to maintain the best possible vaccine uptake to prevent a resurgence of these infections.”

With winter approaching us, the ‘flu jab’ has never been more important. The Department of Health is hoping to extend the flu vaccination programme to all those above 50 (instead of just those above 65 years old) if vaccine supply allows. It is imperative that we increase flu vaccine uptake. By ensuring that people do not get flu, we are reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death from COVID-19.

Unfortunately for a number of years flu vaccine uptake in the UK has not met targets set by the World Health Organisation which aims for more than 75% of eligible groups to be immunised. Last year (2019/20) flu vaccine uptake was at 70.6%. For all these reasons, it is hoped that this video will help to develop understanding amongst the public around the role of vaccinations.

Clinical Director of Cognitant, Juhi Tandon, said ‘This animation about vaccination is particularly special to us with it being produced by the very talented school girl who did work experience with us this summer. Prevention better than cure is the very foundation of general practice; therefore as a Primary Care Doctor, I firmly believe that this clear, visual animation will enable people to better understand vaccinations and make more informed decisions about whether to take up a recommended vaccination. A huge thank you to our young friend and colleague for applying her creativity and passion for medicine to this educational video.’’

The school girl said ‘I really enjoyed creating this video about vaccinations. I know that vaccinations are so key to controlling spread of infection and I am delighted to feel that I am playing my part in sharing this critical knowledge’.

To view the video, go to https://www.healthinote.com/vaccines.