The Vaccination Picture
Artist Book — Project (writer) leader: Timothy Caulfield
Artistic Director/ Participating Artist: Sean Caulfield
Artistic Director/ Participating Artist: Sean Caulfield
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Few topics in health policy have generated as much debate—and frustration—among public health experts as the issue of vaccine safety. Misinformation around the science of vaccination continues to spread, and too often the media fails to report bad science for what it is.
Using science-informed analysis alongside original art and powerful essays, health science leader Timothy Caulfield debunks the myths and false assumptions about vaccination safety and effectiveness. Accessible, informative, and entertaining, The Vaccination Picture tells the true story of vaccines, their uses, and their positive effects for everyone.
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Rethinking “The Vaccination Picture” in the Era of Covid-19 Providing the public with scientific information in the form of statistics and data has an important role to play in health communication as it demonstrates that policy decisions are grounded in empirical research. Conveying this information helps to build trust with the public, and over the long term underscores the relationship between science/scientific institutions and good public health policy. With this said, presenting ‘data’ has is limits in terms of convincing all segments of society to follow health recommendations such as to get vaccinated. For many the decision to get vaccinated is a very emotional questions that is intertwined with a complex set of belief systems — the presentation of more statistics may not be enough in these cases to convince an individual to make the right healthcare choice. It was with these challenges in mind that The Vaccination Picture was written. Timothy Caulfield’s text provides clear messages and stories about vaccines ranging from their history and positive impact on world health, to the origins of vaccine misinformation, as well as strategies to counter healthcare myths. To support this text a group of artists, illustrators and designers was asked to create visual works as a means to highlight and expand the content of the book. This combination of text and images The Vaccination Picture makes a unique dissemination and teaching tool that can foster discussion across a wide spectrum of the public about the vital role vaccines play in public healthcare. The importance of these kinds of alternative communication and outreach tools has become painfully clear over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which convincing 15% to 20% more of the population to get vaccinated can mean the difference between the re-emergence of the deadly virus or not. ~ Sean Caulfield, August 2021 |
