Earlier today, a new Smithsonian-led nationwide initiative was launched to activate museums, libraries, and other cultural institutions in supporting efforts to provide Americans with accessible and trustworthy resources related to COVID-19 vaccination: “Vaccines & US: Cultural Organizations for Community Health.”
The new VaccinesAndUS.org website includes free resources that cultural organizations can use to help their communities make informed decisions about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. The materials on the website include vetted videos, infographics, activities, and educational curricula addressing the safety, efficacy, and value of COVID-19 vaccines; practical advice for having conversations about vaccination; American communities’ and cultures’ response to the pandemic; and the history of pandemics and vaccination in the United States. The website will also contain a collection of posters created by artists and designers that cultural organizations can download and share with their audiences. Staff at museums may be especially interested in the note to cultural organization professionals of how to use the resources, with examples.
“The Smithsonian, with 175 years of using scientific and cultural knowledge to serve the American people, is working to document this national health crisis for future generations and to help Americans today understand, contextualize and grapple with this moment.
By uniting museums and libraries nationwide, we hope to give people the resources they need to make informed decisions about vaccinations, reaching them through the local institutions they know and trust.”
The Smithsonian worked with a number of collaborating organizations to compile and create content for the initiative, including the ASTC-member institutions highlighted below:
- COVID-19 Prevention Network at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle, Washington)
- Exploratorium (San Francisco, California)
- Museum of Chinese in America (New York, New York)
- Museum of Science (Boston, Massachusetts)
- New York Hall of Science (Corona, New York)
- Pacific Science Center (Seattle, Washington)
- Saint Louis Science Center (St. Louis, Missouri)
- Science Museum of Minnesota (St. Paul, Minnesota)
- The Health Museum (Houston, Texas)
- The Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture (Baltimore, Maryland)
ASTC is pleased to join with our fellow museums associations, Smithsonian Affiliates, and other partners to spread the word about this important resource for our community.
Stay tuned for additional information from ASTC about other ways that you and your organization can support efforts to promote vaccine confidence.