Head Chair: Conner Eilers Vice Chair: Katelyn Wu Moderator: Michael Guzman
Position papers will be due on February 5th, 2021. The position paper format, and all other important conference documents, can be found on our conference website, http://lhhsconference.weebly.com/. Email all position papers to our committee email: [email protected]. Feel free to contact us via email if you have any questions or concerns!
Hello delegates, my name is Conner Eilers and I will be your Head Chair at the conference. I am a senior that has been a part of MUN for 4 years. I am on the varsity soccer team and I enjoy fishing, volleyball, and surfing. I am excited for the conference and I look forward to seeing you all.
Hello delegates! My name is Katelyn Wu and I am going to be your Vice Chair for this conference. I am a junior and I have been in MUN for 3 years. I run an origami club at LHHS and am a part of several other clubs like NEGU and the Kindness Club. Outside of school I like to listen to music, make origami, and learn ASL. I can’t wait to meet everyone at the conference!
Hello delegates, My name is Michael Guzman and I will be your moderator for this year's conference. I am a sophomore and have been in MUN for 2 years. I enjoy watching movies or playing video games with my friends whenever I have time. I am excited and can not wait for this year's conference!
Topic: Vaccine Hesitancy
Background Vaccines are injections containing a weakened or dead form of a germ that helps your body build up an immunity to the diseases that a strong form of the germ could cause. The first vaccine was invented by Edward Jenner in 1796 which gave immunity against smallpox. From 1988-2014, the polio vaccine was administered and helped almost all the countries in the world to eliminate polio. Vaccines have saved millions of lives globally as they induce herd immunity. Herd immunity is when most of the people of a certain area have an immunity to a disease which helps protect the disease from spreading to those who are not immune to it. Even with very evident positive effects of vaccines to the community, there are still people worldwide who are still hesitant to vaccinate themselves and children. A few reasons why people are hesitant are due to religious beliefs that advocate against vaccines, safety concerns, or lack of knowledge about vaccines. As more people become hesitant to vaccinate, rises of preventable diseases in places that had been eradicated have become apparent. Throughout the world, there has been a 30% increase of measles cases. Now with the COVID-19 Pandemic, the production of vaccines for this virus has been thrown into hyperdrive. We currently have several vaccines that have been discovered which have efficiencies ranging from 90-95% effective. However, with those who are hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine in the near future, we could see a prolonging of the pandemic. Vaccine hesitancy has become one of the top ten global health issues facing us today and could become a larger issue due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
UN Involvement The UN entirely supports vaccinations. The UN is deeply invested in the prevention of disease and the distribution of vaccines. UNICEF has provided vaccines to people all over the world. The Immunization project sponsored by UNICEF works with NGOs and other UN organizations to incorporate advanced technology into the distribution of vacancies. UNICEF saves the lives of 2-3 million children a year as well as provides vaccines to the mothers of children in poor regions of the world. The UN also tackles important short term issues. WHO or the World Health Organization has prequalified an ebola vaccination that was mass produced and distributed around the world. WHO tested the vaccine for efficiency, safety, and quality before its eventual release. The vaccination has saved many people's lives. The UN is willing to spend countless resources on the development and study of vaccines. Currently UNICEF has been stockpiling syringes while preparing for COVID-19 vaccines, and they expect to deliver around a billion syringes to help support vaccination efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Along with WHO, UNICEF has been upgrading existing cold chain equipment in order to ensure the efficiency and safety of these soon to be distributed vaccines. Overall the UN is keen on the development and distribution of vaccinations and believes it is a vital device to the improvement of the world's health, safety, and stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Country Blocs African Group: Vaccination in Africa has been a very important topic for WHO to address over the past decade as a number of efforts have attempted to pick off diseases like AIDs, Polio, and a plethora of other infectious diseases that plague many rural African societies. Vaccines have proven to be highly effective in fighting issues such as these as modern medicine is able to make the spread of many of these diseases stop in its tracks. Due to this reason, it has often been reported that the level of confidence in vaccines in Africa is among the highest in the world. Simply put, people in Africa have seen vaccines do great things and therefore generally find them to be positive. Nonetheless, countries like Nigeria have been working closely with WHO since 2018 to help curb misinformation about vaccines and calm concerns that do occasionally arise. In addition covid 19 will make it particularly difficult for vaccines to be distributed throughout africa. Vaccines for Covid-19 will also be difficult to get to the african group due to the specific conditions required to transport the vaccinations.
Asia Pacific Group: Asia is said to possess the highest levels of confidence in vaccines than anywhere else in the world as numerous surveys consistently report levels above 93% of people finding vaccines to be safe. However, this positive trend does not come without its caveats as many reports have found alarming numbers of people in Southeast Asia being unaware of vaccines (up to 26% of people according to the findings of the Gallup World Poll). Due to the issue being small domestically in this group, many nations have not sought out many plans to address vaccine hesitancy at this moment. With all this in mind however, studies have shown that populations who study science from a young age tend to be less skeptical of vaccines. With this, it is very likely that schools will continue to educate the youth on vaccines and continue programs to proliferate them.
Eastern European Group: The Eastern European bloc is said to have one of the worst records of vaccine hesitancy. Wealthy Eastern European nations as well as ones with high concentrations of religious groups that would oppose vaccines, have the highest rates of vaccine hesitancy. Notably, there have been alarming rates of disease outbreaks like Measles, for example in Ukraine which has the largest concentration of measles cases than any other European country. Recent studies have reported that within this region, only 50% of people believe vaccines are safe. This has become a major issue for WHO, which is seeking to curb misinformation and increase positive sentiment surrounding vaccines. Encouraging European nations that a Covid 19 vaccine is safe and effective will be a difficult task.
Latin American And Caribbean Group: The Latin American and Carribean group have represented high amounts of faith in vaccines, like Asia and Africa. Within these groups, the overwhelming majority of people and governments have expressed that they believe vaccination is essential for maintaining a good state of health. While the general acceptance of vaccines has not been a large issue for this group, there has still been difficulties in the progress towards universal vaccination: the lack of education, not having a vaccine card, and general ignorance towards vaccines are some problems to name a few. To help address these issues, the Pan American Health Association has worked with WHO to proliferate efforts like immunization education, and the increase of government services for keeping records. In addition in this region, vaccines for Covid 19 will also be difficult to get to the latin group due to the specific conditions required to transport the vaccinations.
Western European and Other Groups: The Western European bloc, like the Eastern European bloc, is said to have one of the worst records of vaccine hesitancy. Recently, outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases, like measles, have also reached all time highs in the past decade pointing towards an alarming trend. While vaccine hesitancy is showing positive progress in all regions of the world, many european countries still struggle: religious limitations or a perception of risks associated with necessary vaccines being the main culprits. A recent study found that of the ten countries with the highest rates of vaccine hesitancy, seven were in Europe with France sitting first having 40% of its population not trusting of vaccines. In reference to other groups, it is typically found that countries of lower income or of a developing status possess higher trust in vaccines. In regards to covid 19, encouraging western nations that a Covid 19 vaccine is safe and effective will be a difficult task.
Questions to Consider
What kinds of solutions would be effective in addressing religious objections to vaccines?
How does education, or lack-there-of, play a role in vaccine hesitancy?
What role does misinformation or faulty statistics play in reinforcing vaccine hesitancy?
How does the price of health care, specifically that related to vaccinations, discourage people from being vaccinated?
What past solutions have served effectively at eliminating misinformation in other key issues that could also be used to eliminate misinformation surrounding vaccines?
How does Covid 19 affect the distribution of vaccines globally (non-covid 19 vaccines)
How can countries implement a covid vaccine if people are unsure that a covid vaccine is safe and effective.
Sources: Works Cited
HelenBranswell, Helen Branswell, et al. “WHO: Experimental Ebola Vaccine in the DRC Has Saved Countless Lives.” STAT, 4 Jan. 2019, www.statnews.com/2019/01/04/ebola-vaccine-tedros-drc/.
“COVID-19 Vaccine: UNICEF to Stockpile More than Half a Billion Syringes by Year's End | | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, news.un.org/en/story/2020/10/1075682.
“Chapter 5: Attitudes to Vaccines: Wellcome Global Monitor 2018.” Wellcome, wellcome.ac.uk/reports/wellcome-global-monitor/2018/chapter-5-attitudes-vaccines.
“Chapter 5: Attitudes to Vaccines: Wellcome Global Monitor 2018.” Wellcome, wellcome.ac.uk/reports/wellcome-global-monitor/2018/chapter-5-attitudes-vaccines.
Dubé, Eve, et al. “Mapping Vaccine Hesitancy--Country-Specific Characteristics of a Global Phenomenon.” Vaccine, Elsevier Science, 20 Nov. 2014, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5355208/.
“European Region Most Skeptical in the World on Vaccine Safety.” ScienceDaily, ScienceDaily, 8 Sept. 2016, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160908203911.htm.
“Immunization.” UNICEF Europe and Central Asia, 17 Apr. 2020, www.unicef.org/eca/health/immunization.
“Nigeria Consolidates Efforts to Curtail Vaccine Hesitancy.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, www.afro.who.int/news/nigeria-consolidates-efforts-curtail-vaccine-hesitancy.
Roberts, Michelle. “Vaccines: Low Trust in Vaccination 'a Global Crisis'.” BBC News, BBC, 19 June 2019, www.bbc.com/news/health-48512923.
Skapinker, Michael. “Why Rich Countries Are More Prone to 'Vaccine Hesitancy'.” Financial Times, Financial Times, 26 June 2019, www.ft.com/content/2271a90c-942d-11e9-b7ea-60e35ef678d2.