Vaccine Champions Program

Research area: Infection and Immunity > Vaccine Uptake

The Vaccine Champions Program in Victoria

The Vaccine Champions Vaccine Communication Training Program was started in Victoria at the start of 2021 to support the community during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. This was done with the support of the Victorian Department of Health.

The Vaccine Champion program involved a 90-minute interactive webinar consisting of two modules, role play, and Q&A. Module 1 focused on information about COVID-19 vaccines including the phases of vaccine development and approval processes, safety and effectiveness. Module 2 focused on empowering people in different roles to be vaccine advocates or “champions”, and included strategies such as best communication practices to engage with hesitant and how to respond to misinformation.

Who is a Vaccine Champion?

A Vaccine Champion is someone who has a trusted position in the community and is passionate about encouraging people to receive vaccines. Vaccine Champions are trained and supported to deliver vaccine information sessions to their community.

Community members who attend vaccine information sessions may become Community Advocates, who are empowered to answer questions, talk about their experiences, and advocate for vaccination, creating a ripple effect.

The Vaccine Champions program is led by Associate Professor Margie Danchin and Dr Jessica Kaufman from the Vaccine Uptake Group.  

The program is supported by:

• Isabella Overmars
• Kylie Jenkins
• Luisa Vodonaivalu
• Yasmin Mohamed
• Julie Leask
• Holly Seale

What was the impact?

Over 12 months,  the program has delivered nearly 100 sessions to over 10,000 attendees in Victoria. Training has been provided for community leaders, faith leaders, government workers in transport, education, police, and emergency management, union representatives, Aboriginal health and community groups, and workers in the disability sector and high-risk accommodation settings.

Sessions were tailored to be suitable for the attending audience. Over 80 Victorian attendees went on to become Vaccine Champions themselves and were empowered to deliver their own sessions to the community.

The Vaccine Champions Training Program in the Pacific Region

The Victorian program has been adapted and extended to the Pacific region to support vaccine confidence and capacity building, which has been delivered in Fiji and Tonga.

The program trains community leaders to become Vaccine Champions and advocate for vaccines in their community. The training is co-designed with community stakeholders, to ensure key country priorities are included. The program has four phases and will also undergo monitoring and evaluation.

Fiji

The Vaccine Champion program for the Pacific region started in Fiji. Over 30 attendees went on to become Formal Vaccine Champions themselves and were empowered to deliver their own sessions to the community.

Find out more

Tonga

Associate Professor Danchin, Dr Kaufman, Isabella Overmars and Luisa Vodonaivalu travelled to Tonga in March 2023 conduct a stakeholder workshop to co-design the Vaccine Champions Program for Tonga. The workshop had 29 attendees representing the Tongan Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Internal Affairs, faith leaders, teachers, nurses, DFAT Post, public health officers, UNICEF, WHO, Media Radio, Netball, National broadcasting, National Youth Congress, Talita project, Attorney General Office, outer islands, Red Cross, Tupuo Tertiary Institute. The Tongan Ministry of Health CEO opened the session, then the Ministry of Health team presented an overview of immunisation in Tonga. Following this, we ran multiple activities to engage participants and codesign the Vaccine Champions Program.

This work was done in collaboration and partnership with the Tongan Ministry of Health, UNICEF Pacific, University of NSW, University of Sydney. This work is supported by DFAT and ARIA-RISE.

Vietnam

Dr Kaufman and Isabella Overmars travelled to Vietnam in November 2022 to pilot the multilevel program, and they returned in April 2023 with Associate Professor Danchin with a renewed approach and updated materials.

The Master Trainers participated in a focus group as part of the pilot program’s evaluation. They talked about the value of the multilevel Vaccine Champions program in Viet Nam, and how it was different to what has been done in Viet Nam previously. Dr Pham Bich Diep, a health communication expert from Hanoi University said, “for the people in the community to become the Vaccine Champion - I think, that is really new compared to other communication strategies in Viet Nam because in Viet Nam, they, normally, they just use health workers.”

The train-the-trainer program has three levels. In Level 1, Master Trainers trained Provincial Trainers. In November, 96 Provincial Trainers from Dien Bien and Gia Lai were trained, in April 2023, 47 from Soc Trang were trained.

In Level 2, Provincial Trainers train community leaders to become Vaccine Champions and advocate for vaccines in their community groups. In November 2022, four Dien Bien Provincial Trainers trained 32 Vaccine Champions, and in April 2023, four Soc Trang Provincial Trainers trained 24 Vaccine Champions.

In Level 3, Vaccine Champions speak to community groups about routine and COVID-19 vaccines, and answer questions. In November 2022, four Vaccine Champions from Pu Nhi conducted two community information sessions, to a total of 20 community members. In April 2023, eight Vaccine Champions from Tân Hưng conducted two community information sessions, to a total of 17 community members. All who were trained will work with UNICEF Vietnam to organise follow on Level 2 and Level 3 sessions, reaching more of the community to increase vaccine confidence and encourage vaccine uptake.

Dr. Ngo Thi Khanh, a communication expert from UNICEF said, “it has a good approach … because in Viet Nam … we only talk generally and yet the people still didn't have problems answered… there is not that personalised, tailored approach, you know?... And that's why I think this has a great approach.”

This work was done in collaboration and partnership with the Woolcock Institute, Sydney Vietnam Institute, UNICEF Vietnam, NCIRS, University of NSW and University of Sydney. This work is supported by DFAT and the AETAP-PPI.

Find out more

Partnerships

This program was initially developed in partnership with the University of Sydney, the University of New South Wales, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Each country’s program is also built in partnership with the local Ministry of Health and other key community groups.

The program in the Pacific has been supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the Australian Regional Immunisation Alliance – Regional Immunisation Support and Engagement (ARIA-RISE). The program delivered Vietnam collaboration and partnership with the Woolcock Institute, Sydney Vietnam Institute, UNICEF Vietnam, NCIRS, the University of NSW and the University of Sydney. This work is supported by DFAT and the AETAP-PPI.