According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccination is one of the most effective ways to prevent diseases. Over the past 50 years, essential vaccines that protect against just 14 diseases have saved at least 154 million lives worldwide, contributing to a 40% drop in infant deaths.
Still, the United States has reduced its recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11 and withdrawn from the WHO, while Canada has lost its measles elimination status. Together, these developments underscore how misinformation and disinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, have fueled an unprecedented rise in vaccine hesitancy. How can public health leaders encourage the public to follow science-based immunization schedules to keep BC healthy and thriving? A brainstorming session before the pandemic led provincial experts to create a unique education program that channels children’s natural curiosity and compassion, while helping deliver life-saving vaccines to their peers all over the world.
Learning about Vaccines and Giving Back
Provincial immunization experts from BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), Public Health Association of BC (PHABC), and regional Health Authorities began this work ten years ago when they came together to consider how to reach different audiences with information about vaccines, and their safety and effectiveness. They initially created I Boost Immunity, a quiz-based website where users boost their knowledge and confidence about vaccination by answering online quiz questions. For every successful quiz completed, a vaccine is earned and donated to someone in need through UNICEF Canada. This partnership between PHABC and UNICEF has resulted in approximately 770,000 tetanus, polio and measles vaccines donated to help protect children around the world since 2016.
After the success of I Boost Immunity, the team began to explore ways to expand the program to engage children and youth in schools. In 2018, a pilot was launched during National Immunization Awareness Week in nine BC schools, and 60,000 questions were answered in that week alone. Since then, KidsBoostImmunity.com (KBI), has grown into a one-of-a kind national online education platform for students from grades 2-12. Developed by teachers, for teachers, KBI offers over 700 free, curriculum-linked lessons in both official languages in subjects ranging from science, Indigenous studies, social studies, and health. The name — Kids Boost Immunity — reflects the idea that when children learn about science, they can help boost the immunity of children worldwide by earning and donating vaccines. Since its inception, over 6.5 million questions have been answered by students across Canada, leading to over 520,000 vaccines earned for children worldwide.
How Does Kids Boost Immunity Work?
Teachers sign up for a free account and set up a team for their class. Lessons can be either taught by the teacher or self-directed by students. Each lesson includes a quiz to test their knowledge of the material. Every time a student scores 80% or more on a lesson quiz, a vaccine is donated to UNICEF Canada. But not to worry, if a student does not pass the quiz the first time, they can try as many times as they like until they pass, giving all students a chance to both achieve, and help others.
KBI’s lessons and supporting materials for teachers offer a broad range of topics on everything from how to be a good global citizen, Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM), caring for the environment, to critical thinking skills. Other topics include lessons on Indigenous history in Canada, the immune system, and how to prepare to have a positive immunization experience when getting vaccinated at school (i.e. dealing with vaccine anxiety by remaining calm, using good distractions, and getting comfortable). These lessons — and the resulting learnings — are a win for teachers, students, their families, and healthcare providers.
Ian Roe, Content Strategist at BCCDC and one of the founders of the program, explains why KBI has been so successful: “It’s as simple as kids helping kids. KBI channels a child’s boundless capacity for learning and compassion, transforming curiosity into knowledge and empathy into action. Giving children a sense of agency is so important; they’re not just learning about a problem, they’re also doing something about it. In a complicated and complex world, this is something tangible that kids can do to make the world just a little bit better. A teacher summed it all up nicely when she said to me, ‘Thank you for helping us make a difference in a small, but not insignificant way.’”
Strength in Numbers
When asked how they feel about the program, students report being proud and fulfilled by their contributions. They often go home and tell their parents how many vaccines they earned for children around the world. Students will often do the quizzes between classes, on their own time, and even on holidays. This cycle of learning — the more they learn, the more they earn — benefits not just the students, but the school, the community, and children all over the world. “When they earn vaccines for other kids, there’s a lesson beyond the lesson. Lessons around kindness and empathy,” Ian said.
Many teachers use the lessons as opportunities for friendly competition in their classrooms. One class from Green Timbers Elementary School in Surrey, BC, has answered 28,000 questions so far this school year. With 35 students in the class, that’s almost 750 questions answered per student. Last year, the school answered over 100,000 questions by the end of the year, and this year they may even surpass that!
Bridging the Digital Divide in Immunization Education
The benefits of this work will be felt for years to come. Improving science and vaccine literacy will help build a generation that fundamentally believes in science, being a good global citizen, and the effectiveness of vaccines.
Ian and his colleagues are looking to expand Kids Boost Immunity further here in Canada as well as in low and middle-income countries around the world. International teachers have registered and expressed interest in KBI’s lesson plans, so the Kids Boost team began work to include a new ‘Offline Mode’ feature for the website. This ‘Offline Mode’ will help ensure that teachers in rural and remote communities here in Canada, and elsewhere that do not have easy access to computers in schools, can still use the materials to take quizzes and earn vaccines for others. This will ensure that all kids can ‘learn and earn’ vaccines, regardless of their internet and technology access.
This type of project touches on all three major areas of public health: promotion of health by creating vaccine literacy, prevention of disease, and protection of communities world-wide from major illness. As public health advocates, we consider this upstream initiative a big win!
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The Foundation is proud to help fund the offline development of this program, ensuring access for teachers and students everywhere. Donate today to help us support this type of work, that helps students all over the world learn about the importance of science and the efficacy of vaccines, while helping others.
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