Vaccines and US

Community Health: Young People & Adults

How can we build healthy communities? How can we talk about COVID-19 and vaccination with young people or other adults? How do we avoid falling for—or spreading—misinformation and disinformation? This page includes resources from museums and other trusted sources to promote community health and make conversations about vaccination a bit easier and more informed. There is a section directed at young people for use by caregivers/parents and a section directed at adults that includes resources for talking about vaccination, staying well, and community engagement.


Community Health: Young People


With young people back in school, taking steps to keep them safe from COVID-19 is more important than ever. How can vaccination protect children? How can unvaccinated children be protected? How can parents and caregivers talk with young people in age-appropriate ways? What learning and teaching tools are available? These resources are here to help.

Young Heroes

These young people have spent a considerable portion of their lives in a COVID-19 world and have definite feelings about it. They share their thoughts as a way of encouraging their peers to be vaccinated. 

COVID-19 and Vaccines in Young People

These resources answer common questions about kids and vaccines and help parents and caregivers address children's concerns.

New York Hall of Science

Kids and Vaccines: What you Need to Know

Doctors and educators answer questions about COVID-19 vaccines with a focus on children. Niños y vacunas lo que necesita saber Médicos y educadores responderán preguntas sobre la vacunas contra el COVID-19.

Curriculum and Activities for Young People

Educational materials for the youngest learners up to Grades 9–12 and hand-on activities.

Facts, Information, and Disinformation

These resources help navigate COVID-19 information and disinformation and debunk some common myths.

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COVID-19 Prevention Network

Myth: You Can Believe Everything You Read on the Internet

Common myths about preventing COVID-19 debunked.

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COVID-19 Prevention Network

Mito: Debes Creer Todo lo Que Lees en Internet

Mitos comunes sobre la prevención del COVID-19 desacreditados.

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COVID-19 Prevention Network

Vaccines Do Not Cause COVID-19

Some people wonder if you can get the virus from the vaccine.

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COVID-19 Prevention Network

Las Vacunas No Causan el COVID-19

Algunas personas se preguntan si estas vacunas pueden transmitir el virus.

Partnerships and Community Engagement

NISE Network

Creating Successful Collaborations

This video features advice on creating successful collaborations between museums and community serving organizations from both museum and community organization professionals. 

The Power of Partnerships to Share the Importance of Vaccines

Marsha Semmel (00:01):
Hello, I'm Marsha Semmel. I've worked with museums and in museums for quite some time, specializing in partnerships. In fact, I even wrote a book called Partnership Power: Essential Museum Strategies for Today's Networked World. I think the Vaccines & US Program is very, very important for our communities, and provides an opportunity for museums to use their status as trusted community sources to create partnerships that can really help address what is a complex, wicked problem today around vaccine hesitancy.

Marsha Semmel (00:45):
And, my advice would be the importance of building trust with the people, the individuals, and the partner organizations with whom you're working – the importance of making sure that, you allow enough time for trusted relationships to, be established. The importance of listening to your partners and listening to the communities. There's so many nuanced issues around vaccine hesitancy that this is a really, really good time to recognize that as much knowledge and facts and basic information that the museum might have and will have, that's really not enough. The opportunity would be to bring that kind of knowledge and information to, your partners, and recognize the gifts in the room that they have. Recognize the knowledge that you might not have, and be able to learn together to achieve some success.

Marsha Semmel (01:55):
Partnership takes time. One of the axioms that I believe is that progress will proceed in a partnership at the rate of trust, and so I wish you all the best. I think it's important, again, to continue to listen, to hear, to redirect and revise what your partnership relationships are as necessary. And I think if that happens, you're sure to succeed.

Marsha Semmel

Power of Partnerships to Share the Importance of Vaccines

Semmel shares why Vaccines & US is an opportunity to use the power of partnership to help address the problem of vaccine hesitancy.

Protect Your Community Material Assets

Institute of Museum and Library Services

Museums and COVID How to Use the Latest Research

The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the American Alliance of Museums, and research nonprofit OCLC discussed scientific information on the virus’s behavior on materials commonly found or used in museums.

Last update: May 11, 2022