Mapping Research Arcs 1 + 2
Thesis: Through comparisons between the recent covid pandemic to the historical polio epidemics in America, I aim to show how sociopolitical contexts and organizational efforts drove polio vaccination rates up, and covid vaccination rates down in America. Vaccinations are extremely important in protecting not only ourselves, but our communities as well against diseases that could otherwise be fatal.
Contexts of Polio and Covid
Big-picture conceptual questions:
Contexts of Polio and Covid
- Social contexts
- Polio
- Meyers—less education affects children
- younger and more educated parents more likely to vaccinate their kids (Yeracaris)
- at-risk group is children, higher inclination to protect the children, creating a desperation that blocks anti-vaccination protests from gaining traction (Conis)
- Covid
- media mis/mal/false information about covid
- at-risk group is not as focused on children (EdWeek)
- the post-war era leading to more people questioning science, authority, and government (Conis)
- popular anti-vaccine arguments that are still present today: vaccines and autism link (Conis)
- Both
- schools closing down
- quarantines
- Polio
- Political contexts
- Polio
- FDR making lots of personal contributions to polio, encouraging the public
- Covid
- significant decrease in government trust
- socialism, resistance to federal power regarding vaccination policies (Moran)
- Trump presidency—dismissal and misinformation about the vaccine
- political polarization
- Polio
- Polio
- polio vaccination trial at schoolchildren (EdWeek)
- FDR and the NFIP
- march for Dimes
- Mother’s march
- Salk Hops
- Covid
- World Health Org (Kuznetsova)
- fundraising
- medical supplies
- World Health Org (Kuznetsova)
Big-picture conceptual questions:
- Overarching: how can we create unity in times of division? What lessons learned from polio could be applied to covid to increase the vaccination rate?
- Is public health now a political issue?
- how can people begin to trust in government again?
- How did FDR and Trump set a precedent for the attitude towards polio and covid, respectively?
- How can organizations be better prepared in the face of the next pandemic?
- how did polio campaigns become more far-reaching and effective than covid campaigns?
- were covid campaign efforts spread more thinly because covid was hitting worldwide instead of just America?