A new resource to summarize evidence on immunization from the Canadian Vaccination Evidence Resource and Exchange Centre (CANVax)

• Main Authors: Noni E MacDonald, Eve Dubé
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Health Agency of Canada 2020-01-01
• Series: Canada Communicable Disease Report
• Subjects: immunization; vaccine hesitancy; evidence-based policy; vaccine-preventable outbreaks; canvax
• Online Access: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/reports-publications/canada-communicable-disease-report-ccdr/monthly-issue/2020-46/issue-1-january-2-2020/article-3-canvax-online-resource.html

Scientific progress around the development, use and best practices for communicating the benefits of vaccines is rapid, and keeping up-to-date with the substantial body of evidence on these topics is challenging. However, the increase in the number of vaccines and decline in vaccine-preventable illnesses has often focused public attention more on the risks of vaccines rather than the risks of the diseases. In Canada and elsewhere, an increasing number of parents are choosing to delay and/or refuse some or all vaccines for their children, leading to declining community protection against vaccine-preventable diseases and an increase in the number of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Evidence suggests that the concept of vaccine hesitancy contributes to a deeper understanding of vaccination decisions by moving beyond the traditional binary of pro- or anti-vaccine attitudes to recognize a spectrum of beliefs and associated behaviours that occupies the space between the two poles. At a time of growing antimicrobial resistance to infections, protection conferred by vaccination is more important than ever. The Canadian Vaccination Evidence Resource and Exchange Centre (CANVax) is an online curated database of resources to support immunization and promotional activities aimed at improving vaccine acceptance and uptake in Canada. It includes both the identification of accurate and reliable resources and the creation of new resources by a group of multidisciplinary professionals. This issue of the Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR) includes the first of a series of “CANVax Briefs” that have been developed by experts after conducting scoping reviews and environmental scans and assessing the most rigorous evidence. The aim of the CANVax Briefs is to bring attention to current and emerging issues by providing short summaries of the recent best available evidence to assist frontline public health and clinical care professionals in optimizing the immunization rate in Canada. CANVax Briefs will be published in CCDR throughout 2020.