Innovative Immunisation Hubs: ImmuHubs

Interdisciplinary and intersectoral in its approach, across borders, the ImmuHubs project includes focus groups and workshops, desk research and published papers (e.g., see Related Summaries, below), the Symptom Survey (a digital survey aiming to understand parents' and families' subjective experience of COVID-19 and flu-like symptoms), educational activities (SEKI = Strengthening Education and Knowledge about Immunisation), digital health projects, and quality improvement programmes.

A key element of the ImmuHubs project consists in grassroots innovation on the ground, where partners link directly with disadvantaged, isolated, and difficult-to-reach population groups. The physical ImmuHubs are open for one year, after which organisers will critically evaluate the real-world impact they have had and whether the project is scalable at the European level. ImmuHubs are being piloted in six countries: Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal, and Serbia.

The umbrella of the work is the World Health Organization (WHO) mandate that each encounter with a professional should be used to clarify vaccination status and to see which gaps in vaccination coverage need to be addressed. From an ethical viewpoint, ImmuHubs aims to improve equity and justice when it comes to the provision of immunisation information and services in Europe by partnering with:

• communities that are disenfranchised for socioeconomic reasons;
• communities that appear isolated or closed off from the rest of society;
• ethnic minorities and cross-border workers; and
• in Portugal and Greece, population groups that, for health reasons, are particularly vulnerable to VPDs.

The ImmuHubs on the ground invite members of local communities to come by for a visit, bringing along with them any available immunisation documentation they can find at home or from schools, medical providers, etc., as well as any written-down questions they may have on the topic of vaccination. Organisers then ask a few opinion questions about their current satisfaction with immunisation programmes, information available to them, their interest in communicating with doctors and nurses on vaccination, their access to healthcare professionals, and their interest in the topic itself.

Next, visitors are invited to try (anonymously) a mobile app, developed by ViVI, that is designed to empower them to see if they can make sense of their own (or their family members') vaccination records. The VAccApp utilises a "traffic light system" to support health literacy: Users indicate whether they are certain (green) to have had a specific vaccine, uncertain (yellow), or certain not to have received the vaccine (red). If no records are available, the app helps them see if they remember which diseases they or their family members/loved ones may be protected from. For the sake of this educational project, organisers are interested in how informed people are, not which vaccines they have or do not have. With the help of VAccApp, visitors are invited to take charge of their own immunisation records in what is meant to be a playful way and in a stress-free environment. The goal is to depoliticise the currently charged vaccine debate and bring it back to its essential core: what is in it for me, and how can I do my best to protect myself and my family? The ImmHubs visit ends with a few more questions about what was learned during the visit, with organisers assessing each visitor's interest in initiating a vaccine dialogue with their doctor or nurse to demand the kind of information they need to feel comfortable around the topic.

Another key ImmHubs activity is a series of podcasts. The audience is European citizens, healthcare professionals, and, especially, the communities the project serves in the six European countries. ImmuHubs podcasts encourage active engagement of citizens in vaccine protection, with a focus on disadvantaged, isolated, and difficult-to-reach population groups who may have been overlooked by immunisation programmes in the past. Examples of past podcast topics include: A View from Greek Orthodox Community in Nicosia; HIV/AIDS Population in Greece and Vaccination; Vaccination in Turkish Cypriot Community from the South; Roma Children and Vaccination; Homeless in Cyprus; Ukrainian Seasonal Workers in Poland and Vaccination; and Homeless People and Vaccination in Portugal.

To keep up with the project, visit the ImmHubs website.

Immunisation and Vaccines, Equity.