covid-19 vaccine PODCAST episode plan
(SPRING 2021) - For this assignment, I researched information about when college students in Kansas will have access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Then I planned a 60-minute podcast episode using the research I gathered.
I kept a detailed diary of the research I performed. This diary contained the search terms I used, including the various search term operators I performed. The dairy also included the results from each search I performed and the notes I took from the results I chose to explore.
The diary also contained a four-step evaluation process of each possible source to determine if the source would be credible enough to use in the pitch.
I wrote an episode plan about when college students in Kansas will have access to the COVID-19 vaccine in the podcast episode. It summarizes information about the issue and includes local background and national context, scholarly research, and data.
Podcast episode plan
BLOCK ONE: LOCAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE ISSUE
Background information:
According to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s weekly COVID-19 vaccine update, Kansas got its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer) the week of December 14th of 2020.
According to Kansas’s COVID-19 Vaccination Plan, it was anticipated that the COVID-19 vaccine would initially be available in limited doses.
Kansas developed a vaccination plan based on three levels of availability: a limited number of doses available, a large number of doses available, and a sufficient supply of doses for all.
Where Kansas is at now:
According to The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, Kansas is currently in phase five for vaccine distribution as of March 29th, 2021.
Anyone age 16 and older is now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
College students and the COVID-19 vaccine
Now that Kansas is currently in phase five, any college student in Kansas can receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
New question college students might be asking themselves: Will my university require me to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus in the fall?
No:
Two public universities in Kansas have announced that students, faculty, and staff will not be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus in the fall.
The University of Kansas –
According to The University Daily Kansan’s reporting, The University of Kansas’s chancellor, Douglas Girod, said it is hard from a legal perspective to require all students attending KU in the fall to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
In the university senate meeting, Chancellor Girod said that because the available COVID-19 vaccines only carry emergency authorization from the FDA, it is hard to require it because it does not carry full FDA authorization.
Wichita State University –
According to The Sunflower’s reporting, during a town hall meeting Interim President of Wichita State University, Rick Muma, shared similar sentiments as Chancellor Girod.
“One good reason [is that] the vaccine is still given under emergency use authorization, in that kind of circumstance it becomes difficult to require something that hasn’t received full approval by the FDA,” said President Muma.
According to the Sunflower, Wichita State University Faculty Senate President Aleks Sternfeld-Dunn, went on to say that the only way there would be a vaccination mandate would be if the Kansas government or federal government were to put a legal mandate in place.
POSSIBLE INTERVIEWEES:
Dr. Lee Norman – Secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Phone: (785) 296-7253
Email: lee.norman@ks.gov
Clifton C. Jones MD – Infectious disease specialist at Stormont Vail Health
Primary phone: (785) 354-9591
BLOCK TWO: NATIONAL CONTEXT
Background information:
President Joe Biden announced on April 6th, 2021, that he has moved up the deadline for states to make all adults in the United States eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine to April 19th, 2021
This means that all college students around the United States will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in the upcoming weeks.
Now college students are asking the same question as college students in Kansas.
Will my university require me to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus in the fall?
No:
California State University -
According to the Times-Herald reporting in Vallejo, California, California State University will not require its students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
California State University gave a similar reason for this decision.
According to the Times-Herald, since the available COVID-19 vaccines only carry emergency authorization from the FDA, it is a legal liability to require vaccination before returning to campus in the fall.
According to the Times-Herald, CSU did note that they may require specific populations in its community to be vaccinated, such as student-athletes and dorm residents.
Nebraska
According to reporting from The Columbus Telegram, colleges and universities in Nebraska will not require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning in the fall.
According to the report, Governor Pete Rickettes of Nebraska went so far as to say he did not support mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for college students, faculty, and staff.
Yes:
According to NPR, the first university to put a mandate in place was Rutgers University in New Jersey. This is a public university. Since then, according to the Times-Herald, the only other public university to announce a vaccination mandate for students, faculty, and staff returning to campus in the fall is Fort Lewis College in Colorado.
Rutgers -
According to the office of the President of Rutgers University, on March 25th, 2021 (with limited exceptions), “all students planning to attend in the fall of 2021 must be fully vaccinated.”
According to the office, the students planning to return must show proof of vaccination from one of the three vaccinations currently authorized for use in the United States.
According to NPR, the first university in the United States to require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campus in the fall.
What about private universities?
According to reporting from the Times-Herald, 14 U.S. campuses have decided to put a vaccination mandate in place for students returning in the fall. Most of them are private universities. For example, universities like …
Brown University in Rhode Island
The University of Notre Dame in Indiana
Syracuse University in New York
POSSIBLE INTERVIEWEES:
An expert from the American Council on Education
Jonathan Holloway – Rutgers President
Office phone: (848) 932-7454
Email: holloway@rutgers.edu
BLOCK THREE: SCHOLARLY RESEARCH AND DATA
According to the Oman Medical Journal, the availability of a vaccine to protect the community COVID-19 is, “the most significant and immediate technical challenge humanity has ever faced.”
Is the vaccine safe?
Yes!
According to the Oman Medical Journal, the development of the vaccine was done without compromising the safety and efficacy of the vaccine vaccines because they must complete several clinical trials.
Why should I get the vaccine?
Herd immunity leads to a pre-COVID world.
According to the World Health Organization, herd immunity is “indirect protection from an infectious disease happens when a population is immune either through vaccination or immunity developed through a previous infection.”
According to the Oman Medical Journal, it is estimated that 55% to 82% of the population needs to be vaccinated to attain herd immunity.
According to the article, given what is known about children’s susceptibility to COVID-19, the threshold for herd immunity might as lower than 40%
According to the article, achievement of herd immunity is required to protect vulnerable populations.
Data:
Graph:
This data shows the percentage of the population in each state that has been fully vaccinated, as reported by the CDC. These are people who are 18 years and older. On the x-axis, there are all the states in the United States. On the y-axis is a percentage range from 0 to 40%.
Information about the vaccines available in Kansas:
According to Kansas’s Vaccine Distribution Manual, there are three COVID-19 vaccines currently available in Kansas: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.
Each week, the federal government gives Kansas a portion of the nationally available vaccine based on Kansas’s share of the United States population.
As of March 31st, 2021, more than 1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Kansas.
Information about how to receive the vaccine if you are eligible:
According to The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, there are three steps.
Visit vaccinefinder.org
Using the website, find a location where COVID-19 vaccines are available
Schedule your appointment
According to The Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the COVID-19 vaccine is free to all Kansans.
No insurance is required.
Healthcare facilities are allowed to charge an administration fee to administer the vaccine.
BUT Kansans cannot be denied a vaccine if they cannot afford the administration fee OR do not have insurance.
POSSIBLE INTERVIEWEES:
Governor Laura Kelly
Statehouse phone number: (785) 368-8500
Dr. Shawn Conrad – healthcare provider in Kansas
Phone: (620) 885-4805 (Minneola Community Clinic where Dr. Conrad works)
Encourage everyone listening who is eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to get one.
