PROJECT
Coronavax
About the project
Australians were offered a COVID-19 vaccine to help protect their families against coronavirus, and to build an effective COVID-19 vaccination program, researchers needed to develop knowledge around the best way to communicate with the public about new vaccines and policies.
Coronavax used qualitative interviews and social media analysis to explore Western Australians’ concerns, motivations and information needs regarding COVID-19 vaccination. A summary of findings from the Coronavax Project was communicated with State and Commonwealth Government employees and stakeholders through a series of open discussions. These sessions aimed to shape the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, ensuring important community concerns were taken into account.
This project was a joint initiative of The University of Western Australia, home to the VaxPol Lab, and the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, based at Telethon Kids Institute.
Our aim
The project aimed to build dialogue between the community and government to uncover the conditions necessary for high uptake of the vaccine.
Our collaborators and funding partners
Publications
- (2024) Tran J., Chong W., May S., Cheong LS., Carlson S., Salter S., Attwell K. Attitudes, Perceptions, and Experiences of Western Australians towards Vaccine Safety Surveillance Systems: A Qualitative Descriptive Study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.
- (2024) McDonell S., Attwell K., McKenzie L. Including the isolated: Place, rurality, and the state in regional and remote Western Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine rollout. Journal of SSM Qualitative Research in Health.
- (2023) Walliar T., Khan B., Newstead S., Al-Assadi G., Salter S.M., Seubert L., Carlson S.J., Attwell K. “Fighting the pandemic!” Western Australian pharmacists’ perspectives on COVID-19 vaccines: A qualitative study. Vaccine.
- (2023) Attwell K., Keays E., McKenzie L., Roberts L., Blyth C.C., Carlson S.J. Mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for children: Attitudes of West Australian parents. Australian Journal of Social Issues.
- (2023) Carlson SJ., Attwell K., Roberts L., Hughes C., Blyth CC. 'West Australian parents’ views on vaccinating their children against COVID-19: a qualitative study'. BMC Public Health
- (2023) McKenzie L., Attwell K. '‘I’m provax’: Pro-vaccination personal histories and socialities of older Australians in the COVID-19 pandemic'. Sociology of Health & Illness
- (2023) Attwell K., Keays E., McKenzie L., Blyth CC., Carlson SJ. 'Mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for children: Attitudes of Western Australian parents'. Australian Journal of Social Issues
- (2023) Roberts L., Deml MJ., Attwell K. '‘COVID Is Coming, and I’m Bloody Scared’: How Adults with Co-Morbidities’ Threat Perceptions of COVID-19 Shape Their Vaccination Decisions'. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- (2023) Attwell K., McKenzie L., Tomkinson S., Carlson SJ., Blyth CC. 'Parents' COVID-19 vaccine intentions for children under 5 years: Brief reflections from a qualitative study'. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
- (2022) Carlson SJ., Tomkinson S., Blyth CC., Attwell K. 'COVID-19 vaccine knowledge, attitudes, and experiences of health care workers in Perth, Western Australia: A qualitative study'. PLoS ONE
- (2022) Carlson SJ., McKenzie L., Tomkinson S., Attwell K. 'Reopening to the world: how safety, normality and trust in government shape young adults’ COVID-19 vaccine intentions'. Australian Journal of Political Science
- (2022) Carlson SJ., Edwards G., Blyth CC., Nattabi B., Attwell K. '‘Corona is coming’: COVID-19 vaccination perspectives and experiences amongst Culturally and Linguistically Diverse West Australians'. Health Expectations.
- (2022) Harper T., Tomkinson S., Attwell K. 'Communication Is Not a Virus: COVID-19 Vaccine-Critical Activity on Facebook and Implications for the ‘Infodemic’ Concept'. Journal of Health Communication.
- (2022) Attwell K., Roberts L., Blyth CC., Carlson SJ. 'Western Australian health care workers’ views on mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for the workplace'. Health Policy and Technology.
- (2022) Harper T., Attwell K. 'How Vaccination Rumours Spread Online: Tracing the Dissemination of Information Regarding Adverse Events of COVID-19 Vaccines'. International Journal of Public Health.
- (2022) Carlson SJ., McKenzie L., Roberts L., Blyth CC., Attwell K. ‘Does a major change to a COVID-19 vaccine program alter vaccine intention? A qualitative investigation’. Vaccine.
- (2021) Attwell K., Rizzi M., McKenzie L., Carlson S., Roberts L., Tomkinson S., Blyth C. ‘COVID-19 vaccine Mandates: An Australian attitudinal study’. Vaccine.
- (2021) Attwell K., et al. ‘Coronavax: preparing community and government for COVID-19 vaccination: a research protocol for a mixed methods social research project’. BMJ Open.
Projects
News
Study examines spread of COVID vaccine information online
A UWA study has established how rumours of alleged adverse events were spread around the world during the first months of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out.
Read moreWe need to go easy on COVID vaccine coercion to get doubters back in the mainstream
Perth will reopen by hook or by crook and only the unvaccinated will shift further into the shadowy economy of exclusion
Read moreCOVID vaccine mandate prompts SES volunteers in WA like Nathan Foster to walk away
Nathan Foster has resigned from all three of his volunteer roles over WA's vaccine mandate
Read moreQuashing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation in culturally diverse communities
Vaccine hesitancy has been a big issue in multicultural communities
Read moreWA has been at war for 18 months, so a post-COVID life could be a tough sell
For the past 18 months West Australians have been fighting a war for a normal life unimpeded by a tiny but devastating enemy: COVID-19
Read more