Skip to main content

Planning for a COVID-19 Future - Part 2: Transitioning to Recovery from the COVID-19 Pandemic ~ Risk Appraisal, Concern Assessment and Vaccine Hesitancy

 TAGS: COVID-19; resilience; transition; recovery; public health; vaccine hesitancy; acceptable risk; trans-science; International Risk Governance Council; risk assessment; concern assessment; health literacy.

      Whether society considers a COVID-19 health risk to be acceptable is, in part influenced by perceptions of its impacts. This question also raises a trans-science issue: "How safe is safe enough"?

  Risk perception involves people’s feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and judgements. It is at the core of understanding vaccine hesitancy.

    Risk appraisal based on both risk assessment and concern assessment would lead to better-informed decision-making by the public on COVID-19 vaccination.

   It would also enhance public trust and confidence in vaccination and COVID‑19 vaccines as well as promoting health literacy. 

READ MORE …


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Resolving Cultural Heritage Protection and Development Conflicts on Indigenous Lands

“ P rotecting cultural heritage and development are not mutually exclusive; we can have both, but projects have to be well-designed.” Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek (2024).   The recent decision by the Federal Environment Minister to shut down a tailings dam for a gold mine development, to protect Indigenous cultural heritage, has ignited controversy and conflict.   The controversy is not only over the decision’s impact on the viability of the Regis Resources’ Gold Mine Project at Orange, Central-Western NSW.  It has also highlighted the complexity of the problem when cultural heritage protection (with its focus on Traditional knowledge) and  development (with its focus on Western science) collide over future land use. There is now  community concern that history may repeat in Australia for development projects proposed on Indigenous owned and controlled lands. However, there would be little dispute that the above statement by ...

What is the Status of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice Process: The Decision End Point or a Decision-Making Aid? A Conflict Management Perspective

            Divergent public opinion and controversy has arisen in Australia over a referendum the Federal Government intends to hold later this year. Specifically, that an advisory body known as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice (“ the Voice ”) may make representations to Parliament and the Executive on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, the available information to facilitate voting  about the “ the Voice process ”  at the referendum has been an issue.     A conflict management framework  was applied to address this issue. The focus was on the  “interests”  (or  needs and concerns ) about the Voice process that the public have in relation to the referendum question –  rather than the voting   “position”  they may hold . The features of “ the Voice process ” were compared with public participation processes for resolving public int...

Environmental Evaluation of Development Proposals. Case Study: The Adani Project ~ A Need for Review?

Some form of objective review of the environmental evaluation and approval processes for the ‘Adani Carmichael Coal Mine and Rail Project’ is warranted to address the reasons the final approval was granted  in June 2019.  In a series of articles that follow, the scientific and public interest concerns that ignited the conflict, litigation and delay will be reviewed in a conflict resolution framework .  Must history repeat? 1.   Acceptance of Scientific Findings: Best Available Science ~v~ Relevant and Reliable Science TAGS:  Adani; coal mine; conflict; best available science; relevant and reliable science;  Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc               The focus of this article is on a source of information conflict that created scientific uncertainty for Adani: Different interpretations of the scientific information base as to what is “the best available science”. READ MORE … The next art...