This Lunchtime Talk will be broadcast live on Watershed's YouTube channel.

Vaccines are a healthcare intervention which have become firmly rooted in pop culture. With news of the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out, conversations about vaccines are once more taking centre stage- both in everyday life and on social media. It can often feel overwhelming to sift through all the information shared and differentiate between what's accurate or not. It's important to form opinions based only on accurate information: it's equally important to understand the root causes of mistrust in vaccines in order to engage with people in vaccine confidence-building. This lunchtime talk will briefly examine vaccines and their history, some myths surrounding vaccines, some significant incidents that contributed to mistrust in vaccines, and signpost to helpful resources.

Furaha Asani is a precarious migrant, writer- with interest in equity in healthcare, science in pop culture, and digital placemaking, mental health advocate, and hostile environment disruptor. Furaha's PhD was in Infection and Immunity, during which time she undertook research in HIV immunology. Furaha is deeply invested in understanding and writing about the roots of vaccine mistrust, especially where they are due to medical racism, in order to call for scientific accountability and highlight routes towards building confidence in vaccines. Furaha is Watershed's Research Lead. 

Join us on Fri 15th January, 13:00-14:00 for the talk and to take part in the discussion afterwards.

Watch live on YouTube