Thread by @MoriartyLab

#Canadian healthcare providers & scientists,

Do you want to be a resource supporting people with #COVID19 vaccine safety questions?

@COVID_19_Canada is running Zoom sessions from 8-10 nightly where volunteer scientists, physicians, pharmacists talk w/ anyone who drops in.

🧵

We're well-staffed with volunteers for these nightly sessions, which are primarily for people working & linked to the LTC community.

However, at the request of unions & homes we're expanding to do scheduled sessions at other times of day.

Ultimately, we'd like to make drop-in & scheduled sessions available through much of day 7 days/wk & in multiple languages. Plus, expand to support ppl beyond LTC community.

We're not ready to scale up that big just yet, but I want to start signing up volunteers to help.

Normally @COVID_19_Canada does a really coordinated volunteer process, but we have another huge project on the go so for now I'm just doing a simple volunteer signup sheet here.
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

You can share this link with anyone you know who would like to help.

We'll start a larger volunteer registration campaign via scientific societies etc in 1-2 wks, but need time to scale.

You might not hear from us for a wk or so after you sign up, but we haven't forgotten you!

Also, below is a shareable link for anyone you know who would like to sign up to attend these sessions & ask questions/listen in. For now, we're prioritizing questions from ppl linked to LTC/retirement homes if many attend, but if there's time we address questions from everyone.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…

The way we're doing it right now, there's always at least one senior person and preferably at least one scientist plus one physician or pharmacist on each session. There are usually multiple additional ppl who drop in.

I try to facilitate the session so that the more senior people are like pinch-hitters. The idea is that those who haven't done this before or a little bit less experienced get practice and can get their legs under them while knowing someone else has their back.

There are also some essential caregivers (often spouses of people in homes) who return to sessions & help "experts" learn how to translate jargon into plain language for others.

It's been an extraordinary, collaborative and frequently moving (& fun/ny!) experience so far.

As we scale up, I want to make sure that every team supporting a session includes at least one community member with lived expertise in the setting we're supporting, and who also helps ensure the science folks learn how to speak in plain language.

Another really important thing: advocates for/from LTC & retirement home communities also attend, so there's a substantial amount of help for people who are trying to understand when they/their loved ones will be vaccinated, what's going on w/ vaccination, how & where to get help

We always start the sessions by discussing any vaccine safety questions people may have, but after that, if there's time, we've started functioning as a quasi-support/advocacy group. It's a fantastic way to understand what issues are emerging/re-emerging.

Finally, most of the people helping out w/ these calls came originally via Twitter. I haven't had time yet to hunt down everyone's Twitter handles to recognize & thank you, and I want to make a Twitter list for those involved.

For now, if you want, please just tag yourself here.