{"id":230276,"date":"2023-08-31T11:44:37","date_gmt":"2023-08-31T15:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=230276"},"modified":"2023-09-07T10:24:59","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T14:24:59","slug":"student-aims-to-boost-rates-of-vaccination","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2023\/student-aims-to-boost-rates-of-vaccination\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Aims to Boost Rates of Vaccination"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin sphnews-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-flip has-media-focus-center-middle\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2560\" height=\"2560\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Headshot of Hannah Jacobson\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-636x636.jpg 636w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-2048x2048.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-755x755.jpg 755w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-900x900.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-1920x1920.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-550x550.jpg 550w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-710x710.jpg 710w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/Hannah-Jacobson-headshot-100x100.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">activism<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Aims to Boost Rates of Vaccination\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">As an intern at the nonprofit March of Dimes this summer, Hannah Jacobson submitted testimony at the State House in favor of a pair of bills that would end religious exemptions from vaccination. Professor Matt Motta joined her on Beacon Hill to share his support for the proposed legislation and his former student.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar sphnews-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">August 31, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/authors\/megan-jones\/\">Megan Jones<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/hannah-jacobson-550a32182\/\">Hannah Jacobson<\/a> first interned with the national nonprofit <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marchofdimes.org\/donate-now?srcCode=GAQGENDA2201CEGOOGBXXXX&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=alwayson&amp;utm_content=brand&amp;DonationTrackingParam1=digital_paid&amp;DonationTrackingParam2=alwayson_google&amp;gad=1&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw8_2iZyHgQMVByRgCh244wJeEAAYASAAEgL9jPD_BwE&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds\" target=\"_blank\">March of Dimes<\/a> during the summer leading up to the start of her MPH at the School of Public Health. Fresh off an undergraduate capstone course where she created the idea for an app to help connect Massachusetts residents with local maternity care providers, Jacobson jumped at the opportunity to do real-world public health advocacy work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Invigorated by the cause and the spirit of the people she met, Jacobson eagerly returned to March of Dimes this past summer to complete her practicum. She has worked on a variety of projects as an advocacy intern, including troubleshooting barriers to the integration of a birth center into a federally qualified health center. However, the highlight of the summer was a recent <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcboston.com\/news\/local\/in-vaccine-debate-lawmakers-target-religious-exemption\/3098911\/\" target=\"_blank\">public hearing<\/a> at the State House, where Jacobson had the opportunity to submit testimony in favor of a pair of bills intended to increase childhood immunization rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Witnessing the legislative process play out in person affirmed what she has learned so far in her courses in the <a href=\"http:\/\/bu.edu\/sph\/about\/departments\/health-law-policy-and-management\/\">Department of Health Law, Policy and Management<\/a>, Jacobson says. \u201cBU has prepared me well to be in the real world because you learn about it all in the classroom\u2014about how a bill becomes law, and what advocates do, and what the purposes of committees are. I came into my internship this summer just being like, \u2018Oh, yeah, we talked about that with Dr. Motta,\u2019 or \u2018We talked about that in my finance class.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When recruiting experts to provide oral testimony in support of the proposed vaccination legislation, Jacobson drew on her SPH connections and invited <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/profile\/matthew-motta\/\">Matthew Motta<\/a>, assistant professor of health law, policy and management, to join her on Beacon Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe was the first person I thought of,\u201d says Jacobson, who took a law, policy, and policymaking course with Motta last semester. \u201cHe\u2019s the perfect person\u2014he specializes in vaccine hesitancy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under current laws in the Commonwealth, vaccinations against a variety of highly contagious yet preventable diseases, such as measles and chickenpox, are prerequisites to enrollment in schools, Jacobson says. However, over the past couple years vaccination rates have declined across the state. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/31366444\/\">research<\/a> from Motta and his colleagues at SPH, distrust of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns may be fueling skepticism about overall vaccine safety and efficacy\u2014what they term \u201cvaccine hesitancy\u201d\u2014leading parents to delay or forego vaccination. The <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/malegislature.gov\/Bills\/193\/H604\" target=\"_blank\">proposed legislation<\/a> (H 604 \/ S 1391), sponsored by Representative <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/malegislature.gov\/Legislators\/Profile\/AXV1\" target=\"_blank\">Andy Vargas<\/a> (CAS\u201815, Pardee\u201815) and Senator <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/malegislature.gov\/Legislators\/Profile\/EDJ0\" target=\"_blank\">Edward Kennedy<\/a> (MET&#8217;95), would end religious exemptions to school vaccination requirements, preventing parents from citing conflicts with their \u201csincere religious beliefs\u201d as grounds for not immunizing their children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGenerally, since the 1980s, religiosity and religious affiliation has gone down, but the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/info-details\/school-immunizations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">usage of the religious exemption<\/a> has gone up by 500%. [This suggests] a lot of families are using the religious exemption as a way to pursue their own anti-vax beliefs,\u201d says Jacobson. \u201cWhat Representative Vargas is trying to do is get rid of the religious exemption for vaccines for school-aged children so that we can increase vaccination rates and be sure that we don&#8217;t have a polio or measles outbreak in the next couple years.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jacobson wants to see more people from her generation active in advocacy. She says that when she talks to people around her age about March of Dimes, they are typically unfamiliar with the organization\u2019s work, but when she talks to people her parent\u2019s age, they immediately make the connection between the March of Dimes and the eradication of polio in the US. Jacobson believes that with renewed interest in their work, the March of Dimes can continue to build on their legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Motta commends Jacobson&#8217;s dedication, emphasizing its alignment with SPH\u2019s goals as a school, \u201cEvery day, Hannah puts what she&#8217;s learned in the classroom into practice\u2014not only to identify policy solutions to\u00a0pressing public health problems, but to consider how she and others might be able to effectively communicate the benefits of taking policy action in support of evidence-based medicine. Through her work with March of Dimes, Hannah has taken up the\u00a0exact type of student advocacy work that so many of us faculty encourage here at BUSPH.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before immigrating to the US, Jacobson\u2019s grandmother did child health work in Iran, and after resettling in Massachusetts, her father became an OBGYN. Once she completes her MPH, Jacobson plans to dedicate her career to maternal health policy and advocacy, carrying on the family tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories is-style-card has-two sphnews-block-editorial-relatedstories\">\n\t\t<h3 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-title\">Related<\/h3>\n\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"362\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2023\/08\/dog-vax-600.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Rhodesian ridgeback puppy second vaccination in vet clinic\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>vaccines<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2023\/nearly-half-of-dog-owners-are-hesitant-to-vaccinate-their-pets\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">Nearly Half of Dog Owners Are Hesitant to Vaccinate Their Pets<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">August 31, 2023<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img width=\"600\" height=\"362\" src=\"\/sph\/files\/2023\/02\/child-vaccine-600.png\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Child receives vaccination while on his mother&#039;s lap\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-category\"><span>vaccines<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2023\/the-spillover-effect-of-politicized-covid-19-vaccines\/\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-title-link\">The \u2018Spillover\u2019 Effect of Politicized COVID-19 Vaccines<\/a><\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-relatedstories-article-date\">February 17, 2023<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hannah Jacobson first interned with the national nonprofit March of Dimes during the summer leading up to the start of her MPH at the School of Public Health. Fresh off an undergraduate capstone course where she created the idea for an app to help connect Massachusetts residents with local maternity care providers, Jacobson jumped at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22210,"featured_media":230278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[2433,2430,1976,3649,1265,3214,3177,1858],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3528,3531,3535,3538,3541,4084],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[4001],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/230276"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=230276"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/230276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230573,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/230276\/revisions\/230573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/230278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=230276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=230276"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=230276"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=230276"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=230276"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=230276"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=230276"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=230276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}