The COVID-19 pandemic was devastating, causing global loss of life and morbidity. However, there was a silver lining as the development of mRNA vaccines was found to be safe and effective. Despite this success, the public still has many concerns about mRNA vaccines and more work is needed to increase the public’s confidence in this relatively new technology. Vaccine confidence within communities leads to more vaccinations. Therefore, increasing confidence in mRNA technology could be the key to improving vaccination rates. While healthcare and public health organizations are commonly involved in vaccine promotion, a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic requires a more holistic approach that incorporates vulnerable communities, employment settings, places of worship, and other trusted sources in promoting vaccinations and reducing the spread and impact of COVID-19.

Engaging trusted leaders in non-healthcare settings may be the key to increasing confidence in mRNA technology and improving the low rate of COVID-19 vaccine uptake. These non-traditional settings may help improve communication and vaccine literacy surrounding COVID-19 mRNA vaccines and other innovative platforms, while also improving access to vaccines by meeting people where they are. It is clear that different communities face different rates of COVID-19 and hospitalization. Therefore, developing tailored approaches to engage these communities could aid in mitigating the impact of COVID-19.

The goal of this Research Topic is to publish a collection of data-driven research articles that focus on strategies to engage different populations in vaccine education to increase vaccine confidence and vaccine uptake. This Research Topic welcomes (but is not limited to) submissions of Original Research, Review/Mini-Review, Systematic Review, General Commentary and Brief Research Report articles, pertaining to the following subtopics:

• Approaches to engage non-traditional settings in vaccine education
• Implementation and evaluation of interventions to increase vaccine uptake outside of health care and public health settings
• Public health and economic consequences of public engagement with non-healthcare settings for vaccine education
• Developing a systematic diagnostic tool for COVID-19 risk in non-healthcare settings
• Empirical research on vaccine education among specific populations such as immunocompromised groups and across different employment sectors
• Approaches for supporting the public with COVID-19 risk assessments
• Strategies and initiatives aimed at combating vaccine hesitancy among employees and staff

Dr. Heidi Larson receives research grants from GSK, Moderna and Merck, related to the the topic. Jia Hu, at 19 to Zero, has received funding from Moderna, Pfizer, Sanofi, Merck, GSK, Medicago within the past year related to the topic. The other Topic Editors declare no other competing interests with relation to this topic theme.

We acknowledge the funding of the manuscripts published in this Research Topic by 19 to Zero Inc. We hereby state publicly that 19 to Zero Inc. has had no editorial input in articles included in this Research Topic, thus ensuring that all aspects of this Research Topic are evaluated objectively, and unbiased by any specific policy or opinion of 19 to Zero Inc.

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