My Vax Journey features the stories and firsthand accounts of the decision-making process when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine, providing various viewpoints of those experiencing this evolving thought process, while respecting each person’s unique perspective. We share these journeys to illustrate how individuals have faced this decision and through understanding build compassion for each other.
 
For health practitioners and community leaders, the purpose of this site is to share, without judgment,  the variety of perspectives that people bring to decision-making on an issue that affects their health and the health of others in their community. They have the opportunity to act as a trusted partner in the process, and by adopting that role, be more effective not only for this decision but supporting people’s decision-making.
 
For people currently making a decision, hearing the experience of others can help crystalize what considerations may be important for decision-making – such as people’s culture, lived experience, values, disease risk, and characteristics of the vaccine itself. 
 
For people who already have made a decision about COVID-19 vaccination, appreciating the journey of others in their decision-making process can lead to a deeper understanding of what is common among all of us and how individuals in different geographies and from different backgrounds make a decision that each of us has faced.
 
This project was inspired by the work of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, as they spoke to Native American, African American and Latinx community members on their decision process about the COVID-19 vaccine. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Understanding Diverse Communities and Supporting Equitable and Informed COVID-19 Vaccination Decision-Making began in fall 2020 and continues through summer 2021. 

This project is focused on people from all over the United States, with ongoing community conversations in multiple locations: two Great Plains tribal communities; two African American communities — New Orleans, Louisiana, and Baltimore City, Maryland; and three Latinx Communities — Glenwood Springs/Garfield County in Colorado, Harris County, Texas, and Fairfax, Virginia. In addition, the Horizon Foundation provided the resources to include three additional communities — African American, Asian American, and Latinx —in Howard County, Maryland.

My Vax Journey represents an opportunity to collect stories from even more voices. The opinions expressed on My Vax Journey are that of the individual.