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Written by Luke Gerwe, NewsHour Classroom's editor

Background

Work on inventing a vaccine for COVID-19 began almost immediately after the virus’s gene sequence was made publicly available in January 2020. After rigorous vaccine trials, the FDA approved two vaccines as safe and effective for use in the United States before the end of 2020 (with more expected on the way). Still, well into 2021, challenges remain in distributing the vaccine to make sure everyone who needs it can get it, and to ensure enough people seek out the vaccine to ensure “ herd immunity ” and end outbreaks of the disease in this country.

This lesson is designed to explore the origins of the coronavirus vaccine, which is a patented invention with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, and consider inventing devices to help distribute the vaccine which make it more equitable, efficient and effective. You can skip day 1 and go to day 2 if you are looking for a shorter lesson.

Day 1

Warm-up activity:

Start by discussing as a class what participants already know about this vaccine and how it works. Some useful questions to start out:

• What do you think goes into the invention process when it comes to creating a new vaccine?
• How do vaccines generally work? How do vaccines train immune systems to fight diseases?
• How are inventions like vaccines tested for safety and efficacy (how effective they are at preventing infection, symptoms or spread)?
• What have students heard about new strains of COVID-19 vaccine, and how might those new strains impact vaccine efficacy? What new inventions must be created in order to deal with the new strains?
• What have students heard about problems or disparities in vaccine distribution? Have they heard of any inventive solutions?

Main activity:

1. Alone or in small groups, research the origins and approval process of the current COVID-19 vaccines, including information about the inventors of the vaccines, U.S. patent information you can find online about the vaccines and how these vaccines help build resistance or immunity to the disease. Also research who is still not getting vaccinated despite being eligible. You may want to start with this article on Dr. Ugur Sahin and Dr. Özlem Tureci, the immigrant couple in Germany who invented the early vaccine technology that led to Pfizer’s groundbreaking COVID vaccine. Check out their U.S. Patent number here !
2. Write a short narrative or explainer summarizing findings in a way that would help someone who doesn’t know much about the vaccine or is uncertain about being vaccinated better understand who invented the COVID-19 vaccine and how it works.
   • Make sure to pay attention to the dates of each article, since science and distribution are advancing rapidly. You can discuss where to find valid sources as a class or use some or all of the following resources:
     • World Health Organization (WHO) COVID vaccine explainer
       
     • Years of research laid groundwork for speedy COVID-19 vaccines
     • Vaccines against coronavirus will have side effects — and that’s a good thing
     • Fauci on the efficacy of new vaccines and preparing for coronavirus variants
     • Trust in COVID-19 vaccines is vital to control the pandemic. Why are some hesitant?
     • What is driving the disparities in vaccine distribution
     • Older adults without family or friends lag in race to get vaccines
     • Black Americans are getting vaccinated at lower rates than white Americans

Day 2

Warm-up activity:

1. Start by discussing with classmates who is eligible for vaccines in your community and how to access vaccines. What is the process for getting registered and finding available vaccines? As a class, in groups or on your own, check out this NewsHour article, “ Eight tips for finding a COVID-19 vaccine . ” T hink through who in your community might need help getting vaccinated, including:
   1. The elderly or others who have trouble using their computers or otherwise accessing vaccine registration.
   2. People with disabilities who may not be able to register or travel to vaccination sites.
   3. People who don’t know about the vaccine or are worried or skeptical about being vaccinated.
   4. Any other people who may be eligible for the vaccine but have no current plan to get vaccinated.
2. In small groups, brainstorm ideas for inventions that will encourage vaccinations or eliminate roadblocks or unfairness (or inequity) in vaccine distribution in your community. Could vaccination be easier or more convenient for members of the community with new technology or infrastructure? Could current policies of vaccine distribution be made more equitable or efficient through invention in some way?

Main activity:

Use the Lemelson-MIT invention process to build out and test your plan. The invention process includes the following steps:

• Concept phase : Identify a problem, conduct research and brainstorm solutions. (This step is already complete if you've completed day 1 and day 2 activities.)
• Design phase : Create a plan, calculate costs, select the best solution and determine necessary resources.
• Build phase: Sketch, model or build a prototype. This could be a prototype of technology or infrastructure that helps people get vaccinated in your community, or it could be the outline of an information or advocacy campaign as discussed above.
• Review and redesign phase: Review the invention for strengths and weaknesses. Present prototypes (plans) to the class and discuss ways to make each proposal stronger.

Share your idea! The last step of the invention process is sharing your idea with community members, beneficiaries (those who will directly benefit from the invention) and key. Create an information campaign: Use the information you’ve gathered to help the group you’ve identified make a plan for vaccination. How could you best get this information to the targeted group to remove barriers to vaccination?

Students are also welcome to share photos or ideas of their invention using #PBSInvention via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!

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