When a COVID-19 vaccine is eventually formulated, it could find support among people who are normally hesitant about immunization, says professor of epidemiology Dr. Natasha Crowcroft.

But she warned that clear communication would be needed to ensure trust.

"The risk communication around this is going to be absolutely essential," said Crowcroft, director of the Centre for Vaccine-Preventable Diseases at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.&nbsp;

"If anything goes wrong — or if something doesn't go wrong, but just rumours spread around a new vaccine — we'll be in trouble," she told 

Trials of COVID-19 vaccines aren't risk-free, but this volunteer says possible benefits 'far outweigh' danger

Medical student Sean Doyle is volunteering to test a COVID-19 vaccine in the U.S. — just one of several potential vaccines being explored by scientists fighting to end the pandemic.

Sean Doyle is one of 45 volunteers in a U.S. trial to test whether a COVID-19 vaccine is safe. He had the injection at Emory Univeristy in Altlanta, Ga.

Sean Doyle COVID-19 vaccine volunteers

"We know this with [any] new vaccine being rolled out. You don't actually have to have a problem happen; you just have to have people think there might be one for there to be a huge issue."&nbsp;

Multiple vaccines are being tested around the world, with some already in human trials due to the urgency of ending the COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp;

Sean Doyle is one of 17 subjects in COVID-19 vaccine trial at Emory University, Georgia.

Crowcroft said with the range of approaches being tested, she's confident a successful vaccine will be found — if not several.

She expects uptake will be high due to fear of the disease and that a vaccine is "the only reliable exit from our [physical distancing] situation."

Under normal circumstances, "the vast majority of people are pro-vaccine and they'll get their kids vaccinated and they'll listen to medical advice," she said.

Public health efforts tend to do a better job at making sure children get the vaccinations they need than they do with adults, said Dr. Natasha Crowcroft, director of the Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Natasha Crowcroft

There will be some people who harbour concerns about vaccines — but COVID-19 might change that, she told Galloway.

Putting off kids' vaccines during COVID-19 heightens risk of other outbreaks

With daycares and schools closed across Canada, immunization requirements aren't being enforced by public health officials, and that has doctors worried about a possible surge in measles, whooping cough and other serious, vaccine-preventable illnesses.

Dr. Daniel Flanders gives baby Penelope her MMR, pneumococcal and meningitis vaccines n Toronto on April 23, 2020 amid COVID-19 precautions. 

Dr. Daniel Flanders vaccinates baby Penelope

Dr. Daniel Flanders gives baby Penelope her MMR, pneumococcal and meningitis vaccines in Toronto on Thursday in the drive-up vaccination clinic located in the alley behind his office amid COVID-19 precautions. 

"The enormity of this pandemic is such that I think it really is pushing that vast majority of people in the direction of being more pro-vaccine, which has got to be a good thing."

Written by Padraig Moran. Produced by Sarah Joyce Battersby.

A child receives a measles shot in this file photo from 2019. The COVID-19 crisis could sway some people who are normally wary of vaccines in favour of getting immunized.

A COVID-19 vaccine could ease immunization hesitancy, or be hindered by the same mistrust: expert

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