The literature review assignment allowed me to work and improve three essential writing skills: collaboration, navigating online databases, and utilizing sources. These skills align with Course Learning Objectives 4, 7, and 8, respectively. Upon choosing a topic to research, my group wanted to learn more about COVID-19 vaccines. This was during the time that the FDA authorized emergency use of three COVID-19 vaccines, and it was nearing approval to be used to vaccinate children. 

I felt lucky to have such great peers for this project. With great team dynamic, we were able to set realistic goals and deadlines in order to produce an effective and coherent literature review on COVID-19 vaccines. We developed a schedule to meet on zoom to discuss and work, and we made a google drive where we placed our sources, writing drafts, and questions we wanted to answer in our writing. For my own part, I researched the political determinants of the COVID-19 vaccines. I specifically wanted to focus on the politicalization of the vaccine that was caused by the disinformation machine fueled by former President Trump. When going to databases such as Gale and EBSCOhost, I learned to use boolean operators along with key terms to search for relevant primary and secondary sources. I obtained data on rates of vaccine hesitancy along the political spectrum and a differential report on false vaccine information that circulated news networks and social media. With these sources, I had to implement them in my writing. I made sure to provide a smooth and logical flow with the arguments I made, making sure that the pieces of evidence I included were effective in proving my statements.

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