Laura Brennan's father says any campaign on a new coronavirus vaccine needs to be clear and factual, and warned there'll always be online trolls ready to spread misinformation.
Larry Brennan says his daughter kept to a simple message to persuade people to get the HPV vaccine.
Laura died of cervical cancer last year at the age of 26.
In the years before her death, she became a high-profile advocate for the HPV vaccine - saying she wouldn't have developed cancer if she'd had the vaccine herself.
She was credited with helping increase uptake for the vaccination to 70% after she joined a HSE public awareness campaign.
Now, several coronavirus vaccines are going through the emergency approval process and officials have started planning for a major vaccination programme in the new year.
Speaking on today's Hard Shoulder, Larry said Laura focused on straightforward messages - but there always will be people opposed to.
He explained: "She relied totally on proper media... she used to dread the trolls and faceless people on social media.
"She found that very difficult, but she tried to plough away at the simple message - go to reputable sources.
"You'll always find about anti-vaxxers... they'll never debate it. They'll just use the social media to attack, without giving any facts... they usually cut and paste from websites that are not factual."
He said that 'as night follows day' online trolls will appear to oppose vaccines, so it's vital to have the facts and medical professionals available to support the rollout of a vaccine.
He said his own family are vaccine supporters, and they will be getting a coronavirus vaccine 'if and when we can'.
Checks and balances
Eoghan De Barra is an infectious diseases consultant in Beaumont Hospital and senior lecturer in the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland.
He said he understands that some people might be uncertain about getting a new vaccine, given it was only a few months ago that we were hearing it could be years before a COVID-19 one was developed.
However, he said the important thing is to reassure people that the normal 'checks and balances' have been followed to get us to where we are now.
He said: "None of these processes have been short-circuited... the only thing that's happened here is every step has been expedited."
Dr De Barra says investigations into controversies around several vaccines in the past haven't shown clear links between the jabs and particular medical conditions.
He added: "The other side is we've never managed to eradicate or eliminate an infectious disease from the planet without the use of a vaccine.
"If we want to get there... a vaccine is going to be a key part of that."
