With news of so many folks having trouble getting a dose of COVID-19 vaccine, it might be hard to believe that COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is a real thing.
Tragically, it is…
Countering COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy
So what do we do about it?
For one thing, we can highlight all of the folks who are very thankful and excited that they have been able to get vaccinated and protected already!
Folks who understand that our COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, with few risks, (after all, they have been tested on tens of thousands of people) and are our best shot at ending the COVID-19 pandemic.
We can also bust myths and push back on misinformation and propaganda about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines that are used to scare people away from getting vaccinated and protected.
But mostly we need to understand why these people might not want to get vaccinated.
- Are they against all vaccines?
- Do they support most vaccines, but are just hesitant about the COVID-19 vaccines?
- If it is just the COVID-19 vaccines, what is keeping them from getting vaccinated and protected?
Unfortunately, that last step often gets overlooked, as anyone who appears hesitant to get a vaccine is quickly labeled as being anti-vaccine. When that happens, some health care providers might get frustrated and move into a defensive mode, believing it is a direct personal attack on their training and experience. Or the patient or parent might get frustrated or angry if they don’t think their concerns are being addressed. Either way, the end result is typically the same – someone isn’t getting vaccinated…
Of course, there are better ways to help encourage everyone to get vaccinated and protected.
There are better ways to counter vaccine hesitancy.
- Tips for Building Vaccine Confidence in Health Systems and Clinics
- Tips for Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines Among Your Patients
- Vaccinate with Confidence for COVID-19 Vaccines
- The COVID-19 Vaccine Communication Handbook
- Making a Strong Recommendation for COVID-19 Vaccination
- COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Project Executive Summary
- COVID-19 Vaccination Communication: Applying Behavioral and Social Science to Address Vaccine Hesitancy and Foster Vaccine Confidence
- COVID-19 Vaccine Communications Tips
- A Communicator’s Tip Sheet for COVID-19 Vaccination
- Most Effective Language to Improve COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance
- COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Education – Now is the Time
- Building Vaccine Confidence Through Community Engagement
- Behavioural Considerations for Acceptance and Uptake of Covid-19 Vaccines
- Strategies for Promoting Covid-19 Vaccination
- Vaccine Hesitancy and Building Confidence in Covid-19 Vaccination
- Strengthening Vaccine Confidence in Pediatric and Family Practice Offices During the COVID-19 Pandemic (CDC Webinar)
- Talking to Recipients about COVID-19 Vaccines
- Experts discuss vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19
- Questions and Answers About COVID-19 Vaccines
Regrettably, as much as we do learn about vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases, many health care providers do not learn how to talk about vaccines as well as they should. At least not in a way that helps them with folks who are vaccine hesitant or on-the-fence about one or more vaccines.
That has to change now.
It’s up to you if you want to learn how to do it and help to get your patients and your community vaccinated and protected.
“Currently (as of December 2020), critical content for COVID-19 vaccination messages should include assurance of vaccine safety and efficacy, evidence that the benefits of vaccination (i.e., protection from the virus) outweigh the risks, and a focus on the collective benefits of high vaccination coverage.”
COVID-19 Vaccination Communication: Applying Behavioral and Social Science to Address Vaccine Hesitancy and Foster Vaccine Confidence
Remember, this is our shot to end the pandemic.
More on Countering Vaccine Hesitancy
- COVID-19 Vaccination Questions and Answers
- The Truth About COVID-19 Vaccines
- Maintaining the Cold Chain for COVID-19 Vaccines
- How Long Does It Take for the COVID-19 Vaccines to Work?
- COVID-19 Vaccines for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Moms
- Fainting After Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine
- Deaths Following COVID-19 Vaccination – Understanding Background Rates
- Many Covid-19 Vaccines Were Studied With Saline Placebos
- Missed Opportunities to Vaccinate
- Ask 8 Questions Before You Skip a Vaccine
- 10 Reasons You Aren’t Vaccinating Your Kids
- What Are the Greatest Tricks Anti-Vaccine Folks Use to Persuade Parents to Skip Vaccines?
- Heidi Larson interview: How to stop covid-19 vaccine hesitancy
- Finding Exemplars of Restored Vaccine Confidence: A Pathway for COVID-19 Recovery
- A practitioner’s guide to the principles of COVID-19 vaccine communications
- Understanding Vaccine Confidence in Multicultural Patient Communities
- How can we address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy?
- Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy and the COVID-19 Vaccine
- COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Project
- The Risks of Misinformation and Vaccine Hesitancy within the Covid-19 Crisis
- Overcoming Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy: Lessons From Elvis
- The VACCINES Act: Deciphering Vaccine Hesitancy in the Time of COVID-19
- How to overcome COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black patients
- Rapid Review: Vaccine Hesitancy and Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccination
- COVID-19: Going Beyond Misinformation To Build Vaccine Confidence
- COVID-19: can behavior insights address vaccine hesitancy and increase take-up?
- COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy – Strategies to Enhance Vaccine Acceptance
- Experts discuss vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19
- CDC – Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines Among Your Patients
- CDC – COVID-19 Vaccination Communication Toolkit
- CDC – The COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Conversation Starter
- CDC – Building Vaccine Confidence in Health Systems and Clinics
- Educating Patients & the Public about COVID-19 Vaccines
- Beyond Politics — Promoting Covid-19 Vaccination in the United States
- Confidence and Receptivity for COVID-19 Vaccines: A Rapid Systematic Review
- American Hospital Association COVID-19 Vaccine Communications Toolkit
- The Public’s Role in COVID-19 Vaccination
- Enhancing Public Trust and Health with COVID-19 Vaccination
- Meeting the Challenge of Vaccination Hesitancy
- Vaccine Rejection and Hesitancy: A Review and Call to Action
- Vaccine Safety Communication in a Pandemic
- COVID-19 Vaccine: Promoting Vaccine Acceptance
- ANA COVID-19 Video Education Series
- Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 Vaccines: Should You Be Worried?
- Did ‘Head of Pfizer Research’ Say COVID-19 Vaccine ‘Is Female Sterilization’?
- mRNA vaccine myths – anti-vax pseudoscience on COVID-19 vaccines
- A Top Vaccine Expert Answers Important Questions About a COVID-19 Vaccine
Last Updated on January 13, 2021