The Best Evidence for How to Overcome COVID Vaccine Fears

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Now that the COVID-19 vaccine is becoming available, somewhere between 60 and 90 percent of adults and children must be vaccinated or have antibodies resulting from infection in order to arrive at the safe harbor known as herd immunity, where the whole community is protected.

However, among the US population, there are large segments that remain reluctant or opposed to receiving the vaccines. In the Kaiser Family Foundation poll, 42 percent of Republicans said they definitely or probably would not. The same was true for 35 percent of Black adults, who, as a group, have borne a disproportionate share of sickness and death from COVID-19. Also deeply hesitant were 35 percent of rural residents, 36 percent of adults ages 30 to 49, and—especially worrisome given their public-facing roles—33 percent of essential workers and 29 percent of those who work in a health care delivery setting.

For the reluctant and distrustful, it will take targeted actions and communication strategies that speak to the specific concerns of each group to move them toward accepting the new vaccines. This article describes several approaches to reach those audiences.

Source: The Best Evidence for How to Overcome COVID Vaccine Fears

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    Inside the Mind of an Anti-vaxxer

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    This article describes the attitude of the many individuals in the US who are against vaccination and details steps that can be taken to change their attitudes and behavior.

    The various options of changing people’s attitudes toward vaccinations are discussed.

    Source: Inside the Mind of an Anti-vaxxer

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      COVID-19: Can Behavior Insights Address Vaccine Hesitancy and Increase Take-up?

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      In efforts to reduce infections by COVID-19, effective vaccines will only contribute to herd immunity if people accept them and follow the correct vaccination course. The take-up rate is a crucial variable to consider in the quest to achieve herd immunity.

      For instance, with a 90% effective vaccine, we need a 77.7% take-up rate if the herd immunity threshold is 70%. Currently, the picture is mixed: in a global survey of potential acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine, positive responses ranged from 55% in Russia to 87% in China. In September 2020, a Pew survey suggested that 49% of American adults would refuse a COVID-19 vaccine.

      The behavioral science literature suggests the importance of understanding the underlying drivers of vaccine decision-making. Countries should design their strategies for vaccine take-up to target these factors, including the perceived risk of disease and side effects, social norms, costs in terms of time and effort, and trust in the health system and government. Behavior science offers options that go beyond traditional behavior change campaigns.

      Source: COVID-19: Can Behavior Insights Address Vaccine Hesitancy and Increase Take-up?

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        Vaccine Confidence Project

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        This site serves as a collection of resources from around the world that can be used to gain further information about vaccines and their recommended usage.

        The purpose of the Vaccine Confidence Project is to monitor public confidence in immunization programs by building an information surveillance system for early detection of public concerns around vaccines; by applying a diagnostic tool to data collected to determine the risk level of public concerns in terms of their potential to disrupt vaccine programmes; and, finally, to provide analysis and guidance for early response and engagement with the public to ensure sustained confidence in vaccines and immunisation.

        This initiative also defines a Vaccine Confidence Index™ (VCI) as a tool for mapping confidence globally.

        Source: Vaccine Confidence Project

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          Vaccination Communication Strategies: What Have We Learned, and Lost, in 200 Years?

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          This study compares Australian government vaccination campaigns from two very different time periods, the early nineteenth century (1803–24) and the early twenty-first (2016).

          It explores the modes of rhetoric and frames that government officials used in each period to encourage parents to vaccinate their children. The analysis shows that modern campaigns rely primarily on scientific fact, whereas 200 years ago personal stories and emotional appeals were more common. The authors argue that a return to the old ways may be needed to address vaccine hesitancy around the world.

          Source: Vaccination Communication Strategies: What Have We Learned, and Lost, in 200 Years?

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            COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor

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            The Kaiser Family Foundation COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor is an ongoing research project tracking the American public’s attitudes and experiences with COVID-19 vaccinations.

            Using a combination of surveys and focus groups, this project will track the dynamic nature of public opinion as vaccine development unfolds, including vaccine confidence and hesitancy, trusted messengers and messages, as well as the public’s experiences with vaccination as distribution begins.

            Source: COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor

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              Framework for Decision-making: Implementation of Mass Vaccination Campaigns in the Context of COVID-19

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              This document describes the principles to consider when deliberating the implementation of mass vaccination campaigns for prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases and high impact diseases (VPD/HID), and when assessing risks and benefits of conducting outbreak-response vaccination campaigns to respond to VPD/HID outbreaks.

              Source: Framework for Decision-making: Implementation of Mass Vaccination Campaigns in the Context of COVID-19

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                Call for Action: Managing the Infodemic

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                Although infodemics are not a new phenomenon, the volume and rapid scale-up of facts, but also misinformation and disinformation, surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak are unprecedented.

                Deeply concerned with the undermining consequences of the current infodemic to the COVID-19 response and acknowledging the great potential for improved risk communication through new tools, the WHO has called on key stakeholders and the global community to commit to undertaking the actions in this article.

                Source: Call for Action: Managing the Infodemic

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                  Maternal, Newborn, and Reproductive Health and COVID-19: Adaptations, Successes, Challenges, and Next Steps. An Expert Consultation

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                  This report presents key findings and recommendations from a series of four discussion-based expert consultation workshops. These consultations—organized by the READY initiative and the Inter Agency Working Group on Reproductive Health in crises (IAWG)—brought Maternal, Newborn, and Reproductive Health and infectious disease stakeholders together to review MNRH in the preparedness/outbreak response context and identify priorities for the ongoing pandemic.

                  This report compiles and shares participants’ experiences and lessons learned, and identifies challenges and gaps in implementing humanitarian MNRH services in COVID-19 across the world. The recommendations developed from these consultations are intended to support MNRH services and actors to improve access and quality of care to vulnerable populations in future waves of COVID-19 and in future outbreaks.

                  Source: Maternal, Newborn, and Reproductive Health and COVID-19: Adaptations, Successes, Challenges, and Next Steps. An Expert Consultation

                    Views 518

                    Communication Tools in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond which Can Optimise Professional Practice and Patient Care

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                    Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the World Health Organization made a number of recommendations regarding the utilisation of healthcare services. In general, there has been a reduction in elective healthcare services including outpatient clinics, diagnostic services and elective surgery.

                    Inevitably these reductions for all but the most urgent clinical work will have a detrimental impact on patients, and alternative ways of working including the use of telemedicine may help to mitigate this. Similarly, electronic solutions may enable clinicians to maintain inter and intra-professional working in both clinical and academic settings. Implementation of electronic solutions to minimise direct patient contact will be new to many clinicians, and the sheer number of software solutions available and varying functionality may be overwhelming to anyone unfamiliar with ‘virtual communication’.

                    In this article, we will aim to summarise the variety of electronic communication platforms and tools available for clinicians and patients, detailing their utility, pros and cons, and some ‘tips and tricks’ from our experience through our work as an international research collaborative.

                    Source: Communication Tools in the COVID-19 Era and Beyond which Can Optimise Professional Practice and Patient Care

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