A Personal Plea for a Different Kind of Communication to Counter Vaccine Hesitancy
By Robert Cohen
Professionally and personally, I've always been pro-vaccination.
It probably comes from having grown up in the 1950s when science and medicine were still highly trusted and viewed as providing "magic bullets" to prevent disease and fuel human progress.
I was a Polio Pioneer who received the Salk vaccine during the first 1954 trials in NYC public schools. As an adult, I've made sure to vaccinate my kids. Working in UNICEF for two decades as a communicator, I promoted immunization much of the time. Rain Barrel is currently working on strategies to combat vaccine hesitancy. So, you could say I'm a vaccine booster (pun intended).
But all of this is cognitively dissonant with my huge distrust of capitalism, politicians, Big Pharma, for- profit health care systems, etc. that are involved with the vaccine process.
I'm not even sure how my trust in vaccines and my distrust in the system coexist in my head. But they do.
So, I can understand and sympathize with people who are thoughtfully skeptical about vaccines, especially now that we're dealing with a novel mutating virus that behaves so unpredictably and with vaccines developed so quickly through new technologies.
As much as I'm happy that more and more people are lining up to get vaccinated, I'm actually glad to see many folks on the fence about getting the shots – for example, African-Americans who have been screwed forever by health care systems and the powers-that-be. Why wouldn't they be skeptical? Why wouldn't they demand more information and to be heard?
We are asking people to make a HUGE leap of faith with the COVID-19 vaccines, particularly in the US where Trump undermined trust in science and reality itself for the past four years.
Lecturing people to "come on, join the herd" and get the jab won't hack it.
We need communication that's respectful as well as factual, communication that's not judgmental or paternalistic. We need to listen to and address people's legitimate concerns, and we must make darn sure that vaccine distribution is equitable.
The days of lock-step compliance with public health advice are over. People's trust needs to be regained through good science in the public interest, systemic reform and better communication.
Biden is getting it right for starters. We need a thousand Fauci’s. We need community health mobilization, not just top-down immunization programs.
The pandemic offers more than tragedy; it holds out the hope of transformation. Including transformation in the way we communicate.
These are my thoughts as I wait for immunity to kick in 12-14 days after getting the Moderna vaccine a week ago.
Go get your shot when it's your turn, dear friends. Be vaccine evangelists to share the good news that vaccines are safe and can speed us out of this nightmare.
