How to Reach Vaccine Controversies: Experts, Reluctant Canadians Say-National

Roshelle Lawrence, COVID-19 vaccine..

She said there were many reasons.

“Of course, there is a lot of publicity on social media. The fact that it was created very quickly is, as you know, tested as long as some other vaccines have been tested. So it wasn’t, so all these factors helped me to be a little hesitant and vigilant about vaccination, “she said.

“I didn’t know what to believe, and I was really scared to see all these conflicting pieces of information.”

But she shot COVID-19 last week. It was the family that changed her mind. The fact that she couldn’t meet her grandparents in the care facility without being vaccinated was a big step forward, she said. The discussion with her pastor was also helpful.

“I finally got the courage to get the vaccine and chose to go with God in essence.”

Lawrence was not alone in her hesitation.

According to statistics, about 18% of eligible Canadians have not yet received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 Tracker Canada Website.. This number has barely come out in the last few weeks.

Dr. Anna Banergi, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Toronto’s Temarty School of Medicine and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, said that this is because vaccines are essential to our pandemic response and we need as many people as possible to get them. It’s a problem.

“It’s important,” she said.

“This is a highly infectious virus, and the pockets of unvaccinated people can obviously lead to illness, but the spread of the virus to other people, especially vulnerable people. May continue. “

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She said that entering the fourth wave of COVID-19, there would be an impact on those who did not take the shot.

“They call it a’unvaccinated pandemic’,” she said. “The majority of people infected with COVID are unvaccinated, so there are unvaccinated or unvaccinated adults and children under the age of 12 who are not currently vaccinated. increase.”

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However, according to a June survey by Environments, 18% of Canadians are hesitant to vaccinate. According to Andrew Parkin, Executive Director of the Environics Institute for Survey Research, these Canadians are spread across cities and rural areas, gender, age and racial groups across the country.

But in February, he said, that number was close to 25 percent. “The efforts of our frontline workers and our public health authorities are working, showing that people are moving from the hesitant side to the other side.”

Some people, like Colin Gray, aren’t convinced. A 57-year-old man from St. Thomas, Ontario said he was not opposed to vaccination and had received other vaccinations in the past, but thought the shot was not well tested. I am.

“I like the idea that it stops a serious reaction, but we don’t know about the long-term consequences. There is nothing,” he said.

Gray wants to wait at least a year to get a shot to see if any additional side effects occur. Even if it’s a company or government— Like quebec — He said he wouldn’t be upset if he decided he needed to be vaccinated to travel or go out for dinner at a restaurant.

“My life and my health are much more important than vacations,” he said.

Sabina Vohra-Miller, founder of Unambiguous Science, says she often hears Gray-like concerns during vaccination workshops and Q & As.

“I spend a lot of time trying to really explain how your immune system works and how vaccines use it.

She said that the vaccine causes an immune response in your body, and after about eight weeks, you really have very little vaccine left.

“In the first few weeks, we want to see how your body, your immune system, responds to the vaccine. But when that first immune response takes place, it’s long-term. There really isn’t any vaccine left that can cause effects or side effects, “she said. “Therefore, the reason for doing long-term vaccine research is not really for safety, but it is much more important to understand the duration of immunity with the vaccine.”

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There is a lot of misinformation there, and people often don’t know who to trust, she said. She said that addressing their concerns about vaccines and giving them good sources can help them change their minds as well as treat them with respect.

“To make someone clear that they’re wrong only makes them dig further in the heel,” Vohra-Miller said.

“When talking to someone who hasn’t been vaccinated yet, the first thing to do is ask why they are concerned and really understand what their concerns are. If you don’t know what your question or concern is, you “can’t deal with them.”

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