Here’s what you need to know before you engage in vaccine skeptics

For a vaccine to be effective, people actually need to be vaccinated, but many Americans are reluctant and hesitant about the safety and effectiveness of vaccination.

For example, consider the ongoing development of a coronavirus vaccine. There is no COVID-19 vaccine licensed for public use in the United States yet, if at all, a significant number of people hesitate to get it. According to it, if it was available for free today Gallup voting From July and August.

There is no COVID-19 vaccine that can be evaluated to determine if these concerns are justified, but there is one for the flu. Flu vaccination season It is here.

The influenza virus that causes the disease can vary from season to season, so you need to inoculate it annually, but adults often skip it. only 34.9% Adults aged 18 to 49 were vaccinated during the 2018-2019 flu season in the United States. As a result of this low participation rate, some scientistsTwin demic“Coronavirus and influenza later this year.

Is there any use for engaging when I hear my family talk about how all vaccines are fake? If my friends want to skip the flu vaccine, should I discuss with them why? Here are some principles to keep in mind when engaging with vaccine skeptics in your community.

Public health experts and epidemiologists agreed that dismissing someone’s question and stupidly calling their vaccine skepticism would not take you far.

“We are happy to announce that,” said Lois Priverdam, Director of Policy Advocacy and Communications at Johns Hopkins University International Vaccine Access Center. Dam To report How Johns Hopkins prepares the community for the COVID-19 vaccine.

“It is important to recognize that people have many needs. Vaccines are not always a priority,” said Privor-Dumm. For example, she may prevent flu vaccination and ultimately the COVID-19 vaccination if she does not feel that her basic nutrition and physical safety needs are met. It was

Black americans sometimes have Lower vaccination rate Because of flu and pneumonia than white Americans. They too report More skeptical of the future COVID-19 vaccine than whites and Latin Americans. There are good reasons for this. Black Americans may experience phobia and fear of medicine based on: Long history of involuntary and unethical medical experiments For those beyond the infamous Study of Tuskegee Syphilis..

Pastor Teris King is a Black Pastor in Baltimore and former Director of the Minority Health Office at the Medicare & Medicaid Service Center. He said his experience in public health taught him a lot King says the agency takes a paternalistic approach to the Black community. “We are here to care for you and here to empower you”.

Researchers, laboratory experts, and vaccine promoters need to ask the community first. From a health care perspective? “At least listen, address those needs, and strive to be transparent and honest about our environment,” he added.

Emily K. Brunson is an associate professor of anthropology at Texas State University and one of the co-chairs of the working group that produced the John Hopkins Report on the collective preparation of the COVID-19 vaccine. she has Studied How social networks play an important role in parents’ decisions about vaccination of their children.

“These personal connections were more important than the official statements people might actually read or what social media was from strangers. What really matters is who knows and Is what trusted people are saying,” Branson said. “COVID is clearly a different situation than parental vaccination, but I think the same is true: social networks, or local one-to-one connections, are very important.”

One way to reach the vaccine skeptics that you know on a one-to-one level is to develop empathy. Professor of Psychology at Amherst University,Reasons to Act: Turn Bystanders into Moral Rebels]. One strategy to change social norms is to build empathy by communicating that you are personally at stake with the vaccine.

Sanderson said this might sound like this, “Listen, my mother is actually very at risk [for this disease].. You may not know it, but it makes me really sad when you say it. Mother’s life may be at risk. ”

If you see the misinformation of a vaccine spreading on social media, you can either report it to an individual platform or take a non-profit public health initiative, such as a stronger campaign for a public health project. .. Do it for yourself..

One of the questions he should ask before engaging with vaccine skeptics, Sanderson is, is he trying to change the person’s view or the views of other audience members?

Sometimes your best option is the latter, and calling the wrong information about a vaccine shared by one person may stop it from spreading. Frankly, send a message to everyone who hears the message, “Not everyone thinks the vaccine is fake.” Before I say the same, I probably need to be careful,” said Sanderson.

inside that Guidelines The World Health Organization has revised the content of how public health authorities can deal with vaccine denier, including fake experts, conspiracies, misrepresentation of facts and selectivity, as well as the common use of vocal vaccine denier. Said to reveal weapons. And impossible expectations.

For example, if vaccinated refugees use fake experts, WHO has told the health authorities that this argument is an idea advocated by people who are “not considered experts in the field of vaccine safety and efficacy.” Pointed out that they do not reflect evidence-based consensus among scientists and do not represent public opinion.

According to the WHO, the vast majority of Americans are “well aware of the great benefits of vaccination for the health of all.”

Understand how vaccine And Vaccine trial..

“Many vaccines work by exposing the virus to very few viruses. Eleanor Murray, an associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at Boston University, says your body is in contact with the virus. You can find out how to actually react when you encounter a virus.

Murray said this was a fact that people didn’t understand well in her experience. “I saw people who were really strong in anti-vaccines saying, “Instead of vaccines, we just give people a small piece of the virus.” That’s actually the vaccine,” she said.

Read the history of vaccines and make them available for sharing. King quoted the story of Onesimus, A enslaved African who introduced a smallpox vaccination to Boston and the United States. “Often, our people take great pride in what they helped build,” King said.

Another fact to keep in mind is that the vaccine is not 100% effective for everyone. Getting a vaccine does not mean that the disease won’t make you sick, Murray says.

“In order for a vaccine to be approved, it must generally work on average for the community,” Murray said. “But for the influenza vaccine, for example, it’s been a really great year for a 60% chance that the influenza vaccine will work, and in some cases it can be much less. But at least some percentage It protects people and is better than not having a vaccine.”

WHO Recommended Encounter with a vaccine denial “It is impossible to expect 100% safety. Medical products and interventions from aspirin to heart surgery can never be guaranteed to be 100% safe. What we do know is that the risks associated with vaccine-preventable diseases far outweigh the risks of vaccines.”

No details are known yet, especially regarding the development of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We don’t have a vaccine, so we can’t argue that a vaccine might contain this or it, and that might be dangerous,” Murray said. When one raises this kind of idea, they said, “They’re basically inventing possible concerns because they don’t have a vaccine yet,” she said.

Consider the best person to send a message about the vaccine. Sanderson’s research on changes in social norms found that people turned to ethical leaders for guidance.

Privor-Dumm said people who are concerned about taking the community into account can be good messengers about the vaccine. Once this messenger is satisfied, you can convince others.

“If you’re not fully embarked on a particular vaccine, you’ll want to hear facts from people you trust, people who have looked at the data, people who have heard of the vaccine, and people who have a stake in the community. Masu”

A pastor of the Liberty Grace Church in Baltimore, King is one of the trusted community members with knowledge of public platforms and how vaccines work. He said he would not use his role to convince the community of the potential of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I don’t want to be a member of my church and an extension member of my community I catch a cold during this flu season,” he said. “I’m asking them at rates like never before [seen] To get that flu vaccine. ”