![]() Americans overwhelmingly report wearing masks, for instance. Even then, however, the public-health consensus is stronger than media coverage and online attention might suggest. The response to the pandemic has become highly politicized, creating an increased risk that people will forgo vaccination because of misperceptions about the risks of the virus and/or the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. Persuading Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 poses different challenges than other new vaccines, such as the ones for shingles. Read: How to talk to an anti-vax relative Persuading them to get a COVID-19 vaccine will be crucial-this group is both much larger as a proportion of the population than the anti-vaccine fringe and also more receptive to public-health guidance. Though the childhood-immunization data suggest that parents in this group vaccinate their children at very high rates, they are less likely to get vaccines themselves as adults (for instance, by getting a flu shot every year). The third and most important group, however, is made up of Americans with mixed to somewhat favorable attitudes toward vaccines. Realistically, people in this group will be extremely hard to persuade, but we should try to do so not just for the sake of their own health but to limit the potential risks they could pose to people in their communities and social networks. The second group is the very small subset of Americans with strongly negative views toward vaccines. These obstacles will be especially challenging for the initial COVID-19 vaccines because we must make sure that people get both doses that are recommended for protection. This group is ultimately very likely to take a COVID-19 vaccine once one becomes available the primary challenge is helping them turn those intentions into action by reducing logistical barriers that could limit immunization, such as mobility restrictions, perceived cost, scheduling challenges, fears of going out, etc. The first group comprises the adults with largely favorable attitudes toward vaccines who vaccinate their children and tend to get seasonal influenza shots. It is useful in thinking about the path forward to distinguish between three groups of people. The barriers to immunization are diverse and include misperceptions about the risks of the flu and the vaccine, as well as logistical and (perceived) financial obstacles.ĬOVID-19 is far deadlier than the flu, which may increase some people’s desire to get vaccinated, but the vaccines are new and thus present novel communication challenges. During the 2019–20 flu season, for instance, only 48 percent of adults age 18 and older and 64 percent of kids were immunized, including just 70 percent of the seniors who were most at risk. Consider uptake of the flu vaccine, another voluntary vaccine that seeks to protect people from a virus that kills hundreds of thousands of people globally each year. These facts are encouraging, but successfully persuading eligible adults to get vaccinated will still be challenging, especially on a voluntary basis. To date, no convincing evidence has demonstrated that online misinformation is increasing hesitancy, which long predates the internet. Similarly, despite concerns that people are inundated by misinformation about vaccines online, exposure to it seems quite rare in a study, my co-authors and I estimate that only 19 percent of Americans encounter one or more vaccine-skeptical web pages each year. Pockets of hesitancy remain and improvement is needed on some vaccines, but we should not confuse the visibility of a small number of anti-vaccine activists with sentiment toward vaccines in the broader population. For example, 95 percent of children were vaccinated against measles, mumps, and rubella with the MMR vaccine in the 2018–19 school year. Prior to the pandemic, vaccination rates were generally high and stable for very young children and those of school-entry age. For instance, only a tiny proportion of parents forgo vaccination for their children. ![]() Contrary to popular belief, very few Americans actually oppose vaccines. The good news is that we start from a position of strength. To succeed in vaccinating the population against COVID-19, the United States must draw on the resources we already have: a population that generally supports vaccination and networks of trust that connect health-care professionals with their patients and people with their communities. What will persuade millions of Americans to take these new vaccines, which were developed and tested in record time? But even miraculous vaccines do little good for public health if people refuse to take them. This week is coming to a close with truly miraculous news: In the coming days, Americans across the country are expected to begin getting vaccinated against COVID-19, a virus that emerged just a year ago.
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