How to talk to others about the COVID-19 vaccine
How to Talk to Friends and Family about the COVID19 Vaccine
Dr. Meg Schaeffer, EdD, MPH, MPA, National Public Health Advisor (SAS Institute), Consultant (Aperio)
This article is intended to support conversations with friends/family who are hesitant to be vaccinated for COVID-19. While we may fail in moving someone forward, the effort may be beneficial in the future.
The Approach (stolen from STAT - A user's guide: How to talk to those hesitant about the Covid-19 vaccine)
Have a conversation – be prepared to listen more than speak; prepare for emotions
Speak people’s language
Understand doubts/talk about mistrust
Keep it simple
Talk about safety
Offer to help
Get personal
Focus on the future
Sum it up in one sentence
COVID-19 is a completely new to people virus and if we do not control and contain it, we could be faced with more severe and deadly coronaviruses in the future.
Are these vaccines safe and effective?
Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are about 95% effective, meaning of 100 people who receive the vaccine, 95 will not get COVID-19 when exposed and 5 will. The vaccines protect nearly completely against someone getting severely ill or dying from COVID. In other words, if you are one of the unlucky 5% who do not respond to the vaccine, you will probably not get very sick.
To compare, the Mumps vaccine is about 78% effective, meaning of 100 people who receive it, 20 may get mumps. The COVID-19 vaccine is quite the overachiever in terms of protection compared to other routine vaccines.
COVID-19 vaccines were trialed in more than 100,000 people internationally before approved for emergency use in the US. Hundreds of millions of vaccines have already been administered, with very few experiencing any serious side effects.
Perspective: the chance of having an anaphylactic reaction to penicillin is about 100 people per 10,000 doses. That chance with the COVID-19 vaccine is 3.4 people per MILLION doses.
I don’t know what’s in it
Vaccine manufacturers are required to report everything in the vaccine, the vaccine is regularly tested to ensure it contains ONLY what it should and in the right amounts. It’s like quality control for ground beef or chicken, except protections for medications are even stronger!
Vaccines are structured to mimic sickness – they work quickly and disappear from your body. Vaccines tell our bodies to make antibody warriors while drafting a blueprint on how to make those warriors in the future. The result of vaccination – immunologic immunity or protection against future infection.
I’m just going to wait
There is little reason to watch and wait as more than 100 million people have received the vaccine in the US alone. The sooner you get vaccinated, the sooner you protect yourself and others.
My chances of dying, let alone getting sick, are slim to none
Maybe, for now. COVID-19 could easily change (and is changing) to better infect younger people.
Younger, less vulnerable people need to also consider how their decision affects the people in their lives. A young person could unknowingly spread the virus to a parent, grandparent, co-worker, or someone undergoing cancer treatment or with a lung disease. When you protect yourself, you also protect others.
I might have a reaction
Yes, you might. And honestly if you never had COVID-19 it is pretty likely. Younger people are more likely to react to the second dose as opposed to the first. However, reactions are generally short-lived, maybe a few hours to a day, and are similar to the flu vaccine or shingles shot. Sore arm is the most common side effect.
I might need a booster anyway
Sure. You might. However, that is pretty much how all vaccines work. It’s like getting a tetanus booster or meningitis vaccine. Though as of now, no booster for COVID-19 is needed.
The vaccine was developed too fast
The vaccine was created faster than any ever in history. HOWEVER, the vaccines used a technology under study for use IN VACCINES for more than a decade. The technology is not new, the virus and time to market was expedited by what we already knew.
The only significant outstanding, unanswered question is “How long will the vaccine last?” Clinical trials that started last summer continue and will sustain for several years to answer this and other more specific questions.
I don’t trust science
As an epidemiologist, I’m skeptical of some science some of the time. I know how to break studies apart and can confirm that by the time science makes its way into a CDC recommendation, there are multiple studies done by different people in different places coming to the same conclusions. That really is the hallmark of good science – multiple studies, large groups, conducted by different scientists in different locations – when that occurs and the same conclusion is reached over and over, the finding becomes credible.
I don’t trust the government/pharmaceutical companies/Bill Gates
We all have doubts about various things, but there is unrelenting proof of a pandemic from case data to death data to actual people who filled hospital wings.
References and Resources
SARS-CoV-2 Infection after Vaccination in Health Care Workers in California | NEJM
Effect of vaccination on transmission of COVID-19: an observational study in healthcare workers and their households Association of Age With SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Response | Adolescent Medicine | JAMA Network Open.
Unexpectedly, patients ages 19–30 years showed lower antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 than children and older adults. Differing antibody responses in pediatric and adult populations suggests that differences in clinical manifestations between these two groups may be due in part to age-related immune responses, potentially necessitating age-targeted strategies for disease screening and vaccine development.
Vaccination and non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19: a mathematical modelling study - The Lancet Safety and efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine. Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine | NEJM Safety and efficacy of the Moderna vaccine. Efficacy and Safety of the mRNA-1273 SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine | NEJM Acute Allergic Reactions to mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines | Allergy and Clinical Immunology | JAMA
Allergic Reactions Including Anaphylaxis After Receipt of the First Dose of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine — United States, December 14–23, 2020 | MMWR (cdc.gov)