A pitch to O. C. vaccine skeptics
As the number of COVID- 19 infections continues to climb across Orange County — f looding hospitals and further straining the region’s healthcare system — county leaders Tuesday approved hiring a public relations f irm to help reassure residents about the safety and efficacy of the coronavirus vaccines.
The move came as county officials said Tuesday that residents 65 and older are now eligible to receive the vaccine, marking a significant expansion in access.
The decision followed new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and came ahead of the official recommendation from the state.
“My aim is to reduce hospitalizations and deaths as rapidly as possible, and we must prioritize our vaccine allocation to protect the most vulnerable in our community,” Dr. Clayton Chau, the county’s health officer and Health Care Agency director, said in a statement.
The developments are
the latest signs of increased vaccine availability. On Thursday, California told counties to open the f irst phase of eligibility to a wider pool of workers in the healthcare industry, including public health f ield staff, primary care clinics, specialty clinics, laboratory workers, dental clinics and pharmacy staff.
The county also advised residents not to visit the newly opened vaccine site at Disneyland Resort without an appointment.
The Board of Supervisors voted to hire Costa Mesa marketing consultant Idea Hall to develop a plan to reach out to people who have expressed skepticism about getting the vaccine.
Although county officials did not specify which communities they will be focusing on, a recent survey conducted by the Health Care Agency indicated that women, people ages 35 to 54, Latino and Black people and residents of Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana showed the lowest willingness to be vaccinated.
“Is there urgency to what we need to do? Yes, because unlike testing, this requires education. Education and awareness takes time,” said board Chairman Andrew Do. “You are not going to win over people with one ad, one touch, one encounter. You need multiple touches from multiple sources that they believe in ... to educate them of the process and then lower the resistance to vaccines.”
Although the safety and efficacy of the vaccines is clear after trials involving tens of thousands of participants, including elderly people and those with chronic conditions, some remain skeptical. The vaccines have been recommended for all adults except those who have had a severe allergic reaction to any of the ingredients.
The healthcare agency’s survey, completed late last year, determined that “safety of the vaccine needs to be addressed in all groups, and some groups need to have the issues of protecting others through vaccination and the seriousness of the disease addressed.”
Overall, 58% of the more than 26,000 survey respondents indicated they would be willing to be vaccinated against COVID- 19.
The results are similar to a poll by the Associated Press- NORC Center for Public Affairs Research last year that showed only about half of the U. S. population planned to get the vaccine. That’s a far cry from the 70% that some experts estimate needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity, or the point at which enough people are protected that the coronavirus will stop spreading rapidly.
“It is clear that willingness to be vaccinated for COVID- 19 is much lower than past or present willingness to be vaccinated for the seasonal f lu,” the survey states.