WE STILL NEED BETTER EDUCATION ABOUT VACCINES TO END PANDEMIC
My husband received his second injection of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine in January. He is a bone marrow transplant physician at UC San Diego and interacts with vulnerable leukemia and lymphoma patients every day. It was not hard for him to decide to be vaccinated. He had a sore arm for a day and felt sluggish the next morning, but as with the first shot in December, that was the extent of his side effects. He has received many vaccinations, against influenza, against Hepatitis B, and against any pathogen that could harm his patients. But not everyone has faith and trust in the health care system and medical establishment, and not everyone is comfortable with needles.
If we are going to get to herd immunity and beat this pandemic, we will have to do more than vaccinate health care workers. We will have to reach across barriers of false information and suspicion.
Even as the pandemic continues, numerous friends and acquaintances have expressed their concerns about the vaccine. Several have said that they won’t get it. We must not dismiss this trepidation as ignorance or stupidity. My friends are thoughtful, intelligent and accomplished, but they still have questions and concerns. We must acknowledge the reality: There are many reasons why Americans are suspicious of the health care establishment and government leaders who tell us that things are going to be OK.
As a result of the erosion in credibility of authority figures over the years, Americans have not responded well to being told they must do something. Purveyors of information from the halls of power have been unreliable and prone to “alternative facts.” All the scientific data in the world is not going to change that. However, Americans do believe their friends, their neighbors and people with whom they interact in the community, and therein lies our opportunity.
The data is incontrovertibly strong that the upside of mass vaccination far outweighs the downside of the pandemic continuing to ravage our nation. The pandemic will only lead to more deaths, more economic destruction, and more heartache and pain. The risk benefit analysis isn’t even close: any side effects, real or imagined, from vaccination pale in comparison to the loss of life that failure will bring. Yet we know that message is better received when it is delivered by a familiar face with shared experiences. Those who serve the community can build trust and credibility. That’s why I applaud the Black ministers and doctors of color who have videotaped their vaccinations. They can acknowledge the grievous wrongs that have been inflicted upon their community by the medical research establishment but still speak to the benefits. There are many people of color who desperately want the vaccine, and the data shows that issues with access are impacting them disproportionately.
I cheer the health care workers who have enthusiastically posted on social media. I appreciate the countless community leaders taking the time to create safe spaces where people can air their fears, ask questions and have access to compassionate experts. I also value the many skeptics who have opened their hearts and minds to understand this critical moment: Changing your mind takes courage. They are now prepared to protect themselves and others by getting vaccinated.
Science is a world of facts, but there have been plenty of voices muddying and politicizing it. Vaccination should remain a discussion in the public health sphere. Safety, efficacy, production and dissemination are not subjects for partisan debate. Is it any wonder people are confused? Those of us who are ready to get that shot must use the powers of persuasion, the trust and the credibility we have built over many years to say, “I hear your concerns, I understand your fears, I am with you ... but this is why it is best that you take the plunge.” This is our moment: We must seize the opportunity we have been afforded to end this pandemic once and for all.
Mangan Colgan is the director of the Colgan Foundation and a documentary filmmaker. She lives in La Jolla.
Safety, efficacy, production and dissemination should not be subjects for partisan debate.