Program addresses vaccine hesitancy

When it comes to vaccine hesitancy, misinformation and mistrust sparked by “medical racism” are among issues confronting scientists, doctors and community groups trying to provide assurance as immunization programs roll out across Canada.

Dina Guarin, 56, hasn’t decided if she’ll get vaccinated, but said her sister, a nurse in Seattle, has already been immunized. “Will it be safe? Will it really keep us from getting COVID?” Guarin said.

She said she knows someone who’s worried about possible long-term consequences, including infertility, and that her 81-year-old mother and others in the Filipino community want information in Tagalog.

Tara Moriarty, an infectious diseases researcher at the University of Toronto’ s faculties of dentistry and medicine, started a project in January to host seven-nights-a-week Zoom sessions with residents and staff of long-term-care and retirement homes, along with family members, in order to provide reliable information on vaccines.

“I had no idea when we started about just how much need there was,” said Moriarty. The initiative is run by COVID-19 Resources Canada, which Moriarty co-founded last March, and has expanded so anyone hesitant about getting vaccinated could join to get their questions answered by a rotating group of about 30 volunteer health-care experts. They include virologists, pharmacists, doctors and scientists who offer jargon-free explanations. She said some of the questions asked include how vaccines could have been developed in under a year and whether they can be given to people taking certain medications, pregnant women or those with a chronic illness.