J&J vaccine 'pause' a messaging challenge
NEW YORK — Confronted with rare cases of blood clots potentially linked to Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, U.S. health officials faced a delicate task: how to suspend distribution of the shots without setting off alarm about their safety.
It was the just the latest chal- lenge in crisis messaging for officials since the start of the pandemic more than a year ago. The behavior of the new virus, the benefits of masks and the need for school and business closings have all been marked by public confusion, changing guidance and squabbling.
With the J&J shots, the recommended “pause” announced last week was a precautionary measure as government advisers inves- tigated the unusual clots and alerted doctors about how to treat them. But the news was bound to inflame fears.
“It’s going to be painful either way. It’s less painful if you address it early on,” said Dr. Wilbur Chen, a mem- ber of the government’s advi- sory committee on vaccines, which is expected to meet on Friday and could make a recommendation soon after on whether and how to resume use of the J&J vaccine.
Whether the pause seriously undermines public confidence in the J&J shot — or the other vaccines — remains to be seen.
Even before the coronavirus surfaced, training guides by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted the difficulty of communicating in a public health crisis, when fear and uncertainty are running high. Yet how leaders communicate can be key to winning public cooperation. Or undermining it.
By promptly notifying the public that they were investigating clots, officials were following a fundamental rule in the crisis playbook: transparency, even when the answers aren’t yet clear.
“We want people to know what we know,” U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy explained at a media briefing soon after the announcement on the J&J vaccine.
Trying to appear confident when uncertain – which leaders are often taught to do — can backfire in a public health crisis, a CDC guide notes. In addition to building trust, being up front about the unknowns leaves room for officials to change their guidance as new information emerges.