UO Student Series: Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy
How to address concerns of friends and families about "getting jabbed."
**This our final post is from a member of Professor David Frank’s class at the University of Oregon. Thank you to these young Oregonians for a wonderful and meaingful UO Student Series. If you have suggestions for another series, reach out to Kevin: kfraz@berkeley.edu**
Yuki Gaudreault is a second-year Biology major at the University of
Oregon Robert D. Clark Honors College.
I was ecstatic when I was told that I was eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine in early April. I finally fit the requirements to get the shot with my job as an undergraduate researcher at the University of Oregon. I was particularly excited because my biology professor had just taught us about the novel vaccine and the fascinating way that it teaches our cells to develop an immune response to the virus. When appointments were available and I was finally able to book one, it made my day. I told everyone: my parents; my sister; my roommates; I even told my friends back home in Portland. It was finally a ray of hope for normalcy during these pandemic times.
However, not everyone shares my positive reaction to the prospect of getting vaccinated. I have heard from several peers that they have friends and relatives who refuse to get the shot due to the fear of side effects. These friends and relatives are not alone. Several studies have shown that there is a significant trend of vaccine hesitancy in the US, where people said that they would likely refuse to get the coronavirus vaccine after it is made available to them. According to the NPR/Marist Poll, conducted in March 2021, 30 percent of American adults reported vaccine hesitancy. This is particularly worrisome considering that Dr. Anthony Fauci has stressed the importance of getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible—though continually admitting that herd immunity is an elusive goal.
The problem is local
Vaccine hesitancy is not only apparent nationwide, but locally as well, including here in Oregon. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, 16 percent of those in Lane County (where I live) have reported vaccine hesitancy. Considering the odds, I am sure you also know someone who does not wish to get vaccinated. If you are curious, you can check out vaccine hesitancy rates in your home county at this website. The widespread and neighborhood-level prevalence of vaccine hesitancy means that everyone has a stake in identifying the best ways to assuage concerns about getting “jabbed.”
Vaccine hesitancy stems from a distrust in science
Increasing vaccination rates requires understanding vaccine hesitancy—rather than merely condemning or shaming those who have not yet received their shot.
So why are people hesitant to get the vaccine? In short, it seems that vaccine hesitancy is caused by a distrust in science.
As someone deeply involved in scientific research, hearing of such high rates of distrust in my field of study is both concerning and intriguing. Luckily, I recently had the pleasure of reading Numbers and Nerves, a psychological take on emotion and meaning in a world of data. The book allowed me a gateway into the psychology of those who report a distrust in science, as well as several means to combat this way of thinking. These simple solutions include having doctors and trusted friends and family members encourage vaccinations.
The asymmetry of trust in the information age
In Numbers and Nerves, authorDr. Scott Slovic introduces the asymmetry of trust, which is the idea that trust is difficult to build yet easy to fracture. He explains that trust-destroying events—such as hearing of harmful vaccine side effects—carry much greater weight and are seen as more credible than their trust-building counterparts—such as millions of successful vaccinations. This seed of distrust, once planted, fosters further distrust. Especially in this information age, misinformation is the main culprit for the rapid germination of these seeds.
However, these concerns are not entirely irrational—particularly for minority groups. For members of these communities, they stem from real historical traumas that have been inflicted upon them. For example, Black Americans have faced exploitation through medical experiments, including the infamous Tuskegee syphilis study as well as the Trovan clinical study. As a result of these trust-destroying events, Black Americans are nearly 1.5 times more vaccine hesitant than their white counterparts.
Local solutions for global problems
So how can we combat this distrust of science in our friends and neighbors? First, encourage them to get in touch with their doctors. According to surveys from the Delphi Group of Carnegie Mellon University, if recommended by local healthcare providers, 16 percent of vaccine hesitant adults said they would be more likely to get the shot. When vaccine hesitant individuals encounter doctors who take time to listen to and address their concerns, they build trust and effectively convince them of the benefits of the vaccine. This trust-building event is especially valuable for those who have concerns stemming from past experiences with public healthcare. This solution is even effective across party lines, with focus groups demonstrating that vaccine hesitant Republicans and Democrats can be effectively swayed by doctors to get vaccinated.
Though this may sound like a no-brainer, the second solution is to encourage them to get the vaccine. Ten percent of vaccine hesitant adults who responded to the same survey said that they would be more likely to get the vaccine if recommended by a friend or family member. By directly reaching out to hesitant friends or family members, we can bypass the asymmetry of trust and combat distrust before it germinates into the denial of science. These small solutions can allow us to reduce local vaccine hesitancy and propel our communities closer to pre-pandemic normalcy.
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