How to talk about COVID-19 Vaccinations - A Anderson

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How to talk about COVID-19 Vaccinations: Building trust in vaccinations Based on The Workshop's guide To view the full guide visit theworkshop.orq.nz/publications Compiled by A.Anderson Enrolled Nurse 304605 Topics Talking about the safety of COVID-19 vaccinations Talking about the benefits of vaccination and the risks of COVID-19 Talking about the trustworthiness of vaccinations and the people involved in vaccinations Showing other people getting vaccinated Talking about vaccine hesitant people Talking about vaccination to protect individual health Talking about immunity from vaccines vs. herd immunity Talking about needing to get vaccinated soon Talking about how vaccination works Talking about misinformation Introduction People have hesitations about getting vaccinated for different reasons. Evidence-led communications about the safety or science of vaccination do not actually support hesitant people to get vaccinated. By connecting with people instead of correcting them, understanding the foundations of hesitancy and engaging in communications processes we can build trust in COVID-19 vaccinations. Vaccine Hesitancy Communications about vaccination need to focus on what drives hesitancy. On the surface, people may say they are worried about the safety of vaccines or the speed of how the vaccine was developed. Underneath, there are usually three main issues: 1. Individual and social group influences Understandings of the vaccine that emerge from culture, personal experience, and environments. 2. Contextual factors Historical and political experiences of neglect, discrimination, lack of citizen participation, politicisation of science and vaccination. 3. Vaccination-specific issues Characteristics of the vaccine, vaccine development and process and the accessibility of vaccinations. Building trust in vunerable communities It is critical that vunerable For Maori groups see their own people actively involved in the vaccination development and roll-out. For Pacifika Use messengers who are seen to have similar values to those audiences — for For parents example, a mother delivering a message to other mothers. Ensure excluded For disabled communities have access people to good information. Amplify experts who can speak to people's For religious personal experiences and communities concerns, bspoken y people most trusted by these communities. Talking about the safety of COVID-19 vaccinations AVOID Leading with data and facts Describing risks if even to note they are small "Mythbusting" false arguments. Build trust and reassurance by telling stories of the vaccine safety monitoring system, the people in it and why they care about protecting the community. This builds trust in vaccines by framing vaccination as an appeal to people's value of care. “To look after our people and our whakapapa means we need to ensure that those who need protecting in our communities — our kaumatua, our babies and our vvhanau with health conditions — are cared for and shielded against COVID-I9.” Talking about the benefits of vaccination and the risks of COVID-19 AVOID Pushing the consequences of not vaccinating e.g. symtoms of COVID-I9, long COVID-19 economic impacts of not vaccinating, negative social consequences. "Mythbusting" false information about vaccination Envision it: Overcome fear and bias against vaccinations by describing a better world post-vaccination. Motivate it: Using values of care, responsibility, empowerment, self direction “Getting vaccinated protects you and your loved ones and lets you get back to the things you love doing. When everyone gets vaccinated and our has good immunity so we can again enjoy travel and family reunions. When all of us get vaccinated, the collective immunity we have will help us be free from the pandemic and all the challenges, separation and hard times it has brought.” Talking about the trustworthiness of vaccinations and the people involved in vaccinations AVOID Highlighting people's qualifications, institutional position and scientific credentials Outlining the safety and risk profile of the vaccination Co-develop it: Develop communications with communities to build trust Motivate it: Highlight the shared values of care and responsibility motivating the people who have developed the vaccine and who are giving and monitoring the safety of the vaccine “People working in health care are part of our community, and they devote their life to everyone in our community staying well during COVID-19. That’s why they are encouraging us to get vaccinated for COVID-19. People across the health system here and all over the world are closely monitoring the vaccinations that are administered, analysing all the reported side effects, to make sure we always have the best health advice so that everyone in our community can be healthy” Showing other people getting vaccinated AVOID Images of people getting injected, images of needles Words like jab’ or ‘shot’. Normalise the move from hesitation or ambivalence to action through trusted messengers who speak directly to the experience of people within those communities Envision it: Overcome fear and bias against vaccinations by describing the post-vaccination positives ”Despite all the noise, 79% of Pacific people will or have already got the vaccination.” (Adapt this to different communities of interesst) Talking about vaccine hesitant people AVOID Talking about how safe the vaccines are and disregarding any/all side effects or risks. Focusing on the problem of hesitancy. Addressing the arguments of vaccine deniers. Provide easy access, local vaccination site adresses, links to book a vaccine, healthline etc. and a frame that assumes willingness and leverages good intentions, assume people are willing to vaccinate and communicate how and when people can access vaccines. Show stories of others moving from hesitancy to action. “Getting your vaccination is easy, there's a walk in place in your community (location). It's free. People there will answer your questions and to talk you through the process. They have all been vaccinated themselves. Vaccination is so useful to help keep us all well, more and more people are deciding to get vaccinated.” Talking about immunity from vaccines vs. herd immunity AVOID Using the term ‘herd immunity’ — it's been used incorrectly too often. War, sport metaphors (fighting COVID-19). Talking about community level immunity without explaining how immunity or collective immunity works. Explain how community immunity works Highlight the shared values of care and responsibility we have to others. Deepen understanding in simple ways about immunity and community immunity Use machine, learning, factory, building and tool metaphors to explain how vaccination works. "Many of us are responsible for taking care of mokos, whanau, colleagues, kaomatua, our Nanas. Taking care of vunerable people, like our parents, means getting vaccinated. When we all get vaccinated, we make it very hard for the virus to move between people. We stop the virus moving through our communities, keeping it away from our loved ones. Acting together like this keeps the virus away and we all stay well. That’s how vaccination and collective immunity protect us all. Talking about vaccination to protect individual health AVOID Framing individual health benefits and the individual 'choice' involved E.g."Vaccination Is Your “choice” or “Vaccination will protect you and your health”. Frame the collective benefits and gains Use the words: 'decision making', 'being informed', 'knowing the options and outcomes'. “When all of us get vaccinated, we all get the benefit. We can travel more easily, see family and friends from overseas. you can make a decision about the best way we can help each other and move on from COVID-19. We all need good information in order to make an informed decision about getting vaccinated for ourselves and our whânau. If you have questions, come have a kârero with one of the pharmacists at your local pharmacy, or your GP, or call 0800 358 5453.” Talking about needing to get vaccinated soon AVOID Framing vaccination as urgent/extreme urgency, requiring speed: “Vaccination is our one shot” “We will deliver a vaccination every minute”. Frame it as vaccination is the next best step we take to show the care and responsibility we have to others. Frame vaccination as the solution: increasing people's sense of agency to solve the problem of COVID-19 by getting vaccinated is one powerful tool "As kiwis, acting in everyone's best interests has helped us during the pandemic. By getting vaccinated, we can all help people in our community who need more protection. The pandemic has led to some hard things for us al, lockdowns, closed borders, families being separated, many people have lost loved ones, and people in our health system are tied up treating it and keeping it out. Vaccination is available and free, and it is something we can do to help all of us leave Covid behind.” Talking about how vaccination works AVOID Absolute messages: “Vaccination stops the virus entirely”, “Vaccination means you won't ever get COVID-19” Deepen understanding in simple ways. Explain immunity using simple metaphors. Explain side effects in the context of how vaccinations work, not simply that they are rare. Explain the ongoing monitoring of safety by putting people in the picture. “The vaccine trains and powers up our immune system to recognise the virus before we encounter in our community, if we are exposed, we will be OK because we have already been trained to recognise it and kill it. If you feel something it will occur within a few hours or days, typically a sore arm, feeling tired, or a headache. These are a sign the vaccine to is working produce its own natural protection to fight off COVID-19” Talking about misinformation AVOID Repeating, sharing or "mythbusting" false information in order to debunk it. Naming vaccine denial as part of someone's identity: “vaccine deniers, anti vaxxers”. Frame false information as an issue of empowerment. Carefully counter false information using a proven formula: Value › Fact › Warning about myth › Explanation › Fact Name vaccine denial as a behaviour Normalise the move from hesitation to action through trusted messengers who speak directly to the experience of people within those communities. “You see people spreading fear-inducing stories about getting vaccinated, cherry picking one or two studies to show vaccination is harmful, demanding that vaccinations need to be proven 100% safe or attaching vaccination advocates, be aware that these people could be spreading false information about vaccination and preventing you from accessing the good information you need. Our people deserve to lead their own hauora journey. People spreading false information and concern undermines our oranga motuhake and access to the trusted information needed to make informed decisions for ourselves and our whânau.”