Commentary: Dismissing those hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination as anti-vaxxers is short-sighted
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Commentary: Dismissing those hesitant about COVID-19 vaccination as anti-vaxxers is brusque-sighted
Understanding the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy and what shapes these worldviews concur the all-time take chances of changing people's minds, say Edson C Tandoc Jr, Goh Zhang Hao and Kim Hye Kyung.
People walk during their lunch suspension in the financial business district of Raffles Place in Singapore on Jan 11, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Roslan RAHMAN)
SINGAPORE: Singapore has reached a target of getting 76 per cent of its population fully vaccinated confronting COVID-19.
With one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, it has also rolled out "vaccination-differentiated measures".
Dining-in at restaurants has resumed capped at five per group — all diners as well must be fully vaccinated. Those not fully vaccinated may be allowed entry if they have recovered from COVID-nineteen or tested negative within the last 24 hours.
These differentiated measures are meant to slow downwardly the manual of the virus and protect the unvaccinated who are more decumbent to getting seriously ill.
But they accept besides sparked debate: While some recall them crucial, a few argue that differentiated measures run opposite to earlier declarations that vaccination will not exist made mandatory.
TEMPTING TO DISMISS VACCINE HESITANCY
Indeed, despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccines in Singapore, some remain hesitant, while others refuse to get vaccinated.
For those who view getting vaccinated as a moral responsibility, information technology may be tempting to lump together all who are even so refusing or belongings off vaccination and regard them as being in the aforementioned group as notorious, ideological anti-vaxxer movements seen in countries like the United States or French republic.
However, fifty-fifty leaving aside those who cannot take the mRNA vaccines for medical reasons, deciding to get vaccinated may not be straightforward for some people.
Numerous academic studies have examined factors leading patients to comply with recommended treatments and procedures.
At the Eye for Data Integrity and the Internet (IN-cube) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), nosotros have collected survey information from 6,000 respondents across ten cities in Asia, including Singapore, in early June, to understand vaccine attitudes in the region.
Of the 600 participants in Singapore, 287 were nonetheless unvaccinated. Of these unvaccinated participants, 61 per cent were willing to get vaccinated, 20 per cent were unsure, and 19 per cent were unwilling.
IDENTIFYING REASONS FOR VACCINE HESITANCY TO TACKLE CONCERNS
Our preliminary analyses find that beingness exposed to cues to action, such as letters encouraging people to get vaccinated, significantly increases the willingness to get vaccinated.
Cues originating from the government and health experts specifically are strongly related to willingness, more than reading about pro-vaccination messages on social media or in the news.
This is consistent with our earlier findings that exposure to health advisories on mask-wearing in the earlier stages of the pandemic in Singapore had increased public compliance, by informing individuals about how such actions curb the spread of the virus.
Believing that getting vaccinated will protect themselves and the community, or that vaccination is an like shooting fish in a barrel procedure, also increases willingness to get vaccinated.
Those who perceive themselves as susceptible to COVID-19 are besides more than willing to get vaccinated. The recent fasten in COVID-19 cases in Singapore and in many other countries may have increased perceptions of the severity of the COVID-nineteen threat and how vulnerable people are to the virus, nudging them to get vaccinated.
However, perceived barriers exert potent but negative consequence on willingness. Those concerned over risks and dangers from getting vaccinated are less willing to go for vaccination.
A notwithstanding-to-be-vaccinated healthcare professional at a clinic we came beyond clarified that she was not against vaccination. She was but afraid of the implications vaccination might have for someone like her with prediabetes.
PERSONAL NETWORKS SHAPE WORLDVIEWS
Interviews by our academic collaborators in the US with vaccine-hesitant individuals highlight the of import office of interpersonal networks in reinforcing vaccine refusal. Some were concerned about the safety of available vaccines, citing conversations with family or friends that raised questions well-nigh the associated risks and dangers.
In Singapore, our preliminary analyses prove those unsure or unwilling to get vaccinated tend to be older; they also consume news less oftentimes.
Information technology is important to examine how the unwilling and the hesitant go information about COVID-19 vaccines. Some studies take demonstrated that vaccine-hesitant individuals are non necessarily uninformed — on the contrary, some of them obtain lots of information, hoping to resolve their hesitancy.
The more of import question is where were they getting information near COVID-nineteen vaccines?
(Are COVID-19 vaccines still effective against new variants? And could these increase the adventure of reinfection? Experts explain why COVID-19 could become a "chronic problem" on CNA's Middle of the Matter podcast.)
PROLIFERATION OF DIGITAL PLATFORMS A Central CHALLENGE
Admission to digital and social media has empowered users to actively select their information sources, and many individuals tend to gravitate to those providing reports consistent with prior beliefs.
For example, social media and messaging app groups have sprouted, where members contribute anecdotes of side effects and injuries supposedly incurred after vaccination confronting COVID-19.
Just these anecdotes rarely include prove and are difficult to verify due to anonymity - and yet they may be reinforcing the attitudes of some users against vaccination.
Ane such Telegram group based in Singapore we are studying has almost 10,000 members
While some side effects take been documented past medical experts, they represent a tiny fraction of all those who got vaccinated and the majority of those vaccinated experienced mild or no side furnishings. And yet, reading ane anecdote later on another might skew the perception of some individuals that serious side effects are more commonplace.
Our survey also found that the unsure and unwilling as well tend to come from lower-income households while the willing tend to have higher educational attainment.
Those unwilling to get vaccinated also have the lowest trust in the media, government institutions, and health experts — but of these three, they tend to trust wellness experts the most.
THE REAL ANTI-VAXXERS
In countries such as in the US, studies have institute that the few individuals who concord deep-seated stances confronting vaccination are very difficult to persuade — this small group has voiced trigger-happy, consistent refusals against whatsoever vaccination.
As countries race to reach herd immunity, vaccine refusal is starting to become a serious threat. The ascent of the Delta variant, the impact of long COVID and the waning efficacy of vaccines over time all betoken to the importance of maintaining as high a vaccination rate as possible.
Anti-vaccination groups subscribe to imitation conspiracy theories well-nigh the dangers of vaccines, and the supposedly nefarious motives by governments and pharmaceutical companies.
In a previous written report where we interviewed Singaporean parents reluctant to vaccinate their child against human being papillomavirus (HPV), many revealed concerns associated with the novelty of the HPV vaccine.
Some parents, for example, highlighted the unknown side effects of vaccination in the long term. I parent shared a "wait-and-see" attitude, hoping that her child naturally benefits from the herd immunity without taking the risk of vaccination.
A similar uncertainty surrounding novel vaccines is present with COVID-19 vaccines, which were developed in a very curt flow.
TARGET STRATEGIES TO COUNTERACT VACCINE RELUCTANCE
More studies to sympathize this small segment of the population concerned about vaccination are needed to address refusal rather than to dismiss or shame such people outright as conspiracy theorists or uninformed "covidiots".
Changing the attitudes of the vaccine-hesitant and vaccine-refusers is a challenging task when attempts to correcting strongly held beliefs can backfire.
Scientific studies have shown that pro-vaccine messages delivering facts and images of disease-sickened children can increment fears on the side effects of vaccine amidst parents. Using threatening or depressing images may inadvertently plow off and alienate people.
Vaccine advocates should appeal to these groups with caution and avoid mocking or downplaying their concerns over safety.
A slew of targeted strategies tin can exist employed to annul reluctance. Offset, enlist the help of physicians and family doctors as these wellness experts are among the most trusted, unbiased and apolitical source of information for this grouping of people. They should focus on reassuring patients of the safe of the vaccine.
2d, tackle contradictory letters that arise from health experts. These may also cause defoliation and risk pushing the vaccine-hesitant to refrain from taking the vaccine. Encourage those with immunocompromised systems to run across their own specialist to make up one's mind suitability for vaccination instead of listening to hearsay.
Scientists and medical experts as well can exist more proactive in engaging the public through social media, where anti-vaccination letters and conspiracy theories are circulating.
Tertiary, the media should exist conscientious when reporting cases of side effects supposedly caused by vaccination and avoid unnecessarily alarming the public.
There is a natural tendency for negative events to catch attention when the causal furnishings have not been investigated or established, such as the claim an 81-year-old here had died of an allergic reaction to the COVID-19 vaccination in Apr. The Ministry of Wellness clarified that the man died of heart disease and not because of the vaccine.
Videos from effectually the earth linking vaccination to deaths take as well gone viral and had to be corrected, merely the resulting public fear over vaccines was hard to rectify.
In one example, a video circulating in Jan showed a fellow in Israel supposedly fainting at a vaccination site with the caption alleging he died fifteen minutes after receiving his 2nd dose. Fact-checkers after verified the human being was treated, sent home, and was alive.
Quaternary, the Government should go along with letters highlighting the costs of not being vaccinated to both individuals and the community.
The vaccine-hesitant may internalise ameliorate the importance of vaccination by hearing personal stories of those who suffered from vaccine-preventable diseases.
This is one strategy many governments accept adopted by making public information how many new COVID-19 cases take been vaccinated and how many have not, showing that not only do unvaccinated people account for the majority of new infections, but they as well tend to exist more seriously sick.
The differentiated measures being rolled out for those vaccinated and unvaccinated are also a type of nudge to get those who are not yet vaccinated to consider getting the vaccine.
Studies have demonstrated how providing incentives can encourage particular behaviours, and nosotros will soon find out whether the differentiated measures for the vaccinated can become more of the unvaccinated to consider taking the vaccine.
Edson C Tandoc Jr is an Associate Professor at WKWSCI and the Manager of the Eye for Information Integrity and the Internet (IN-cube) .
Zhang Hao Goh is a Post-doctoral Inquiry Fellow at IN-cube at WKWSCI specialising in human cognitive responses and their coping behaviours toward threats.
Kim Hye Kyung is an Assistant Professor at WKWSCI, specialising in health communications, and a collaborator for IN-cube.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/why-people-have-not-taken-covid-19-vaccine-hesitancy-reasons-284006
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