How Do We Change People’s Minds About Getting the Vaccine?

// By Wendy Stark Healy //

The release of the first COVID-19 vaccines in mid-December made Geonetric’s webinar, “Support Your COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts with Your Marketing Strategy,” very timely.

Three experts from the agency shared tips for overcoming community hesitancy and misinformation about getting vaccinated. “There’s a lot of interest in this topic,” says David Sturtz, vice president of marketing and business development.

Sturtz, presenting with Stella Hart, content strategist and writer, and Tim Lane, director of digital marketing, reviewed data concerning people’s beliefs about vaccinations, and strategies to overcome objections that the vaccine is unsafe or developed too quickly. Messaging around the vaccination should begin internally in organizations, they say, and advance into the community.

Research Shows Public Support Wanes

Pew Research Center polling information showed that in November the public was split 60 percent for the vaccine, to 40 percent against. The group that said it would get immunized had dropped from a high of 72 percent in May, according to Sturtz.

David Sturtz, vice president of marketing and business development, Geonetric

“It’s interesting to see the shifting intentions around the vaccine,” he says, attributing the attitude change to shrinking trust in the development process that was accelerated by Operation Warp Speed. While the vaccine is approved by the FDA to be safe and effective, the research found that some people distrust the speed of its development, while others simply doubt vaccines in general.

Pew also cited a group of people who wanted to wait and see how the vaccinations developed before deciding to be immunized. “Once people see others getting the vaccine, they’ll likely change their mind,” Sturtz comments.

How do we change people’s minds about getting the vaccine?

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