by Edward Chen
Historical evidence shows that developing safe vaccines is necessary to protect the world from deadly diseases. But that’s only one part of the solution. After all, what’s the benefit of having vaccines that people don’t want to use? Enter vaccine hesitancy.
Defined by a World Health Organization (WHO) working group as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccination despite availability of vaccination services,” vaccine hesitancy has increasingly entered the news alongside discussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the quick development of a COVID-19 vaccine, its widespread acceptance is still a concern. In May of this year, Gallup reported that 32% of adults worldwide would not be willing to receive a free COVID-19 vaccine. This is equivalent to 1.3 billion people globally and represents a barrier to achieving herd immunity, where a disease will be unlikely to spread because many in a population have gained immunity from either being vaccinated or surviving the disease. Within the US, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey this May found that 32% of adults are either taking a “wait and see” approach to vaccinations or already plan to not get vaccinated. Vaccinations have slowed since early April and 55% of Americans are worried about those around them not getting vaccinated.
The concept of vaccine hesitancy predates COVID-19 and has existed for as long as there have been vaccines. In 2019, the WHO listed vaccine hesitancy among the top 10 threats to global health because it “threatens to reverse progress made in tackling vaccine-preventable diseases.” When vaccinations slow down, rare diseases can flare up again. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted mass immunization operations against many diseases worldwide, and this has caused a rise in cases of diseases like polio, even in countries where these diseases are no longer common. Even before COVID-19, the California Disneyland measles outbreak that started in late 2014 led to over 300 cases. Many who were infected were not vaccinated or didn’t know whether they were vaccinated, and at least 12 of those infected were infants under a year old who were too young to have received the measles vaccines yet. (This also illustrates the importance of herd immunity: some people are medically unable to be vaccinated.)
There are varied reasons for vaccine hesitancy. The WHO working group has cited the degree of trust in vaccines, healthcare systems, and policy makers (confidence),a perception of low risks from disease (complacency, which paradoxically arises because effective vaccines lead to low disease risk in the first place), and access challenges (convenience) as reasons for vaccine hesitancy. A survey conducted by Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland in a collaboration with Facebook collected 18 million responses and found that 70% of vaccine-hesitant adults are worried about potential side effects of COVID-19 vaccines. Surveys from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have identified other factors beyond safety, such as reliance on a “wait and see” approach, a lack of trust in the government, and concerns about the speed at which COVID-19 vaccines were developed.
In the US, vaccine hesitancy has often been attributed as the reason for lower vaccination rates in communities of color. The Tuskegee syphilis study, a racist experiment that denied African Americans effective medication for syphilis, is often cited as the cause of vaccine hesitancy and a general mistrust of the health system among African Americans. But this mistrust is also fostered by ongoing discrimination against people of color in the health care system and other barriers that limit their access, like the relative lack of medical clinics in non-white communities. Racial disparities in health care have been further highlighted and exacerbated by COVID-19: American Indian, African American, and Hispanic or Latino individuals have died of COVID-19 at twice the rate of white people. Vaccination coverage disparities have been observed between different ethnic groups and between communities with different socioeconomic statuses.
New policies have tried to address vaccine hesitancy by making vaccination a condition for other services. In 2015, after the measles outbreak at Disneyland, California eliminated vaccine exemptions based on personal, religious, or philosophical beliefs for children entering school. The result was an approximately 4% increase in vaccination rates among kindergarteners. According to a 2020 research article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), 51% of pediatric practices turn away families who refuse CDC-recommended vaccines for their children, citing the possibility that unvaccinated children may spread infectious diseases to other patients who haven’t yet been vaccinated. While this successfully persuades some parents, some physicians disagree with this policy because it can harm children by denying primary care and prevent physicians from further engaging with vaccine-hesitant parents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, various companies and states have been offering incentives such as gift cards and raffles. The CDC’s updated guidelines, which allow those who have been fully vaccinated to participate in many activities without masks or physical distancing, have also been described as an incentive for getting vaccinated.
As COVID-19 vaccination rates slow, some health care providers are taking on vaccine hesitancy face-to-face. Dr. Joseph Betancourt is a physician and the Senior Vice President of Equity and Community Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. He says that it’s a “big mistake” to only consider vaccine hesitancy when many more factors influence vaccination rates: lack of supply, misinformation, barriers to culturally competent care. In response to these obstacles, he personally visits communities to talk to people about vaccines as part of an institutional outreach effort involving 140 caregivers (mostly doctors and nurses of color). It’s their hope that engaging with healthcare workers who speak the same languages as and look like the populations they serve will help increase people’s confidence in the vaccines.
For more about how the COVID-19 vaccines were developed, watch our interview with a scientist working on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
This interview with Dr. Joseph Betancourt, a physician and the Senior Vice President of Equity and Community Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, was conducted on April 13, 2021.
Edward Chen is a first-year Immunology MMSc student at Harvard Medical School. He’d like to share that wearing masks in public is not a new concept either; during the 1918 influenza pandemic, the Red Cross called those who avoided masks “dangerous slackers.”
Cover image by Arek Socha from Pixabay.
I hope the vaccine will be more effective
Data now shows that most of those hospitalized with covid were not vaccinated, showing that the vaccines work. Data now suggests that any immunity from surviving a previous covid infection may not protect from new variants and any such “immunity” may vary from person to person. Regarding medical autonomy – the supreme court ruled in 1905 Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11, upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws with the reasoning one person’s liberty can’t trump everyone else’s to be protected from a highly contagious and potentially deadly disease – in this case smallpox. “There are manifold restraints to which every person is necessarily subject for the common good,” read the majority opinion. “On any other basis, organized society could not exist with safety to its members. Society based on the rule that each one is a law unto himself would soon be confronted with disorder and anarchy.” “There is, of course, a sphere within which the individual may assert the supremacy of his own will and rightfully dispute the authority of any human government,” Harlan, writing for the majority, acknowledged. “But it is equally true that, in every well ordered society charged with the duty of conserving the safety of its members the rights of the individual in respect of his liberty may at times, under the pressure of great dangers, be subjected to such restraint, to be enforced by reasonable regulations, as the safety of the general public may demand.”
As a now retired physician married to a physician, I think the vaccines are very safe. Yes, there is immunity gained by surviving a Covid infection but with 1/2 of people developing long Covid, is it truly worth the risk? I recently lost a very healthy cousin to COVID-19 because he didn’t trust vaccines . People don’t like mandates, but as a former military officer, I received many vaccinations without question. General Washington mandated smallpox vaccines for his troops. I think vaccines against Covid are safe and they are effective.
William people noted when the ‘90% efficacy’ claims were made it was a relative risk reduction figure, not absolute – which was less than 1%. Also, there are simple treatments for covid which have been denied. Such as IVM. Either you allow people to have medical autonomy, – ie informed consent – a basic human right, or you don’t
The most damming thing about this covid pandemic is the level of disinformation and misleading propaganda – largely due to social media anti-vax hysteria – or anti-mask – anti social distancing – etc – something that wasn’t around as much say in the 1950’s with polio vaccines etc. Covid has become a topic of political football as well, with some politicians – such as Desantis in Florida for example, pushing a false anti science rhetoric to reaffirm his voter base of the delusional – mostly republicans – who’s main political strategy is to attack opponents with negative propaganda.. When a lie is told over and over it becomes like truth to many, and those people then seek out only misinformation that supports their false beliefs, and then reject any facts when presented with real truth of science. As result there is a growing distrust of majority consensus of the medical establishment and government organizations and their policies enacted to curb the spread of covid, with more people screaming for their right to “freedumb” ( free to be dumb about it). This is also an existential threat to political systems like democracy when everyone has their own “facts” – but they are not the same as real truth. A virus or disease just does its thing – and the only way some people come around to see this is FEAR – when people are dying around them and it starts to hit close to home – for some its then too late – unfortunately – with morons – there will always be more of them! This seems to be the Achilles heal of the human race – which at the rate we are going is inevitably heading for extinction sooner or later.
I am fully vaccinated and glad of it, but I talk to people who are unvaccinated and some of them are medical people. What I want to know is there any science behind possible safety concerns as far as long term effects. In my view even if there might be some possible legitimate long term safety concerns with the vaccine. The possibility of long term safety concerns make no sense to me, because literally hundreds of millions of people have been safely vaccinated. I want to understand, except for in rare cases how the vaccine could possibly be harmful and when hundreds of millions of people have been safely vaccinated. In what way can the vaccine possibly harm a person’s body unless they are allergic to the vaccine. I am totally mystified as to what reason medically trained people who supposedly understand the science makes them hesitant. Is there a scientific reason for their hesitancy.
I think medical science is very complicated. You can be an expert in one area but know nothing about the epidemiology or risks of vaccines. Too many people are n this world (myself included) think they know a lot more about stuff than they actually do. You seem very sensible, but just be aware that not everyone can stop themselves from holding forth on things they don’t really understand. Some feel they need to pronounce to keep credibility or just to give answers because someone asked a question. Does that make sense?
You are correct. There was no proper testing for the vaccine.
Yes. Its not made like a vaccine and doesn’t work like one. Too many people were damaged from it . It was not properly tested. Doctors even said they tested vials and in some there was no vaccine in them. There was denial by the authorities of healthy people who had there health ruined from the vaccine.
I feel like a reasonable person. I care about my health and the health of the community in which I live. My lifestyle is affected by both! My concern with vaccines is this: if vaccination ramps UP immune response. It is the immune response which produces symptoms, why on earth would I want to ramp up my immune system to the point of “overkill” which has an official name for vaccination… IVE HAD COVID. It was nothing to me. The only reason I knew I had it was loss of smell/taste. I had to “FAKE” being sick to get..a test. Lol. How am I to trust doctors when in order to get a test to isolate I had to fake being sick..so that I would know in order to keep everyone else safe! So now that I’ve had it isn’t that compatible to the vaccinations being offered?? I mean everyday we’re learning that despite vaccination you can still get covid, you can still spread covid so what difference is a vaccination vs. already had it( natural immunity). I wear a mask daily in public( no matter what the requirements are) since March and I’m going to continue to do so for the rest of my life and have zero issues with it. How is that not a comparable protocol ( masking well( hepa filter paper in my cloth mask) and already had it) to receiving something from a pharmaceutical company that is out to make a profit(can’t go in the red!) I just don’t understand that?! I’ve been vaccinated as a child and don’t regret it but flu shots, and now a “corona” aka “cold type virus” shot..where are we going to draw a line..it seems unhealthy to be vaccinated monthly against all these viruses capable of infecting people. I also think Mother Nature will outsmart ALL OF US regardless of our protocol. Survival of the fittest to reproduce is probably going to produce the healthiest offspring so why are we trying to tamper with that. How about we get our population healthy! Let’s start there. No more cigarettes, no more booze, no more drugs illegal/prescriptions, how about more vegetarian lifestyles, how about no more chemicals in our food and water and watch how healthy we all can be..
You are dealing with a lethal virus. Healthy living work best when the environment is neutral or healthy. Right now, you’re trying to survive from the virus by reduce your risk, and the best weapon to reduce risk is the vaccine. You can combine with good diet, sleep, exercise, and supplement, plus mask and social distance when necessary. Do you understand?
why is 99% of unvaccinated are hospitalize or dying compare to vaccinated individual? Can you explain this?
why more unvaccinated young people are hospitalize or dying compare to vaccinated seniors? Can you explain this?
You have to look beyond yourself and think about humanity as a whole. Really the vaccine is just about math. The fewer people get vaccinated, the more elderly die. If no one is vaccinated, millions will die. (Yes, people in other countries are human beings too). If some are vaccinated, that number goes down. If almost all are, almost no one does. It’s just math. It’s not about feelings or personal experience or even our own rational decisions. It’s math. The math is complicated but the results are simple.
No. The vaccine doesn’t work. Nursing homes forced people to have the vaccine . But then they were locked down over and over for outbreaks. Do you know anyone who has polio, diphtheria, or typhus? Those vaccines work.
There is so much natural herd immunity already. Natural immunity is not only the the strongest but also the safest for everyone not in that over 60-65 bracket with preexisting conditions. VEARS stats are obviously not representing real stats if 7 elderly near me have passed since the mRNA jab and many injured. If my senario is usual, then that alludes to possibly much less then 5% is reflected.
This is an example of a curious phenomenon. People who think their personal experience is a more accurate judge of the truth than the work of scientists. Really it’s just math. But if you can’t grasp the math then you have to trust the ones that can.