There is no doubt this has been a challenging year for everyone, especially healthcare workers. A lot of progress has been made, but I'm sure you are as frustrated as I am by one particular topic: vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaxxers.
I'm sure you have all read the more outlandish and outright illogical arguments for not having the COVID-19 vaccine, and these don't really warrant touching upon in a healthcare journal, but there are some key stats from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) regarding vaccine hesitancy.
- Vaccine hesitancy was at 11% among those aged 16 to 17 years (14% in the previous period), 5% among those aged 18 to 21 years (9% in the previous period) and 9% among those aged 22 to 25 years (10% in the previous period)
- Black or Black British adults had the highest rates of vaccine hesitancy (21%) compared with White adults (4%)
- Vaccine hesitancy was higher Muslim adults (14%) or Other (14%) as their religion, compared with adults who identify as Christian (4%); however, there was no statistically significant difference when compared with any of the remaining religious groups
- Adults living in the most deprived areas of England were more likely to report vaccine hesitancy (8%) than adults living in the least deprived areas (2%)
While a relief that these numbers aren't too high, of course, the ideal would still be a significant drop. So, what can be and already is being done? GPs from Black Women in Health outline some of the key techniques they used to tackle hesitancy within the BAME population, using a community engagement-based model (NICE, 2021). Key to their work was identifying the key barriers to involvement, particularly those in vulnerable groups or recently established communities. They had to consider which types of communication would get people both interested and involved. This included ways of communicating that reflected the needs of those groups previously stated (NICE, 2021). They used methods of communication such as offering phone, write-in, email and social media services to speak to people, ensuring all communication was written in both plain English and locally spoken languages. The timing of the events was also important, to ensure as much engagement as possible.
In trying to tackle hesitancy they hosted webinars on debunking COVID-19 vaccine myths, employing the ‘4 As plus’ approach, which is: acknowledge concern, address the problem, answer – get answer from reliable source, act on information you get plus, and verify before you amplify. In the pre-event survey completed by 44 people, 66% of the respondents said they would take the COVID-19 vaccine when offered. The post-event poll showed much improvement, as almost 90% of those who completed the survey said they would take the vaccine whenever they were offered it. This survey was completed by 33 people, 27 of whom were affirmative, two were likely to accept the vaccine in the future but their current circumstances were debarring them; only one respondent said they were yet to be convinced that the vaccine was the right way forward (NICE, 2021).
While this is just one example of a group that are successfully tackling COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy, it does prove that fact-based, simple and personalised approaches are key methods in encouraging those who have yet to take the vaccine to both learn and change.
I'm pleased to say I will be getting my second vaccine the day after writing this editorial, it's been a long old wait here in Central London, but I'm looking forward to being part of the ever-growing movement towards positive change.