Preparing for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy starts with informing your team and patients

In print
Education

Preparing for COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy starts with informing your team and patients

Jo Scott-Jones
COVID-19 vaccine
Many people lack confidence in COVID-19 vaccines and view them as being unproven in safety and efficacy. Photo: US Secretary of Defense, CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), on Wikimedia Commons

GP Jo Scott-Jones discusses the complex problem of vaccine hesitancy, which may threaten the progress New Zealand has made in tackling COVID-19

In 2019, WHO identified vaccine hesitancy – the reluctance or refusal to have vaccination against contagious diseases – as one of the top 10 global he, Determinants of vaccine hesitancy identified by WHO2
References
  1. WHO. Ten threats to global health in 2019. www.who.int
  2. WHO SAGE working group dealing with vaccine hesitancy. Strategies for addressing vaccine hesitancy – a systematic review. WHO: Geneva; 2014. https://bit.ly/3sZ1Qnz
  3. Ames HM, Glenton C, Lewin S. Parents' and informal caregivers' views and experiences of communication about routine childhood vaccination: a synthesis of qualitative evidence. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017;2(2):CD011787.
  4. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy. December 2020. www.mbie.govt.nz
  5. Medsafe. Vaccine Evaluation and Approval Process. November 2020. www.medsafe.govt.nz
  6. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. There are four types of COVID-19 vaccines: here’s how they work. www.gavi.org