Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy with Better Communication

One-to-one communication is the key to avoid vaccine hesitancy rather than mass communication to help people overcome the fear of covid-19 side effects, said Dr B.L. Sherwal, Director at Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH).//

On the day of the launch of the massive immunization drive against Covid-19 that the country has embarked upon, Dr Sherwal said that better communication could have reduced the hesitancy towards the vaccine among the people.

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‘One-to-one communication is the key to avoid vaccine hesitancy rather than mass communication to help people overcome the fear of covid-19 side effects.’

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While agreeing that there was a lack of effective communication, he stressed that one-to-one communication is required to allay the hesitancy towards vaccine. "Rather than mass communication, we need to be communicating one-to-one with the people. Since we are not doing that, we are failing in developing the confidence of the people," Dr Sherwal said.

He gave the example of his hospital where his staff counselled the first 100 beneficiaries to get the jab.

"Out of them, 85 agreed and we are confident that once they would receive the vaccine, others will be encouraged and join them in the inoculation drive," he said.

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Dr Sherwal also said that it is human to have hesitancy towards something which has never been used before. "People are afraid of the side effects. They fear that they may experience something unusual, which is natural for anyone."

He also said that the apprehension towards the vaccine sustains since the long-term efficacy is not known.

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However, Dr Sherwal assured that the scientists and researchers have made sure the vaccines are safe for administration.

RGSSH is one of the 81 sites for the launch day of immunization drive in Delhi. Nationally, it is being conducted at around 3,000 centres.

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RGSSH will administer Serum Institute of India's vaccine 'Covishield' to its healthcare staff first.

Source-IANS