Suggestions on how to reach people who are reluctant to get vaccinated

These are the pro-vaccine messages people want to hear No single strategy works for everyone, but a combination of several types of messages and messengers is persuading on-the-fence folks to get vaccinated. Frances Stead Sellers, Bonnie Berkowitz Washington Post

With all Americans 16 and over now eligible to receive a coronavirus vaccine, health-care workers and public health officials are turning their attention to the approximately one-third of Americans who say that they are on the fence or that they do not want to get vaccinated.

No single message will persuade everyone, but experts say a combination of strategies is already convincing reluctant people that getting vaccinated is for them.

Here are some of those strategies, from the broadest to the most personal.

Make vaccination visible

For any strategy to work, people first have to perceive vaccination as a normal part of life.

That is why public health officials, nonprofit groups and major brands are collaborating on nationwide public service campaigns and partnering with celebrities to make vaccination more visible. ...

Have nationally trusted messengers recommend it

The opinions of our leaders matter, whether that is the president or a prominent public health official such as Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert.

“When the people in the front of the room — political leaders and so on, people in charge of vaccination — speak up in favor of vaccination, confidence rises and stays high,” said University of North Carolina researcher Noel Brewer, who studies the intersection of public health and human behavior. “When the government and the folks in charge of vaccination do not speak in favor of it, confidence falls.” ...

Make vaccination come with privileges

Of the many strategies Brewer and his colleagues explored in a 2017 study on the psychology of vaccine uptake, one of the most effective was simply requiring it.

For some people, being allowed to travel to see the grandkids, to take a cruise or to return to the office or school is enough of an incentive to persuade them to get vaccinated. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll conducted in late March, 7 percent of respondents said that they would get a vaccine “only if required.” ...

Tailor the message to the audience

Traditionally, public health messages — from smoking cessation to seat-belt campaigns — have been broadcast widely, on billboards, in public service announcements and on popular TV shows. That one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work well for vaccines, experts say, because pregnant women, for example, probably have concerns very different from those of Republican men or Latino immigrants. ...

Have friendly faces in familiar places

While many people are eager to sign up for mass vaccination sites, others are unable or unwilling to take a place in line, for reasons such as a lack of transportation or worries about showing up at sites where staffers are often dressed in uniform.

[Lack of health services and transportation impede access to vaccine in communities of color]

When it comes to relieving those worries, nothing beats a friendly face in a familiar place, say experts who have documented the value of enlisting primary-care physicians, community leaders and pastors. It’s better still if the shot can be given right there, in their office or sanctuary.  ...