This blog is not intended as advice. It is for educational and research purposes only. Read this disclaimer first if you want to read this post.
Within a few months it appears that there will be a useful vaccine for COVID-19. This will be an extraordinary achievement. However, to give herd immunity, its uptake will need to be high, especially since a slice of the population will not be able to have the vaccination due to age or a poor immune system or straight refusal to be vaccinated.
The Journal of the Medical Association of America (JAMA) has just published a viewpoint (free). Schaffer DeRoo S, Pudalov NJ, Fu LY. Planning for a COVID-19 Vaccination Program. JAMA. Published online May 18, 2020. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.8711
It notes the need for solid leadership from the health professionals, community leaders and “influences”. It is certain that misinformation will become widespread, particularly from anti-vaxers and a pre-emptive plan should already be in place with the likes of FaceBook to limit the spread of disinformation.
When the Polio vaccine was introduced to some Muslim counties, there were widespread beliefs that it was a conspiracy to hurt Muslims and vaccine manufacture had to done in part in Muslim counties like Indonesia to overcome this fear.
The rapid uptake of a safe, reliable and effective COVID-19 vaccine is going to be beset with horrendous hurdles and the expertise of the social sciences in understanding cultures and beliefs is going to be central to its success.
It will be interesting to see what sanctions will be taken in developed counties to limit employment, government benefits and the like to people who could be vaccinated but refuse.
For many years Ecuador has limited Government benefits to families where the children are not vaccinated or do not attend school. It works.
