Public Health Messaging Vital for COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake

The pressure is on to persuade Americans to get immunized against COVID-19. Public health messengers are working to meet that goal but are facing steep challenges. Willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine has steadily gone up among U.S. adults, but skepticism remains a serious obstacle to achieving herd immunity. The data paints an uphill battle for health communicators and underscore just how critical community engagement will be to realizing the full potential of the vaccines and stopping the pandemic. Work on what is effective to boost confidence in the new vaccines is underway – see this article by APHA on how leaders are partnering on communications.