Open AccessCOVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and anti-vaxxers – supporting healthcare workers to navigate the unvaccinated: Reflections from clinical practice
Author(s) -
Jacqueline Hoare,
AUTHOR_ID,
Marc Mendelson,
Lawrence D. Frenkel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
samj. south african medical journal/south african medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.527
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 2078-5135
pISSN - 0256-9574
DOI - 10.7196/samj.2022.v112i1.16208
Subject(s) - medicine , health care , covid-19 , public relations , family medicine , pathology , disease , political science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , economics , economic growth
An important step in preparation for the fourth COVID-19 wave is to provide healthcare workers (HCWs) with skills to facilitate behaviour change in vaccine-hesitant patients. Convincing members of the public who are vaccine hesitant rather than anti-vaxxers should be the focus of our efforts. Our experience is that vaccine-hesitant individuals and anti-vaxxers are generally distinct cohorts, with differing reasons for their vaccine reluctance. If we are to truly address hesitancy, we must take time to understand the reasons for an individual’s hesitancy. Developing a conceptual framework and skills for HCWs during encounters with unvaccinated individuals will be important not only for shifting some to get vaccinated, but also to manage the complex emotions that HCWs will undoubtedly be forced to confront during the fourth wave.