So, I'm not going to tag all the folks I've had disagreements with for *months* now, since December, who didn't believe me that our bungled messaging on post-vaccine transmission was fueling vaccine hesitancy.
How many examples have we heard now? I hear this every single day. https://t.co/AmOgwNgx39
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So worth dissecting. The fear is "people are gonna wanna.. go wild" if they hear the correct message that we do expect the vaccines to reduce transmission, but we're waiting for more data before relaxing the guidance. So we say "we don't know" when we do.https://twitter.com/reluctantlyjoe/status/1359340516689723394 …
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This is a version of "if we tell people to mask up, they will stop distancing" which I heard from WHO and other experts early on why they didn't like masks. Sociologically it was the wrong guess and it was quickly debunked with data. People going "wild" fear has hampered so much.
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One can dismiss these as anecdotes but they're everywhere. Plus, we do have polling that shows transmission as key motivator for vaccines. The person I quoted about our terrible messaging was an infectious diseases epidemiologist/scientist at Johns Hopkins University, by the way.pic.twitter.com/Q1gPFnLXog
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I'd seen this in another poll, too. Among those most motivated to get the vaccine? Reason number one and two is they believe vaccine will protect *others*. Resuming normal life as important as not getting COVID. (Wish they had asked this to the hesitant!). https://apnorc.org/projects/safety-concerns-remain-main-driver-of-vaccine-hesitancy/ …pic.twitter.com/mf0zTM12Em
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The success of these vaccines may be among the best tools. Willingness inched up (yeay!) and that's in line with a recent experiment that showed telling people others want the vaccine (true!) helps convince them, too. We can accurately inform *and* create appropriate incentives.
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ummmmmmmmmm expressing that we're confident about transmission based on current data is actually lying. we are not.
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there's a reason that the scientific consensus disagrees with you. but i guess it's SUPER IMPORTANT to have DISRUPTERS in the middle of a damn pandemic
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Public health officials and MDs could easily have said things like, "We hope that this will decrease transmission. There's a chance of that. So you should do everything you can to get that vaccine."
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That would make sense. The probability is high that they do. Instead of just saying messaging is "bad" explain what the message should be.
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Oh look! The experts have logged on with some more helpful messaging! Let the wagons start circling! I wonder how the orange slice epi investigations are coming along. There are some apartment outbreaks in Ont involving VOC. Better debunk Airborne quick before anyone gets an N95
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