Can we communicate more effectively about vaccines?

Show Me the Science

More than 900,000 people in the United States have died of COVID-19, and over the last year, almost all of those deaths have been among unvaccinated people. Still, many people remain unvaccinated, and many say they are not sure whether they can trust the things public health officials say about COVID vaccines. Washington University infectious diseases specialist Elvin H. Geng, MD, a professor of medicine, recently recalled similar issues with communication and trust in a Perspective essay he wrote for The New England Journal of Medicine. In the essay, Geng discussed a patient he worked with years ago who was convinced that HIV didn’t cause AIDS. That patient saw no need to take anti-retroviral medication when it became available, even as he got progressively sicker. But Geng continued talking to this patient and, eventually, he changed his mind. Geng writes that similar efforts are needed to ease the fears of people who have very real concerns about the safety of COVID vaccines. He writes that “no disembodied message (even if crafted by marketing experts) can compete with someone you know who will pull up a chair.” Although Geng says he understands it’s difficult for doctors to make time for heart-to-heart talks with every anxious patient, he also says it’s clear from the low rates of vaccination that something has to change; and he believes deeper, more empathetic conversations between doctors and patients could be an important step.

The podcast, “Show Me the Science,” is produced by the Office of Medical Public Affairs at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.