In recent years, a greater reluctance to vaccination has been observed, accompanied by an increase in the number of new cases of infectious diseases preventable through these tools. Some of which had already been controlled or eliminated, such as measles or polio. As a consequence, in 2019 the World Health Organization (WHO) identified “vaccine reluctance” as one of the ten most important threats to global health. Today the world faces the covid-19 pandemic caused by the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, with millions of people infected. At the moment there is no approved vaccine to combat it.
The covid-19 pandemic has revived the debate about the importance and need for vaccines that are reliable, highly effective, and rapidly developing. With the possible approval of two promising vaccines, which report an efficacy of 90% and 94% during phase three studies, it is important to know the level of vaccine reluctance, both in society and in high-risk groups, such as healthcare professionals. health and the elderly.
The WHO, through its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE), defined vaccine reluctance as “the delay in the acceptance or rejection of vaccines despite their availability”.
This phenomenon is manifested as a continuum that extends from having a simple doubt, passing through the delay in getting one or more vaccines, to the total rejection of vaccination. This reluctance is different depending on the population studied and sociocultural factors such as religion, which can influence the decision to vaccinate.
In a study carried out in the city of Barcelona on reluctance to routinely vaccinate children, it was observed that around 25% of primary care pediatric professionals showed reluctance towards vaccines, and of them more than half (60% ) stated they trust more in those vaccines with a longer time of existence and application, than in those newer.
The continuum of acceptance or rejection of vaccines depends as much on trust in health professionals, the health system, or science, as on the sociocultural and political context.
In another recent study conducted in 19 countries, published in Nature Medicine, only 32% of participants (4,286 out of 13,426) would agree to be vaccinated [against COVID-19] “if it was recommended by their employer and its safety and effectiveness were proven by the government. ” And other global experiences carried out in health professionals and university students also show between 13% and 60% of doubts about a possible covid-19 vaccine. These data are especially alarming, since health professionals assume an enormous role in the decision to vaccinate, since on the one hand they are the most consulted source of information by families and, on the other, their convictions and attitudes are determining factors in the decision of the families.
Although the rates of reluctance to be vaccinated with a possible COVID-19 vaccine vary and there is still a lack of data to better understand the situation, there is a clear need: confidence in vaccines and in their development process must be increased.
In this sense, it is necessary to highlight the importance of communicating well the development process of a vaccine from its initial stages, through the efficacy and safety studies to which they are subjected, to the implementation of vaccination campaigns. It is important to explain well that vaccines are subject to very rigorous evaluation processes, including their approval by a regulatory agency, and that this standard will be maintained for the covid-19 vaccine that is available.
In order to effectively control the current pandemic, it will be necessary to have a wide availability of the vaccine as well as to face possible reluctance. In addition, it will be essential to make a special effort to, on the one hand, inform and work with the health professionals who are decisive in caring for families and, on the other, include those most vulnerable populations such as migrants in an irregular situation, drug users, people homeless or people living in danger of social exclusion.
Efforts and policies to curb this pandemic will be successful only if they are inclusive of those people who are often forgotten by society. Once we have the approved vaccine, making it reach everyone will be one of the great challenges for the entire world.
Jeffrey V Lazarus, Associate Research Professor, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal); Camila Picchio, Research assistant, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal); Cristina Rius i Gibert, Epidemiology Service, Barcelona Public Health Agency and Scott C. Ratzan, Distinguished Lecturer, CUNY Graduate Center
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original.
