Misinformation Isn’t Going Away, So Offer Convenience and Clear Communication About Vaccines

Photo by Iván Díaz on Unsplash

American Enterprise Institute
At a webinar hosted by RealClearHealth, I spoke on how “vaccines are one of the few truly cost-effective health care interventions.” When evaluated across a range of preventable transmittable diseases, studies demonstrate that vaccines are worth more than their cost, and increase life expectancy and quality of life. But vaccines are only effective if they are used.

There are many reasons for vaccine hesitancy, and they all contribute to lower rates of vaccination even in high-risk people for whom getting vaccinated has a large potential benefit. Misinformation, and a lack of trust in science or the healthcare system are related to vaccine hesitancy; unfortunately, those are very hard to fix fully. There is no one way to raise vaccination rates, but there is evidence that a variety of methods can make it easier to get people vaccinated, even in the face of misinformation and bad actors who would undermine scientific progress. There are ways to encourage people to use this preventive care. MORE