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Topic #1

1. What are some examples that you saw used to drive an increase in Covid-19 vaccination rate? (social media, news outlets, company policy etc) Why were some more successful than others?

2. Do you have any new ideas or variations on existing ideas that you think could have driven increases in US Covid-19 vaccination rates?

Student Initial post #1

To drive an increase in Covid-19 vaccination rates, I saw various implementation tactics. On social media, many “influencers,” politicians, and healthcare professionals were encouraging their followers and the general population to get Covid-19 vaccinations, especially when they first became widely available to the public. I would often see commercials in between sporting events or popular television shows promoting Covid-19 vaccinations, like Pfizer for example. I was working at a Federally Qualified Health Center at the time the vaccinations became available, and it became mandatory that all workers received the vaccination. We were told this was company policy and made mandatory by the State of California. Workers that chose not to be vaccinated at that time had a window to which they could receive their first dose, and if they chose not to be, they were at risk for termination. This did make me feel safer coming to work, especially in an environment that was already high-risk, working in close contact with patients daily.

I believe there are many things that could influence people to get vaccinated, however, I don’t believe these ideas are necessarily ethical. For example, if there were incentives to be vaccinated, such as a gift card to grocery stores or extra relief funding. Companies could also advertise other possible health benefits if they could be side effects of the vaccine, for example, weight loss or stronger immunity to the flu (for combined vaccinations). Finally, there could be a task force directed towards “anti-vaxxers” that work toward answering people’s questions about the vaccine if they are skeptical, or debunking the myths around the vaccines and sharing videos on social media.

Student Intial post #2

In efforts to increase the the vaccination rate many different tactics were used to influence different groups of people in our society to get vaccinated. Public media campaigns focus on interpersonal relationships, getting vaccinated so you can visit loved ones and keep them "safe". The community efforts that encourage families to get vaccinated together for sometime of reward like gift cards, sporting event tickets. There was even lotteries where if one was vaccinated in a certain time frame they could win $1,000,000 dollars or a scholarship to a state university if under 18 years of age. I believe for many adults like myself the requirement for work was the catalyst to agreeing to vaccination. I believe the thought of being without a job "voluntarily" was enough for many to get vaccinated, when so may others were losing their jobs or already without employment due to the quarantine and resulting business closures. For those who wanted to socialize and go back to "normal' the requirement and proof of vaccination to travel, attend concerts, live shows and sporting events persuaded many.

I think that a lack of research and resulting data is a reason many continue to chose not be vaccinated for Covid-19. There are article and news stories published every few days that that highlight side effects of the vaccination that people are not comfortable with. As the vaccines still only have emergency use approval, it will take sometime to for the public to trust the vaccination where they do not need any mass campaigns efforts to drive vaccination rates up especially since you can now go back to most regular activities without providing vaccination status.