Now that the first vaccines are being rolled out to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, a major challenge is persuading people to take them. Getting 70% or more of the public vaccinated or recovered from the Covid-19 virus is critical to containing the disease and creating herd immunity. However, recent surveys indicate that a considerable number of people across the United States are hesitant to take the new vaccines. Overcoming this reluctance — which cuts across geographic, political, religious, and demographic groups but is more prevalent in certain subgroups, especially Black Americans — is critical to ending the pandemic in the United States.
Employers Have a Crucial Role to Play in Covid-19 Vaccinations
These five actions can make a big difference in achieving herd immunity.
December 22, 2020
Summary.
Overcoming distrust of vaccines is a major obstacle to persuading enough people to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. Employers, working in concert with federal and state health agencies, can help tackle this problem. To do so, they should tailor their campaigns to local communities. Here is a five-part plan for doing that. It includes: understand your population and focus on inequities, tailor messages and channels to local needs, educate and be transparent, leverage data and analytics, address hurdles and incentivize positive behavior.