The World Economic Forum has developed recommendations that may help eradicate COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
The World Health Organization states that 60 to 70 percent of the population should be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. However, this appears to be a challenging task as COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy remains apparent.
To date, about 10.6 percent of the world’s population has already completed their vaccinations against coronavirus. Based on the data from Our World In Data, this accounts for a total of six months, starting last December.
Although the rate of vaccination continues to increase, the pacing remains slow. This is why many now see the hesitancy over vaccines as a growing crisis amid the pandemic.
The World Economic Forum recently released a report about the matter. On its official website, the organization shared recommendations to overcome, and even potentially eradicate, the hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccines.
Addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy using “patient-centric solutions”
The independent international NGO noted that there are not enough solutions, centering on patients, to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Because of this, it conducted research to create and implement “patient-centric solutions,” which may boost vaccination efforts.
Theoretically, customers make decisions by thinking first. The “feeling” comes next in the process, and ends up in “doing” the action.
In the case of COVID-19 vaccinations, this equates to patients thinking first or becoming “aware” of the vaccine. As for the feeling stage, this reportedly implies “developing a conviction” to get the jabs. Lastly, in the doing stage, this means getting the vaccines.
The WEF stated that patients are unlikely to move to the “do” stage without the “think” and “feel” stages. Accordingly, the focus should be on these aspects when solving the challenges of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.
The “think-feel-do” stages
The organization recommends “increasing knowledge and overcoming misinformation” for the “think” stage. The first thing to do is to know why individuals are hesitating or rejecting the COVID-19 vaccines. To address the concerns, WEF noted that officials should “proactively” reach out and educate skeptics.
For the “feel” stage, there should be efforts to improve the feelings of the vaccine-hesitant individuals toward the jabs. So, utilizing sources that they trust may help induce a positive outlook and develop conviction.
In the “do” stage, the World Economic Forum recommends facilitating action. However, this will reportedly require “proactive tactics.”
As stated, some of the helpful tactics include giving incentives and enhancing convenience when getting the COVID-19 jabs. Several cities and states in the U.S. are already doing this today. While some offer free transportations and lotteries, others provide cash incentives.
In the end, the World Economic Forum suggests that applying these things may help overcome COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. Moreover, the organization is positive that this “will improve efforts at accelerating global herd immunity.”
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