Some of the most persistent myths about COVID-19 vaccination have been false rumours that it can affect fertility in men or women. There has never been any evidence to support this misinformation.
Reason is not the only factor that guides vaccine decisions. Understanding human decision-making is the first step in changing behaviour.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
Vaccine hesitancy is often met with one of two responses: Ridicule, or factual information. Both assume a failure of reason, but human behaviour is more complex than reason, so both responses fail.
Health-care workers watch from a window as demonstrators gather outside Toronto General Hospital in September 2021 to protest against COVID-19 vaccines, mandates and restrictions.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
The antagonism driven by political interference in COVID-19 vaccination is fuelling hesitancy. Mass vaccination campaigns require public buy-in via trusted health-care providers and community leaders.
Researchers sought to understand how thinking about COVID-19 vaccine availability along different timelines might influence a person’s vaccine decisions.
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Vaccine hesitancy may be a waiting game. Even those who said they would never get the COVID-19 vaccine if it were available immediately became more likely to do so when it was available in the future.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle most commonly caused by a virus.
(Shutterstock)
Some vaccine hesitancy is based on a fear of the nanoparticles used in mRNA vaccines. But humans have been interacting with nanoparticles for millennia, and we use nanotechnology-based devices every day.
With the holiday season approaching, people wait to receive a COVID-19 vaccination in Montréal as the pandemic continues in Canada and around the world.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
A panel of experts answer questions about vaccines, omicron and other COVID-related issues in a discussion with The Conversation.
While people in the wealthy West have had preferred access to multiple rounds of vaccines, vast numbers of people, especially in Africa and on the Indian subcontinent, haven’t received a single dose.
(Pixabay/Canva)
In places with low vaccination rates, COVID-19 has the chance to linger, and variants develop and travel. Without global vaccine equity, this entirely predictable pattern will repeat itself.
Young children are rolling up their sleeves to get vaccinated, protecting themselves against COVID-19 and helping to curb the pandemic.
(Dasantila Golemi-Kotra)
The participation of five-to-11-year-old children in vaccination programs will make 90 per cent of the population eligible to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Vaccines, including those given for childhood diseases, rarely draw out a perfect response after only one dose.
(Backyard Productions/Canva)
Booster shots are a common necessity for vaccines to keep working. Recent research shows COVID-19 booster shots are recommended for high-risk individuals — and may benefit the rest of us too.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers implied he was vaccinated against COVID-19 when he was not, and made statements about the vaccines based on misinformation.
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
NFL star Aaron Rodgers has amplified dangerous and disproven myths about the COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s why his statements are not only untrue, but also harmful because they spread misinformation.
Vaccine hesitancy has been a growing challenge for more than a decade. Concerns about vaccine safety and adverse events are the most commonly cited reasons.
(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
To help increase trust in vaccines, researchers analyzed data on adverse events to address safety concerns, and then used cognitive science to show how cognitive biases feed vaccine hesitancy.
The “Which Virus Are You” website was a fun and informative way to talk to young people about the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines.
(Marion Cossin)
To convince 18- to 30-year-olds to get vaccinated, three doctoral students designed an innovative, fun, non-judgmental quiz.
Carter Giglio, 8, joined by service dog Barney of Hero Dogs, shows off the bandage over his injection site after being vaccinated at Children’s National Hospital in Washington.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
An infectious diseases doctor reviews the evidence, discusses hesitancy and concerns about side-effects and explains the overwhelming case for vaccinating five-to-11-year-olds, including his own son.
Ethics are important to vaccination decisions because while science can clarify some of the costs and benefits, it cannot tell us which costs and benefits matter most to us.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
When making the decision whether to vaccinate children aged five to 11 against COVID-19, regulators in Canada must rely on sound ethics as well as sound science.
Even if Alberta was motivated to increase vaccination rates through direct government intervention, the measures may not succeed given conservatives’ lack of faith in the province, the premier and the cabinet.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
We surveyed Albertans, and while most were vaccinated, we found certain groups were less likely to be vaccinated than others. Those being people facing economic hardship and political affiliation.
A mural in Rome depicts a white dove parachuting vials of COVID-19 vaccine. Several COVID-19 vaccines are based on a viral vector developed by Canadian Frank Graham decades ago.
(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Viral vectors are modified viruses that trigger an immune response without causing infection. The vector that’s used in several COVID-19 vaccines was created decades ago by Canadian Frank Graham.
In Montréal, people protested the Québec government’s measures to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
(The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)
People who oppose vaccination won’t be swayed by statistics. To convince them, it is necessary to share real-life experiences and stories with which they will identify.
An anti-vaccine protester and a vaccine supporter demonstrate in from of a Montréal hospital in September, 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Trust is needed to curb vaccine hesitancy. Governments need to explain vaccines and other public health measures, while also speaking to the broader purpose of caring for the community we belong to.
People wait in line at a mass vaccination and testing clinic in Moncton, N.B., in September 2021.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov