(with thank to Communication Initiative. Extracts below. Read online: https://www.comminit.com/covid/content/behavioral-dynamics-affecting-cov...
'Although widespread vaccinations can help address the COVID-19 pandemic in India, multiple barriers may limit vaccine uptake. In light of the country's goal of inoculating approximately 1.3 billion people within a year, this article applies insights from behavioural economics in the context of vaccination hesitancy and acceptance in India, focusing on strategies for bridging the intention-action gap. It also offers recommendations to policymakers and healthcare practitioners to help increase COVID-19 vaccination uptake...
'Perception: The health belief model (HBM) proposes that the uptake of a vaccine will depend on the perceived susceptibility of the disease, severity of the disease, benefits of the vaccine, and risks of the vaccine. To fill the void of information, people often develop perceptions based on their own stories, and so fall prey to biases, such as confirmation bias (tendency to seek out information that supports something you already believe); availability bias (tendency to use the information we can quickly recall); in-group bias (likelihood of supporting or believing someone within one's own social group than an outsider); and optimism bias (overestimation of the chance of a favourable outcome).
'Suggestions...
Provide easy-to-understand, clear, and transparent information, allowing people to understand the benefits and risks of vaccination and discern the differences in causation and correlation...
Communicate concretely and consistently, ensuring that information feels immediate, proximate, feasible, and likely to directly affect people or those they care about...
Show society influencers taking the vaccination jab on social media to create a powerful ripple effect...
Ensure that healthcare workers are knowledgeable in educating the public about the benefits, side effects, what-to-dos, costs, and where-to-go facts on COVID-19 vaccination and that they pay close attention to customer service...'
Neil Pakenham-Walsh, HIFA Coordinator, neil@hifa.org www.hifa.org
