This was explained by experts on Wednesday evening at a doctor’s webinar “Vaccinate focus”.
“There is a hard core that can no longer be reached. That is around ten percent of the population. The fact is that we are stagnating in both countries – in Germany and Austria – (with the Covid 19 vaccinations; note)”, said Cornelia Betsch, who works on health communication at the University of Erfurt in Germany, at the event of the Academy of Physicians and the Austrian Society for Vaccinology. The scientist and her team have been conducting representative surveys since March 2020, i.e. when the corona pandemic began in Europe, and have also taken into account the comparable data from Austria.
“The unvaccinated think they are less likely to get infected”
“Compared to the vaccinated, the unvaccinated are less concerned about the health care system overload. The unvaccinated think they are less likely to become infected. The vaccinated are more concerned about getting sick and do not find the (counter) measures excessive. The vaccinated view the pandemic differently. The unvaccinated say much more often that they are afraid of the vaccination,” explained the expert. Overall, recommendations from the doctor you trust are highly relevant and potentially have a major effect: “The recommendation of your family doctor is incredibly important.”
In any case, the positions had hardened during the course of the pandemic. Cornelia Betsch: “Since there are fewer and fewer unvaccinated people in the surveys, the differences become more extreme over time. The stronger the pressure (on the unvaccinated; note) becomes, the stronger the anger and the tendency to activism.” Overall, however, recommendations from general practitioners and medical examiners are still important in order to motivate people to get vaccinated. However, one should not expect too much from the availability of the Novavax protein vaccine against Covid-19. The scientist: “The vaccine is there – and nobody comes to get vaccinated. This group is very anxious.”
In discussions with opponents of vaccination, it is important to criticize less wrong views than to consistently name the right thing, explained publicist Ingrid Brodnig. She gave a possible argument for doctors in consultations: “I haven’t seen anyone who has died from the vaccination. But I’ve seen people who have died from Corona.” In efforts to motivate even more people to get the Covid-19 vaccine, one should probably best engage with those sections of the population who are “reluctant” but not outright hostile.
Eva Höltl, head of Erste Bank’s occupational medicine center, gave a very positive example: “We already achieved a vaccination rate of 95 percent in December 2021.” This was achieved through intensive information and education campaigns among all employees of the group. In general, the workplace is potentially a central platform for health communication: “Four million Austrians can be found at work. And we know which groups among them are more skeptical about vaccination.” That way you can get targeted information. “Apprentices, for example, are particularly skeptical about vaccinations. But 70 percent of young people trust the Austrian health system.”
According to the experts, new initiatives could be taken in the next few months and into autumn. For example, doctors could possibly use antibody tests after surviving SARS-CoV-2 infection in previously unvaccinated people to show the value of an additional vaccination for lasting protection.
Source: Nachrichten
