Doctors already confronting skeptics about COVID-19 vaccine

With thousands of doses of the vaccine heading to Kansas and Missouri in the coming weeks, doctors are already confronting skeptics. With coronavirus vaccines in production, the end of the pandemic may be in sight. Tackling disinformation is the next public health challenge.”I think we should all be really happy and hopeful and finally kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel,” said Brett Bricker, of the University of Kansas.Bricker said we’ll face another challenge.”There’s a portion of the American public that no longer has faith in medical or governmental institutions,” he said.Long before we heard of COVID-19, Bricker started studying the anti-vaccine phenomenon. Although proven safe, vaccines are the target of conspiracy theories. Bricker said that it is because they’re preventative.”I think that’s a pretty significant difference in the way people approach vaccines versus the way they would approach going to the doctor. A lot of people who are anti-vaxxers are not anti-doctors,” he said. “I do have faith in the facts in this case but that’s not going to work on everybody.”But there are those who have reasonable questions. That’s why the University of Kansas Health System is dedicating its morning briefings next week to answering questions about the vaccines, dispelling rumors, myths, and misinformation.”I have faith in the American public to make the right decision when they’ve got their questions answered,” Bricker said.

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