This week, Sandy Thurman visited our class to discuss the government’s response to pandemics. Throughout her presentation, she highlighted communication and community-building as essential tools for progress.
Sandy Thurman centered her presentation around answering some major questions. First, who are we using to communicate the message? For the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Thurman let us know of world leaders and celebrities such as Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and Elton John. But similarly, we were given the example of Ryan White, a small-town boy with hemophilia who shared his story with the world and captured the public’s attention.
Similar to HIV/AIDS, when COVID first started, it was Tom Hanks sharing his positive COVID status that shook many Americans into realizing the immediacy and seriousness of the situation.
I found that President Biden attempted to use similar tactics with a campaign that enlisted celebrities to come to the White House, such as Olivia Rodrigo for vaccines and BTS in order to talk about anti-Asian hate crimes. At the time, they trended on Twitter for their appearances, but I wonder if their appearances truly changed people’s minds, or if it only energized the same group of people who already had been vaccinated. However, at the same time, I don’t know if someone who has a following with the vaccine-hesitancy or anti-vaccine crowd would be willing to come and speak out because it could lead to a lot of negative reactions from their fans. And in this polarizing climate, it could lead to violent threats against them. However, if they were trusted sources, it could have at least started the conversation to getting vaccinated. But this comes back to Thurman’s question—how do we get to the last people? Especially when high-profile influencers, politicians, and groups like QAnon have made it their mission to sow distrust in the vaccine?
On a personal level, you can say that some people can’t be saved and let it go. But if you’re in public health, if they are the last ones left, do you still try? If so, what are some strategies that can be used? How do you gain trust in people who have learned to distrust you?
~ Emie Ung
All great questions Emie. Your post got me thinking about when Dr. Carlos Del Rio talked about the woman who would only get vaccinated if her nurse friend or her pastor did or told her to and I think this is the case for a lot of people. As sad as it is, I think this is why we have influencers on social media: their goal is to INFLUENCE you to buy something usually. It also got me thinking about how Dr. Del Rio worked with Tyler Perry and Dr. Kimberly Manning to develop videos for the Black community when COVID first hit and Tyler Perry got his vaccination on camera to show other folks that he believed in the science and so should they. The trick is, how do you reach all demographics? Because BTS and Olivia Rodrigio don’t speak to me, you know?