Answer to vaccine hesitancy is local health providers

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) -Have you received the covid-19 vaccine? If the answer’s “no,” you’re not alone.

A new poll from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky shows there’s a fair amount of Kentuckians still hesitant to get the shot. The Foundation said the answer to reaching those people is at the local level.

“[To] give the protection the whole community, the whole state needs, we’ve got to go local,” said Ben Chandler, President, and CEO of the Foundation.

The poll consisted of asking questions about the COVID-19 vaccine to 800 Kentuckians.

“People who say they are not going to take the vaccine or who probably won’t take the vaccine is right at 30%, just shy of 30%,” Chandler stated.

So the focus is shifting.

“The people who had prepared to take the vaccine, most of those people have now been vaccinated, not all of them, but most of them,” he said. “What we’ve got to turn our focus to is the folks who are hesitant.”

Findings show 50 percent of those who are skeptical would get vaccinated if they had more information.

“The hesitancy is around the unknowns and the speed of the vaccinations,” said Allison Adams, The Foundation Vice President for Policy. She explained people are worried about how quickly the vaccines were developed and approved.

Chandler believes to reach the skeptical, many of whom he said live in rural areas, is digging deeper into the local communities.

“87% of the people who are hesitant, trust their local health provider and that’s a huge number,” said Chandler.

People like their doctor, pharmacist, and health department.

The Foundation said the message must be universal.

“We refer to the guidance of the centers for disease control and it’s important that we all are referring to that consistent messaging,” said Adams.

But who gives the reluctant that message, matters.

“If we can get the local provider to give them that message, we may be able to convince them to get the vaccine,” said Chandler.

It’s said that all politics is local, and in some cases, so is health care.