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Onondaga County Health Commissioner: Hear Concerns, Use Facts To Address Vaccine Hesitancy

WAER file photo

  Onondaga County Health Commissioner Doctor Indu Gupta is hoping family, friends, and other trusted messengers will urge those who haven’t yet gotten vaccinated to do so.  Roughly half of county's adults are fully vaccinated.

 

In order to combat vaccine hesitancy, Gupta said, those trusted community members need to have continued dialogue that respects people’s unease. 

“I think we need to hear the concerns, because there is a fear and I don’t think we should minimize that fear. We need to find the answers for them and provide that information the way it will resonate with them,” Gupta said. “I strongly believe that if we continue to work on that, the majority of people will be very willing to get the vaccination.” 

For Gupta, people’s political beliefs shouldn’t affect their willingness to get vaccinated. She said people want to hear from doctors rather than politicians, that way doctors can present the pros and cons of vaccination to help patients make the best medical decisions.

“‘Is this a side effect I’m going to get? What if I get COVID, what will happen? Side effects are going to go away in 24-48 hours, but if I get COVID, oh my God, it may impact my lungs, my brain, I may be sick, I may end up in the hospital. What do I take chances in?’ And that kind of decision-making comes from when you put the facts in front of people.” Gupta said.

One hope with vaccination roll out is the ability to return to life as normal. But that all depends on reaching a 70-80 percent vaccination rate, which denotes herd immunity. According to Gupta, it is imperative that we block out the disinformation surrounding vaccines in order to reach that threshold. 

“When we have this great opportunity to have a lot of vaccines in our community, a lot of vaccinators in the community, we have a lot of doctors who are willing to talk to people --that includes me--” Gupta said. “Is to get the info and get the vaccine as soon as you can, before the virus can put its head up again and try to strike again.”

For example, Gupta said, a mostly vaccinated population in India and Brazil might have been able to fend off COVID infections and avoided the tremendous loss of life seen in those countries. 

Onondaga County is opening two more Pfizer clinics for anyone 12 and older following the green light from the FDA and CDC. A clinic Saturday will be held from nine to noon at the Oncenter.  The second clinic will open up Monday at PSLA at Fowler High School from four to seven. Registration is required and can be completed at: covid19.ongov.net/vaccine.