I remember feeling relief and joy at receiving my first dose of the COVID19 vaccine on December 21st last year. It felt like a Christmas present, light in the darkness of the horrific COVID surge which was taking away so many in my ICU and community. I couldn’t wait for my patients, my parents, my husband, and the world to receive the vaccine so we could emerge from the pandemic. I was excited by the technology that provided hope for future pandemics, and encouraged by the fantastic safety profile the vaccines had in their trials. I was not alone. All of my physician colleagues who work with me in the ICU have been vaccinated- in fact, our leadership had to stagger us out over three weeks to ensure we all didn’t go on the same day and get a fever or something that kept us from work. I know some of my colleagues assigned to the third week were a bit bummed that they had to wait. Outpatient doctors were texting and calling all around to figure out which hospital vaccination program could get them in soonest. By June, over 96% of physicians in the US were vaccinated, and the number is now likely higher.
I had not realized the extent to which so many of my patients and even co-workers would not share this enthusiasm. I and many of my colleagues and likely many of you have struggled to communicate effectively about the COVID19 vaccine, to address questions and concerns about safety, VAERS, the cloud of conspiracy theories and more. On today’s podcast, I dive into these questions, concerns and more.
Dr. Gigi Gronvall is an immunologist and a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. She received her PhD from Johns Hopkins University and worked as a protein chemist at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and is now an expert in biosecurity and bioterrorism and has written extensively about the biosafety, ethics, and technical and social risks of public health interventions for national security. She is a member of the Novel and Exceptional Technology and Research Advisory Committee, and has served as a member of the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee providing the Secretary of Defense with independent advice and recommendations on reducing risk to the United States, its military forces and allies. In addition to being a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Gronvall is an Associate Editor of the journal Health Security (formerly Biosecurity and Bioterrorism).
Destiny Aman is a behavioral science and risk communications expert running JPoint Collaborative with over 20 years of experience translating science into practical solutions to improve resilience at individual, community, and national levels. Her research has centered on developing and promoting creative adaptations to environmental risks, including natural hazards like wildfires and flooding, and now the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. She has previously worked supporting FEMA and CDC, and is now working with clean air scientists and engineers from Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and the Integrated Bioscience and the Built Environment Consortium to develop and execute new guidelines and protocols for churches, schools, and other public places during the pandemic.
I found this conversation so helpful, particularly on the eve of #WorldLungDay tomorrow. We physicians often need help communicating more clearly to our patients and communities with less jargon. Often to become doctors, we have to immerse ourselves at various points in research, lab work, and science, participating in journal clubs critiquing different studies, working in the slow incremental process of science to understand medical studies and trust whether we would be willing to put a new medication in the bodies of our patients, our loved ones or ourselves. Our perspective is also informed by what we see every day at work. In the ICU, I see when something like the flu or COVID, which many people blow off, absolutely takes down a formerly healthy person, rendering them critically ill. I was pregnant throughout the flu season while working 80 hours a week as an ICU fellow, and I remember getting my flu shot as soon as possible. I felt even more relief when I received my COVID19 vaccine, and I struggle to understand how others might not feel that way. It reminds me of something my Dad used to say to me- “Erika, nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” I am so passionate about helping people feel comfortable about vaccination by ensuring accurate information is available, but it is also important to understand and respect others perspectives so we can all get through this. That is why I am having Destiny back for a bonus episode around communication about the COVID19 vaccine and vaccines in general. These conversations are the most important ones we may be having in the upcoming year, especially the upcoming holiday season which was so lethal last year. We have already lost one in 500 Americans. The scale of trauma and tragedy is already too high, and we have to do our parts in our own lives to extend the umbrella of protection and slow down the rise of the next deadly variant.
To Do:
1- Get your COVID 19 vaccine if you haven’t done so yet. Learn more about the COVID19 vaccines at the American Lung Association, and find where you can get your vaccine here.
2- Reach out to your loved ones about the importance of vaccination- feel free to share this podcast or share what you’ve learned, especially in how to communicate more effectively.
3- Learn more about why there may be very legitimate hesitancy about the medical community, vaccines and scientific research by learning about the history of the Tuskegee experiment, Henrietta Lacks, and more. Medical Apartheid is a vital read for all in healthcare.
4- Consider a donation to the American Lung Association here, who is trying to help share accurate information about COVID19 vaccination and fund research and advocacy
