Vaccine Distrust, Emboldened During the Pandemic, Runs Deep: An Expert Perspective

Robert Hopkins, Jr, MD, medical director for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, has strong feelings about the lasting impact of scientific and public health agency missteps during the pandemic on public trust in vaccination as a preventive health strategy. Science is evolutionary and we need to change course with new information, he said in a recent interview with Patient Care.© "But we have to let the public know why we're making that change and what its value is...and we all need to speak with that same voice." He goes in to more detail in the video segment above.

The following transcript has been edited for clarity and length.

Patient Care: Do public health officials and practicing clinicians feel that the pandemic has had a lasting impact on vaccine willingness?

Robert Hopkins, Jr, MD: I think it has. Public attitudes toward vaccines are really mixed right now. In a survey conducted by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) earlier this fall, up to half of respondents expressed concerns about vaccine side effects, and between one-third and 40% reported a general distrust of vaccines.

The pandemic, along with the ongoing waves of new developments, has added to the challenge. We’ve seen shifting guidance—masking recommendations that changed from “use them” to “don’t use them,” debates about what types of masks to use, shutdowns, new vaccines, and evolving recommendations. There’s been a lot of back-and-forth about vaccine side effects, with some claims that they’re not a major issue.

I think part of the problem is that we haven’t done a good enough job explaining the reasoning behind these changes. Science is an evolutionary process. As we learn more, our recommendations evolve. But if we’re going to communicate these changes effectively to the public, we need to explain why the changes are happening and the value of the next-generation recommendations.

It’s also essential that we all speak with one voice. At times, we haven’t been willing enough to admit when we were wrong. For example, we were wrong initially about masks and about other aspects of the response. But the actions we’ve taken have saved many lives so far, and we have an opportunity to save even more by using the tools available to us more effectively.

Robert J Hopkins, Jr, MD, is the medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and professor of internal medicine and pediatrics and director of the division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, in Little Rock, AK.