OcasioCortez.com - 1 of 64 Alexandria’s top three tips for having conversations with someone who may be hesitant to get vaccinated.

 

A little over half of the U.S. population is now fully vaccinated — that’s over 166 million people.

However, that means half of the country is still unvaccinated. The reasons some are reluctant to get vaccinated are varied, but we know that getting vaccinated is the number one way we will get ourselves out of this pandemic and ensure a healthy society for decades to come.

We’ve overcome pandemics time and time again — polio, influenza, and chicken pox were all brought under control after a majority of the population was vaccinated against these diseases. COVID-19 will be no different.

Last week, Alexandria hopped on Instagram to share some tips for having conversations with loved ones in your life who may be hesitant to get vaccinated. We wanted to share those with you:

1. Find their number one reason for hesitancy.

   There’s a lot of misinformation out there about the COVID-19 vaccines, but there’s usually one main issue a person may have heard that’s giving them hesitancy. Empathize with some of those root causes. It’s totally normal to be concerned, so don’t mock people! Understand where they’re coming from. Asking follow-up questions with genuine curiosity is key.

2. Share your personal experience with getting vaccinated.

   If someone is getting bad information, it’s likely that they might not trust traditional institutions or vetted reporting. So sending them a bunch of articles and stats in response and trying to “debate” is not going to work. Shaming someone won’t persuade them.

   What people do respond to is personal stories from people they actually know. So share your story about getting vaccinated and ask them non-judgmentally if they have any questions about your experience.

3. Offer assistance to lift any logistical barriers.

   A lot of people don’t know or don’t believe that the vaccine is actually free. Let them know it’s free (from your personal story!), offer them a ride, or show them how to make an appointment.

Now that you have the tools to have meaningful conversations about the COVID-19 vaccines, we want to know:

What questions do you have about how to talk to your loved ones about the vaccine? Let us know by filling out our COVID-19 Vaccine Survey so we can help.

Take our COVID-19 Vaccine Survey

Conversations like what we described above are the best tool we have to get more people vaccinated and end this pandemic sooner. Thanks for doing your part by talking to your friends, colleagues, and loved ones about getting vaccinated.

— Team AOC