Not the Cardi B’s song I promise! What Awaits Pfizer/BioNTech?
It’s been a difficult, and dare I say, unprecedented year. It has been hard for all of us. The pandemic has robbed us of certainty about what next week might hold. We’ve waited with bated breath for this to be over, tried to cope with the harsh reality and prayed. Things that we hold on to now seem to be in tatters. People have lost their lives. Curfew and lockdown are our reality; strikes and movements; regression and unemployment. We’ve had enough, so when we know a vaccine has been approved for use, we burst with emotion. The moment we’ve been waiting for in a long time. Exhale! TGIP! Thank God it’s Pfizer. Have you seen the meme of Pfizer all over Twitter?
You’re welcome!
But is that it? Has the promise of a near-normal life ringing in our ears now finally come true? I don’t think so. It’s just the beginning of a long and winding road with hurdles ahead. How can we increase transparency and trust? How can we overcome communications challenges and reach all audiences? How can we ensure equitable access and inclusive approach to vaccine distribution?
TRUST.
It’s fair to say that vaccines divide us. If not, who are anti-vaxxers? They just don’t believe it, or worse.
One of the biggest hurdles of any vaccination campaign is to gain public trust. If you type in “Why it’s so quick to develop Covid-19 vaccine” on Google search, there are about 52 million results in 0.74 seconds, or “Is it safe to use Covid-19 vaccine”, about 344k results will show up in 0.67 seconds. People have their doubts, especially with the accelerated timeline in developing Covid-19 vaccine. Vaccine development is a long, complex process, often lasting 10-15 years, with pre-clinical stages, different clinical trials phases and approval application. But the detrimental impact of Covid-19 on our life has motivated the speed and inspired research teams around the world to “join the hunt”. Scientists around the world have been working faster than ever to find vaccines that could stop the spread of coronavirus. With the approval from MHRA, there should be “real confidence in the rigour of the approval”, and Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine has been rolled out this week in the largest scale immunisation programme in the UK’s history.
But the vaccine will only work if people get vaccinated. According to The Lancet, there is growing of vaccine delays or refusals due to lack of trust in vaccines and WHO has named vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten threats to global health in 2019 alongside climate change. However, the results show that within the EU, public trust in vaccine safety was increasing particularly in Finland, France, Italy, and Ireland – as well as in the UK. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”. And there’s hope. It’s crucial more than ever that governments and organisations together build, gain and maintain public trust in the vaccine.
In another context, Obama, Clinton and Bush pledge to take Covid-19 vaccine on TV to show its safety, which clearly shows leadership, knowledge and initiative. Trump? Not so sure!
FAIR ACCESS TO INFORMATION.
In the age of dis/misinformation where fake news travels faster than true stories, fake news jeopardises the chances of COVID-19 vaccine success, according to a recent research from University of Cambridge. If you are going to tell me that UK vaccines turn people into monkeys, I’m going to teleport you right back to where you belong, which is a cave buried 5000m under the ground, and in Russia. But people still buy that, which clearly presents an extreme danger to the public and destroys our efforts. The UK Government has been fighting this uncompromising battle in attempt to spread the misinformation since the outbreak of the pandemic.
The role of healthcare communications agencies or any other organisations with an attempt to deliver true information to reach all audiences has never been more highlighted.
In healthcare industry, with the vaccine being the product and service, as practitioners, we have to make sure that the information about the vaccine will reach our target audiences, which is every single one in the public. When we want to convey a message, we need to identify our audiences, understand the needs and wants of the target audiences on a more personal level and truly engage with them.
For examples, few studies have considered how gender shapes public’s decision making about involving topics such as health representations in the media. Many messages and campaigns may not be sensitive enough for their needs and everyday lives. Experiemental and survey research about publics have collected information on gender and race as factors affecting communication behavior. Considering carefully our audiences, the intersectionality of the audiences with their gender, race or socioeconomic status is really important if we want to provide equitable and fair information to them.
In a study by Varderman-Winter in 2010, it suggests that Merck’s Gardasil-HPV vaccine campaign divided public health disparities victims (low-income women of color from potential buyers (White women with healthcare). The company neglected customizing messages and utilizing media that would reach publics likely to benefit most from the product, and instead, commoditized a less salient risk among publics with the means to purchase the remedy.
INCLUSIVE APPROACH TO VACCINE DISTRIBUTION.
In a recent article from The BMJ, authors have been calling for an equitable distribution of Covid-19. It’s imperative to ensure an inclusive approach for people all around the world.
Historically, multiple players in the health industry have disregarded equity and it’s crucial now “to be proactive in this discussion”. Historically, pharma industry has been seen suspiciously by the publics.
“Pharmaceutical companies will be judged on their actions, which in turn will make or break their reputations”
Dr Jane Brearley, Founder/CEO of Intent Health
It’s time to prevent the history from repeating itself. The global effort to distribute the vaccine fairly and equitably must be put at front and center. The COVAX facility, an initiative co-led by GAVI – the Vaccine Alliance, the WHO, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), aims “to create a safety net for all countries, providing two billion doses of covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2021, to cover 20% of each of the 186 member countries’ populations.” WHO also issued its Fair Allocation Framework to recommend that doses are first made available “fairly and equally to all countries until all countries are able to protect 3% of their population”.
Companies such as Microsoft have offered technology to support this global challenge and also partnered with different healthcare organisations, governments, public health agencies to address this urgent issue, to bring a more inclusive approach to vaccine distribution.
It’s high time that we stood strong together, joined forces to bring more solidarity and international collaboration to prevent any suffering from this pandemic, because aren’t we in it together?
It’s a long and winding road, but it should be the right path to take. A vaccine is here, but we must stay focused on what awaits Pfizer, what awaits us.
Featured photo by Henry Be on Unsplash
