Living with COVID-19: Tips for talking about vaccines
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COVID-19
There are strategies you can use that can make it easier to have productive conversations about COVID-19 vaccines.
Here are some tips for talking to others who have chosen to remain unvaccinated:
- Show empathy. Acknowledge their beliefs and concerns – which you can do without agreeing – so they understand that you understood what they had to share. Not every unvaccinated person is against vaccination, and some hold their beliefs based on incorrect or incomplete data.
- Have an open discussion. The reasons why a person doesn’t support vaccination can be diverse and are valid to the individual. Hear them out. Have an open discussion where you can learn from each other and remember:
- Be respectful, calm, and understand that a discussion doesn’t have to be an argument. Don’t interrupt or dismiss their concerns. Show the same respect to the person that you deserve.
- Listen to what they have to say, so you can understand why they believe what they do. If they feel like you have heard their side, they may be more willing to hear yours.
- Ask open-ended questions, such as why they believe what they do, and where they received their information. These questions can help you better understand where the person is coming from.
- Focus on the benefits and positives of vaccines. Try to understand what matters to the individual and how vaccination will benefit them. This provides motivation to change, because they are doing it for them, not you.
- Share information from trusted sources. “Do your research” is a phrase heard far too often when talking about vaccination. There is a mountain of information available about vaccination online and on social media – some reliable, and some not – which is why one person’s “research” can produce dramatically different results from what medical science tells us. Only reference current facts from reliable sources. And tell the person where you got your information, so they can look and learn on their own time. Reliable sources about COVID-19 vaccination include the SHA, the Ministry of Health, the Public Health Agency of Canada, the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among others.
- Offer help, not guilt. Talking about vaccination isn’t about proving someone wrong, it’s about helping them to see things differently so that they can make an informed decision about their health and the health of others around them. Be supportive, be kind, and offer to help.
Hopefully these tips will help you have a productive conversation about vaccines.
