Fischhoff mentioned in Philadelphia Inquirer

EPP Professor Baruch Fischhoff was mentioned in the Philadelphia Inquirer's piece on the challenges of convincing the public to accept a COVID vaccine when it is released. There’s a good chance that a coronavirus vaccine could be available by late 2020 or early 2021, but polls have shown decreasing support for getting vaccinated as battles between science and politics have weakened trust in government agencies that evaluate and recommend vaccines.

Polling from STAT and The Harris Poll found that the percentage of Americans who said they would get a vaccine as soon as possible dropped from 69% in mid-August to 58% in early October. Several other polls have found that only about half of Americans now want a COVID-19 shot. While support could easily grow once a vaccine is approved, the polling is worrisome because broad vaccination is the best way to block the virus. 

Communications experts said it matters greatly who promotes the vaccine and how they do it. People believe a “trusted messenger.”

EPP Professor Baruch Fischhoff, a psychologist who studies risk assessment at Carnegie Mellon University and member of the Academies of Sciences vaccine committee, believes that some people will want numbers, and believes that most of us can understand them if they’re presented properly. He believes public health officials should be laying the groundwork for that communication now. He would begin by explaining how many people were in the trial and how long they were followed. Some percentage of participants had serious side effects. A company may say that a vaccine is 60% effective, but what does that mean? It could be that 30% of participants were totally protected and 30% had milder symptoms, while the vaccine had no effect on the rest. Once that foundation is laid, Fischhoff said, people will be more receptive to campaigns asking them to get the vaccine.

Read the full article to learn more.