The Pulse
“ I think as nurses, we need to take every opportunity that we possibly can to talk about why it’s so important to get the vaccine.” ANNE WILLIAMS
Combating COVID-19 Vaccine Opposition
JENA FRICK/UMB
BY JENA FRICK AND LAURA HAGER
As of Sept. 12, more than 63% of Americans had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and 49% were fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But with COVID-19 cases again on the rise and the Delta variant spreading rapidly, health care professionals cannot become complacent, says Anne Williams, DNP ’12, MS ’86, BSN ’82, RN, senior director of community and population health, University of Maryland Medical System, and a member of the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Vaccine Hesitancy workgroup. When facing opposition to and skepticism about the vaccine, it is important for nurses to take the time to answer all their patients’ questions and to get to the root of their concerns, explains Williams, who served as planning section chief and clinical operations lead at the M&T Bank Stadium Mass Vaccination Site in Baltimore from December to July. “We had some people come in who were hesitant right up to the time that they sat down to be vaccinated,” she recalls. Nurses can also play a large part in encouraging vaccination simply by spreading the word. “I think as nurses, we need to take every opportunity that we possibly can to talk about why it’s so important to get the vaccine,” Williams says. In March, the mass vaccination site staff helped facilitate such conversations by welcoming faith leaders to tour the facility, some of
whom had already received the vaccine and some who were vaccinated while there for the tour. “They then became champions back in their own communities to say, ‘I got the vaccine, I’m still OK, I’m standing here, I’m not sick, and I feel protected,’” Williams says. In early April, when the mass vaccination site peaked at 6,000 vaccinations daily, four UMSON students, as a part of their community/public health clinical rotation, were canvassing in neighboring West Baltimore to schedule vaccine appointments for community members.
Hayley Carper, RN, an RN-to-Bachelor of Science in Nursing student, engages with a community resident to answer questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.
NURSING FOR/UM • FALL 2021 • 3