VACCINATION MYTHS AND WHAT PHARMACISTS CAN DO. As Alberta’s most accessible health-care professionals, pharmacists have a role to play in educating people about vaccinations. Ogbogu shares in his own words what he sees are some of the myths surrounding vaccinations and what pharmacists can do to help counter these myths with facts.
MYTH #1
Everybody knows why they need to be vaccinated. Some people don’t understand why they have to get vaccinated. There’s so much confidence in the fact that you should know that this is good for you, but I think there are many people out there who are suspicious of vaccinations. Vaccines work, we know it. But it is not as intuitive to people as we think it is. Many people who are alive today don’t know about many infectious diseases. Why is that? Because vaccines work. It’s ironic. We don’t know diseases because vaccines have worked to eliminate diseases, but because we don’t know diseases, we don’t know how important it is to take steps to prevent them. Health-care professionals need to watch for this overconfidence. They need to not assume that people know.
MYTH #2
Talking to people about vaccination equals action. Just talking to people doesn’t mean they will do anything about it. Those who are opposed often become entrenched in their views. Studies have shown education is not always effective. One area we need to look at is whether we need a coherent health policy to address vaccine refusal or hesitancy. I’m supportive of compulsory or mandatory vaccination for recommended childhood vaccines, but I won’t recommend punishing parents who don’t comply. Rather, I think mandatory vaccination laws will help create a culture of compliance. We are a lawabiding society and if you say vaccination is compulsory, people might protest, but over time it will become something they see as the right thing to do. It may also lead them
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UAlberta Pharmacy: Spring 2016
to ask questions about why it is a legal requirement. The notion that education will solve everything doesn’t take into account that those who oppose vaccination have a stronger voice in the community and they are often preying on fear. They have a powerful message. Celebrities often promote anti-vaccination messages—and they seem to be winning the fight. However, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not an entirely dismal situation. We are, as a whole, a fairly well-vaccinated population, but we can do better. For example, children in southern Alberta are under-vaccinated.
MYTH #3
Anti-vaccination opposition and hesitancy. There are people who are opposed to vaccinations and then there are people who are hesitant for all kinds of reasons, including misinformation about vaccines, poor understanding of why they are necessary, fear of vaccinations, overprotectiveness of children and lack of access to health care. Language barriers, especially in immigrant communities, can also pose problems with accessing vaccinations (Ogbogu is currently considering doing a project that translates information about vaccinations into different languages).
MYTH #4
Health-care workers should have the option to get the flu vaccine. When it comes to health-care workers, I support mandatory flu vaccination. Healthcare workers should take reasonable precautions on the job to protect patients.
Health-care workers provide an essential service that goes above and beyond what the rest of us do. Most work with persons who are vulnerable to the flu and other infectious diseases. No health-care professional would argue about the precautions necessary in dealing with a quarantined patient. I would compare vaccinations to wearing a hazmat suit that protects vulnerable patients from infection. However, I don’t think non-compliance should result in losing one’s job; there should be some accommodation if a health care worker holds serious reservations to the flu vaccination. Perhaps unvaccinated workers can be redeployed elsewhere during outbreaks.
What can pharmacists do to help battle the myths? 1 Be an advocate. We need a provincial policy that makes sense. Pharmacists can get involved in advocacy. I’d love to see pharmacy students and pharmacists engage more in advocacy and policy around this issue. We need to mobilize the collective. I think pharmacists have a very powerful voice in the province and nationally, and I think governments will listen. Pharmacists are trusted professionals, by both policymakers and members of the public.
2 Make vaccination a routine part of health-care counselling. Make patients who come to see you understand the need for vaccinations, how it can be done, and so on. Have regular conversations with patients.