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Jenifer Garcia 

Ms. McCann

English 1301.127

11 November 2021

Perceptions of the Vaccine: Will the COVID Vaccine be Socially Accepted?

In Will a COVID Vaccine be Accepted?: Social, behavioral scientist needed to advance

effective public health messaging, John H. Tibbett states the issue that is being faced with society

about the newly released COVID vaccine. Tibbett explains the worries of many Americans that

are unwilling to take the vaccine due to “safety”. Doubts about the vaccine surged because many

people thought the process of making the vaccine was too quick. On the contrary, many

Americans are willing to take the vaccine in order to return to their “normal” lives. He continues

to explain that about 51% of Americans were willing to take the vaccine before its release. After

the vaccine got released, the percentage of Americans that were willing to take it reduced to

72%. “You can have the perfect vaccine, but if people aren’t willing to take it, it won’t help,”

says Emily Brunson. Social and behavioral scientists have been researching how to increase

vaccination rates for decades. Psychology, communications, public health, medicine, nursing,

sociology, and behavioral economics are among the disciplines involved in this study. They

explain about community immunity, vaccine hesitancy, targeted messaging, distribution and

access. John H. Tibbett explains COVID-19's spread could be slowed through a mix of vaccines

and medicines, as well as social behaviors, testing, contact tracing, other tools, and procedures.

The author starts off by explaining the three different theories that encourage the people

to take vaccines. Tibbett questions whether provaccination messages change the way people feel

about getting vaccinated. The messages tend to say that with vaccination, one can be protected
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from the disease. In reality, these types of messages are very unlikely to work, states Tibbett. The

second question that is asked, do these messages have a change on how racial, social, or religious

groups think? Campaigns usually use community influencers to bring out positive behavior from

the people such as accepting the vaccine. He states that study shows a positive response from the

people but that it is still not there yet. The final theory asks if vaccination campaigns will change

the people will actually behave. This is not necessarily trying to change how the people feel

about vaccinations, but rather change their behavior directly in which it is called “nudges”.

Nudges can take many forms; these include incentives or requirements. For example, many

clinics make automatic appointments for patients when the next vaccine is due. Other places

require vaccines, these can be working places or public schools.

Tibbett continues on by explaining that accepting a vaccine is not always easy because of

conflicting messages that involve potential safety and effectiveness. He states that in 1853, there

was a vaccination act that was passed in the United Kingdom that aimed to get rid of small pox.

Throughout the next two decades, after the act was passed, the public resistance intensified even

more. Many rumors on the small pox vaccine was created. The people stated that the vaccine has

bats blood or that it was poisonous. Tibbett explains that in current day, there are still anti-

vaccine activist that spread misinformation about supposedly poisonous chemical pollutants in

the vaccines. The author states that the normal time it takes to produce a vaccine is roughly ten

years, but Operation Warp Speed intends to cut that time down to just a few months. He

continues to explain that even the families that are always committed to get vaccines might be

hesitant towards getting an unsafe one.” Some people will be desperate to get a COVID-19

vaccine, some will feel confident enough to accept it, some will be afraid to get it, and some

might feel multiple emotions at the same time or different times” (Tibbett 13). He continues to
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explain that people still have time to think about their choices, because there will only be a few

million doses once the vaccine gets released.

Throughout the passage, Tibbett explains the two ways to establish immunity to diseases,

they are to survive the disease or to get inoculated. When the body gets infected with a disease, it

starts producing T cells. T cells are specialized white blood cells that aim to neutralize the

disease. After, B cells start to join; these cells provide anti-bodies that fight the infection over

time. The natural immunity for COVID-19, evaluated by anti-bodies, seems to last about three

months according to studies. Scientists are hoping that with the vaccination immunity lasts

longer than the host anti-bodies. He continues by stating that an effective COVID-19 vaccine

must build a community immunity, in which it indirectly protects other individuals. A

community immunity is when a certain percentage of people have been immunized. When the

number of people that can get infected decreases, the virus can no longer find a new host to

spread the disease.

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Works cited

Tibbett, John H. "Will a COVID Vaccine be Accepted?: Social, Behavioral Scientists Needed to

Advance Effective Public Health Messaging." Bioscience 71.1 (2021): 11-

7. ProQuest.  Web. 31 Oct. 2021.