Opinion How to counter vaccine misinformation in political discourse

Here are four tips to counter vaccine misinformation.

Those who lived through the polio era recall the terror parents felt about the possibility of their children becoming paralyzed or dying because of the virus. Some still live with the permanent effects from childhood bouts of measles and mumps. ...

The evidence cannot be clearer that childhood immunizations are safe and effective and prevent suffering. Politicians who make public statements to the contrary should be called out by the media and their false claims immediately corrected. The need for childhood vaccinations is one area in which the medical and scientific communities are in lockstep, and there are plenty of health-care professionals eager to help supply evidence-based information.

One-on-one conversations require a different approach. In medical practice, health-care providers know that berating patients for their views does not work. Rather, they must approach each patient with empathy and a genuine desire to understand each concern. Skepticism about medical recommendations, including vaccines, can often be overcome in this way.

People who aren’t medical professionals should use a similar strategy when speaking with neighbors and family members who express skepticism about vaccines. Shunning them and labeling them as conspiracy theorists will do no good. Instead, seek to understand where they are coming from and begin a conversation on a foundation of mutual respect. ...

Do not equate childhood vaccinations with the coronavirus vaccine

...vaccine proponents should not fall into the trap of speaking about routine childhood immunizations, which have long enjoyed popular support, in the same breath as coronavirus vaccines, which have unfortunately been so politicized. ...