Doctor communication key to pandemic vaccine adoption

People who talk with their doctors are more likely to get vaccinated during a pandemic, according to a study of evidence collected during the “swine flu,” the last pandemic to hit the U.S. before COVID-19. Researchers from Washington State University and University of Wisconsin-Madison surveyed patients about the vaccine for the H1N1 virus, also known as the swine flu, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in 2009. They found that doctor-patient communication helped build trust in physicians, which led to more positive attitudes toward the H1N1 vaccine–and it was more than just talk; it correlated to people actually getting vaccinated. The study, recently published in the journal Health Communication, builds on previous research showing doctors can curb negative attitudes toward vaccinations in general, but this study specifically focuses on that role during a pandemic. “A vaccine during a pandemic is definitely different from others, like the flu vaccine, which...