On Covid Vaccine Concerns
What if we had one quick solution that would protect us from some of the most gruesome infections on earth? Well, we do. They’re called vaccines. And luckily for us, the Covid vaccine is here to help protect us against this virus that has already killed millions of people. So why are some people saying that they won’t get the vaccine?
Some people find vaccines scary. And that’s okay. Lots of people don’t like needles. But vaccines are important not only for your own health, but the safety and health of a community overall. So maybe if we could make them a bit less scary, we could all be a little bit safer. Especially with Covid, where reduction in infection rates could mean getting back to work or even giving a friend a hug that much sooner.
Let’s take a look at what behavioural science has to say about why the Covid vaccine is scary and what we can do about it.
The Availability Heuristic
The availability heuristic refers to our tendency to use the ease at which something comes to mind as a proxy for making decisions about the future.
Something that is more easily recalled to memory is judged to be more likely. The problem with this heuristic is that things that are more recent, have vivid imagery, or are emotionally charged tend to come to mind easier, which can lead to us making decisions based on rumor or anecdote rather than reliable information.
What does this have to do with vaccines? Well stories or pictures of very, very rare occasions where someone might have an allergic reaction to a vaccine are far more memorable than stories of when a vaccine works like it’s supposed to – which is just simply a person not getting sick. This might cause us to overestimate the likelihood of negative reactions to vaccines.
The odds that you’ll have a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis as a result of a vaccine is about 1 in 760,000. To put that into perspective, your chance of being struck by lightning this year is a little higher at 1 in 700,000.
Additionally, any reaction tends to happen right away, which is why your doctor has you wait a few minutes after getting your shot.
To bust through this heuristic, we have to flip our thinking on its head. Think about what you or someone you love could experience if you don’t get the vaccine and get sick instead. This could be intubation, isolation in the hospital, or lasting neurological damage – meaning brain damage you never recover from. On the flip side, not a single person has died from the Covid vaccine.
Learn more about the Availability Heuristic and more in my video, On Biases!
The Ambiguity Effect
The ambiguity effect refers to how we don’t like uncertainty, and tend towards options where the outcome is known. Which, when you think of the scientific process, creates the perfect storm for apprehension to vaccines.
The scientific process around vaccines might seem really mysterious or complex, which might lead people to believe it’s not effective.
The way that vaccines are tested is with a large number of participants – which is considered a sample of the larger population. Vaccines are not approved for public immunization without meeting highly rigorous safety standards and being tested for safety and effectiveness in massive trials.
So we get a really good sense of how safe a vaccine is, but the reality is that we could never possibly know for everyone unless we tested everyone in the whole wide world. Limitations like this get amplified – just because we don’t like ambiguity – even though the results show that the Covid vaccine is both safe and effective.
To tackle this heuristic, it will help to know a bit more about how vaccines work, because sometimes the sign of the vaccine working can feel like a negative side effect.
Here’s an overview of how the mRNA and Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccines work for those that are curious!
First thing you should know is that the Covid vaccine can’t give you Covid. You won’t test positive on a Covid-19 viral test. But, you might experience fatigue, fever, and you’ll definitely have a sore arm. The problem is that these annoying side effects are actually a sign that the vaccine is working, producing an immune response in your body to protect you from the virus.
Also, these symptoms are temporary, and have been shown to self-resolve all on their own. They are also typical to all vaccines, not just the Covid vaccine.
Does this make sense? We tend to tolerate discomfort in other areas of our life for long-term gain. Think about exercise. It leads to muscle aches, but we don’t say we’ll never exercise again.
Putting it all together, some people would rather be 100% sure they won’t get any side effects with the covid vaccine, and instead forego the protection from Covid-19 at a rate of over 90% effectiveness because of our aversion to uncertainty. That means some people take the risk of getting sick, even though the vaccine has been shown to be super, super safe.
Which leads to the next bias…
The Omission Bias
Omission bias refers to how harm from action feels worse to us than harm from inaction. When people are confused or scared, a common response is to do nothing.
The problem with this is that it’s not just about us getting sick, we could get other people sick too. Doing nothing is dangerous both to yourself and to your community.
Have you heard of herd immunity?
Herd immunity refers to when a large portion of a community becomes immune to an infection, reducing the ability of the virus to spread from person to person. As a result, the whole community becomes protected — not just those who are immune.
There are two ways to become immune: to get the virus and survive it (thus creating antibodies) or getting the vaccine.
It’s estimated that we need 70% of people to be immune to achieve herd immunity with Covid. That means that, without the vaccine, we’d need around 5.32 billion people around the world to have Covid and survive. With a global death rate from Covid between 1-2%, that would mean approximately 115 million people around the world would die. That’s 3 times the amount of people in all of Canada!
While 92% of people think vaccines are safe and effective, one third of people are ‘vaccine hesitant’ – in that they have minor concerns or fears. So it’s really important for us to think about how we can tackle the omission bias.
Omission bias comes from our desire not to do harm or risk losing something important to us. This is because losses feel worse than gains – this is known as loss aversion. But failing to act can cause harm too. For example, the harm from the vaccine to you is nowhere near as harmful as getting or transmitting Covid-19 to someone you love. Thinking about the loss or harm from inaction might help in your decision-making: think about a stranger in the grocery store transferring the Covid virus to your grandmother and her losing her life as a result.
Don’t Let Your Biases Impact Your Decision Making (and Possibly Your Health)!
If you’re apprehensive about vaccines, you’re not alone. But this apprehension might actually be more about our biases than about any real danger from the Covid-19. Now that you know some of the biases that might be impacting you, you can make a better-informed decision.
Stay safe out there! And keep it sassy.
Love,
