Vanguard Vaccination Project

Safe, effective COVID-19 vaccines are available and increasingly accessible, but vaccine hesitancy and resistance are profound barriers to achieving effective levels of vaccination. Unless we effectively address hesitancy and resistance, we will face resurgences of the disease, causing needless suffering and death – as well as social, educational, travel, workforce productivity, and economic disruptions. Leaders of companies and organizations across the country can play an important role in encouraging vaccinations within their organizations and communities. In collaboration with Global Vaccination Advisors, the Vanguard Network will play a critical role by providing tailored communications strategies and content for leaders of companies and nonprofits.

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Vanguard Vaccination Project

A Field Day for Rumor Mongers

July 23, 2021 • Global Vaccination Advisors and The Vanguard Network • Season 1 • Episode 7

Who hasn't heard sinister rumors about COVID? Not just the origin of the disease, but the alleged dangers of vaccination from government control to sterilization. Business leaders need their workforce vaccinated and back in the office or in front of customers. Rumor-fueled resistance to vaccination presents a big problem.

Anthropologist Heidi Larson, heads the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her team, which includes psychologists and data analysts, operate like detectives -- tracing the origin of rumors and developing means to combat them.

She says that rumors arise from deep anxieties and a need to blame or make sense of a frightening reality. Listen to her conversation with the Vanguard Vaccination Project's Ken Banta.