New video educates consumers about COVID-19 vaccine fact and fiction

By Nelson Santiago

Are you and your community sick and tired of all things COVID? So are we. That's why Consumer Action is continuing to get the word out about the importance of getting vaccinated. Getting the vaccine not only protects you, but others in the community as well, and the more people who get vaccinated, the closer our country comes to building a defense against coronavirus. We've produced a new video to help dispel vaccine myths and to equip community educators with one more tool for use in their community education efforts.

Although vaccination rates have improved in the past months, vaccine hesitancy is still a problem in many parts of the country, and about a quarter of the population is still not vaccinated. A recent Kaiser Family Foundation report analyzed CDC data that showed that, as of Jan. 10, 74.4% of the U.S. population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The KFF report noted that, amid the current Omicron surge, unvaccinated people are at particularly increased risk for infection, severe illness and death.

The need for continued community education about vaccines is clear and also supported by recent research. A study published last month by the American Journal of Infection Control found that characteristics of vaccine-hesitant individuals included racial minority status, age older than 65 years, children younger than 18 years in the household, and unemployment. The study also found that the lack of a high school education was the most important predictor of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in 3,142 U.S. counties. The report's authors recommended that policy makers and community leaders tailor vaccine information and efforts to those with limited education, and we're hopeful that our user-friendly vaccine education resources, including the new video, can be helpful in this effort.

The new Consumer Action video, available online in English and Spanish, is based on the Consumer Action fact sheet released last summer, Coping with COVID-19: Distinguishing between vaccine fact and fiction. Both the fact sheet and the video address vaccine misinformation and myths, including, for example, that the vaccine will give someone the coronavirus or alter their DNA.

The video is chock-full of colorful visuals and goes easy on text, while still delivering all the key points in the fact sheet, such as where to obtain the vaccine and tips for finding reliable sources of information. The video may be especially helpful for reaching consumers who might be less inclined to read a printed publication.

For more information about Consumer Action's vaccine fact sheets, including the companion fact sheet for educators, Coping with COVID-19: Coronavirus vaccination outreach resources for community-based organizations, see the INSIDER piece we published in August.

View the video "Distinguishing between COVID-19 vaccine fact and fiction" in English or Spanish on Consumer Action’s YouTube channel.