Build COVID‑19 vaccine confidence with online resources from CDC, Health and Human Services

We’re getting closer to the State of Michigan’s goal to vaccinate 70% or more of Michigan’s population, but COVID‑19 vaccine hesitancy remains one of the major roadblocks. Despite the massive amount of information provided by national public health messengers, some residents are still on the fence about getting vaccinated or are refusing vaccination altogether.

Reasons for the hesitancy could be lack of trust in the public figures or perceiving the information relayed by them as conflicting. The most trusted messengers of COVID‑19 vaccine information are individual health care providers, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor,** an ongoing research project launched in December 2020.

Online toolkits and resources

To help providers increase acceptance of the vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provide helpful online toolkits for providers to address vaccine hesitancy not only among patients, but also among their staff.

Some of the resources in the CDC toolkits** include:

• Strategies for building confidence in medical center and clinic immunization coordinators
• Materials for communicating with health care providers
• Digital and print communication resources
• Printable stickers
• Samples of social media messages and graphics

The HHS COVID‑19 Public Education Campaign website** includes resources and toolkits, a vaccine hesitancy map, campaign ads and information about joining the COVID‑19 Community Corps, which emails weekly tips, news and resources to share with your community. One useful feature of the HHS website is that it allows you to target vaccine information using the filters below:

• Audience — by race or ethnicity, older adults, health care professionals, rural communities, etc.
• Format — social media, posters and flyers, video, informational content, etc.
• Language — Chinese, English, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese
• Topic — building vaccine confidence, getting vaccinated, preventive measures, vaccine safety and efficacy, etc.

Remind your patients that they will have zero out-of-pocket costs or network requirements to receive any of the COVID‑19 vaccines. We support and appreciate your ongoing efforts in caring for our members and improving the health of the citizens in our community.

**Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network don’t own or control this website.