The silent majority of vaccinating parents have stood by and let the fringe kick-up dust, throw their temper tantrums, and slowly turn those parents on the fence to their side. Making the choice to not vaccinate your child is the choice to let disease run rampant.
Vaccine Strong creators Brian and Dawn are vaccine communications consultants and they have a unique opportunity to share everything they’ve learned about tackling the vaccine issue to empower parents to be on the front lines to lead the fight against the misinformation that fuels a parent’s choice to not vaccinate their child.
What We’ve Learned About Parents Who Question Vaccines
- There is no party – Extreme liberal and extreme conservatives both agree that vaccines are no good.
- Fear risk rather than disease – They often see themselves as the unique snowflakes that will be that 1 in 100,000 that has a serious vaccine side-effect. They have often not seen these diseases and misunderstand the risk that is involved. We want know that everyone is just doing what is best for their family, but unfortunately the choice to not vaccinate a child has seriously, far reaching repercussions.
- Use personal opinion over science – They often say that “I just don’t trust vaccines” and use other beliefs that justify their fears about the risk. They often don’t want to hear about research or from doctors, their gut and personal history guides their decision.
- Strong distrust in government – From government conspiracies to just wanting to minimize government control in personal life, they think vaccines are a piece of Big Brother.
What We Know is the Solution:
- Standing Up for Vaccines – Nearly 80% of children are fully vaccinated by the age of 2. That means there are a LOT of parents that are vaccinating their child. These parents often don’t want to kick the hive and unleash personal attacks from family members or Facebook friends. But we can’t be silent anymore. Disease is coming back. Bringing polio back to the US is a real possibility. We have to band together to make a difference.
- Money to Fund Wide Public Awareness Campaigns – Unlike selling you the latest mobile phone, this problem has been fought in the trenches by nonprofit organizations making small, but meaningful impacts in this fight. With more money flowing into these organizations parents can make an impact on a state-wide or nation-wide level.
- We Need a United Message – Because the immunization organizations focus on the state-level and there isn’t funding on a national level, the message is often fractured. This is also a inherent problem with the vaccine fight – there are 13 diseases that are prevented with vaccines. This means a lot of messages, lots of audiences, lots of tactics. There needs to be collaboration and coordination on a national level of a message that is appealing and effective for couples that are considering getting pregnant, pregnant couples and new parents. This site isn’t claiming to the unifying message – we need research for that – but we hope to start the conversation on a national level.
