COVID-19 Vaccine: Overview and Clinical Consideration for Healthcare Providers

The continuous rise in COVID-19 infection rates, despite having the biomedical technology and understanding of how to slow the spread of the virus, illustrates the urgent need to understand vaccine hesitancy and human behavior. By working directly with individuals, healthcare providers play an integral role in promoting public welfare by being able to effectively and compassionately communicate the facts, and the benefits and risks of the vaccine. Increasing vaccination rates will be key for protection from COVID-19, lessening the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 for people of color, and preventing the widening health disparities.\ \ Three expert panelists were selected to provide an intersectional and comprehensive discussion on promoting vaccine confidence: Dr. Cristina Cassetti, the Deputy Director of the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at NIH, will discuss the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, how vaccines work and are approved for use in the US, and which types are available in the US. She will provide the latest research on vaccine efficacy and safety with new viral variants and the need for booster shots. Dr. Nisha Sachdev, DrPH, PsyD, a public health consultant, strategist and senior clinical psychologist, will discuss vaccine hesitancy from a public health perspective and address disparities and inequities surrounding access to diagnosis for and treatment of COVID-19. Dr. Jay Trambadia, Clinical Health Psychologist and behavior change specialist, will discuss evidenced-based motivational interviewing techniques, designed for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence. He will review several techniques, such as exploring ambivalence, deploying discrepancies, and the decisional balance exercises that can be used to help individuals in the community better understand the vaccine, explore their hesitancy and decisions regarding the vaccine. There will be time at the end for Q&A.\ \ Learning Objectives