The Hollywood Covid-19 vaccine scenario fights misinformation

While doctors and health professionals are battling the skepticism of vaccination against Covid-19, some Hollywood producers, writers and showrunners are betting that the introduction of vaccines in television stories may help reduce widespread misinformation.

TV shows began to integrate Covid-19 into scenarios, including questions about social distancing and disguise, as the pandemic spread to the United States last March. Now, as vaccination efforts increase nationwide, shows like “This Is Us” – which features a recurring character receiving two doses of vaccine in one episode last month – integrate vaccines into episodes and the public can expect to see more vaccination plot points, says Kate Folb, director of the Hollywood, Health and Society program at the University of Southern California.

Folb is a member of a growing network of entertainment industry experts who work closely with writers and showrunners to accurately describe medical and health information and use entertainment to combat disinformation campaigns and national skepticism fueled by social media.

The use of the entertainment industry to transmit public health information is not a new phenomenon. Major networks, including ABC, CBS and NBC, in the 1980s, are credited with raising awareness of a nationally designated drivers’ campaign by introducing posters and references to shows such as “Cheers” and “Law Law”.

“In fact, people believe what they see on TV, and it’s imperative that we provide accurate information,” says Neal Baer, ​​a physician and writer and producer on shows such as ER and Designated Survivor.

Writers, health professionals and lawyers are faced with how to tell vaccine stories that respond to a wide range of opinions, concerns and views, all while maintaining both viewers and ratings.

According to a February study by the Pew Research Center, 19% of adults have already received at least one dose of vaccine, while another 50% said they will be vaccinated for sure or likely. Despite growing optimism about vaccinations, these figures differ when broken down by race and ethnicity.

When surveyed in November, 42% of black adults said they would be vaccinated, compared to 63% of Hispanics and 61% of white adults. Now, about 61 percent of black adults say they plan to get vaccinated or have already done so, while 70 percent of Hispanics and 69 percent of whites agree, according to Pew.

While the survey indicates growing confidence in vaccination, there is no single reason why people still hesitate, and in addition to race, other factors that lead to higher levels of skepticism include politics (GOP affiliation), religion (white evangelicals). and geography (rural Americans). Seventy-two percent of respondents to the Pew study cited concerns about side effects; 67% expressed concern about the rapid development and testing of vaccines; while another 61% noticed a lack of knowledge about how it works.

“We looked at how to tell stories about the vaccine’s hesitation, but it’s not a monolithic problem with a single idea,” says Baer.

Part of the distrust and skepticism about vaccines and the medical system in the African-American community, for example, dates back to the infamous 20th-century Tuskegee study of syphilis. In recent months, African-American medical associations and professionals have stepped up efforts on social media to promote the vaccine to a group that has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic.

According to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation vaccine monitoring survey, about a quarter of black adults said they are more likely to take a “wait and see” approach to being vaccinated, compared to more than half of those who said that in December. For the Latino community, where language barriers and lack of trust in the government were factors, only 18% said they would “wait and see”, down from 43%. Among white adults, those waiting and seeing the approach fell to 16%, down from 36%.

“There’s still a bit of hesitation there. About 10-15% of Americans are pretty dead against vaccination and probably another 15% are pretty skeptical, so we have to work on that. As for the herd’s immunity, there’s no doubt about it. that … we probably have to be well over 70%, probably in the eighties or nineties, “said Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University School of Public Health at CN Tir Megell at the CNBC Summit @Work of 30 March .

As of 6 a.m. Thursday, 19.4 percent of the U.S. population was fully vaccinated, while about a third received at least one dose, the CDC reports. Convincing more Americans across large sections of society to be vaccinated without being pushed too hard is key to the herd’s immunity goals, according to public health experts.

“I think the best way to convince people is to convince people, not to necessarily mandate them, and again, there are a lot of people who are skeptical, many in the waiting category, and I think they can be encourage, “Jha said.

Technology companies are doing more to combat vaccine misinformation on social media, one of the main factors contributing to the vaccine’s concern. Last month, Facebook announced it would tag posts about Covid-19 vaccines and launched a nationwide tool to provide information and help users locate vaccines. The announcement came amid harsh criticism from lawmakers to allow the spread of vaccine conspiracies and misinformation on its platform. Twitter said in December that it would mark and, in some cases, remove posts about vaccine misinformation.

Ongoing studies suggest that what the public sees on television informs their knowledge and attitudes, making it an effective platform for disseminating and transmitting public health information.

A study from the early 2000s by the KFF, for example, found that integrating stories about emergency contraception and human papillomavirus into the hit show “ER” dramatically raised awareness. The proportion of viewers who said they knew about HPV nearly doubled in the week after the episode aired, while those who could correctly define HPV and its link to cervical cancer tripled.

Major television networks in the 1980s are also credited with joining a nationally designated Harvard School of Public Health drivers’ campaign to reduce drunk driving.

According to a recent survey by researchers at the University of Michigan, appealing to concerns about protecting loved ones may motivate some Covid-19 skeptics. The study, which interviewed 1,074 people nationwide about their attitudes toward the pandemic, found that those who see social distancing as a violation of their rights and freedoms responded more positively when it endangered a loved one.

Abstaining from language control such as “should” or “better”, respecting their concerns and affirming and “agreeing with them as much as possible” can also be an effective way to communicate the reasons for vaccination with this. group, says Ken Resnicow, one of the study’s authors.

Resnicow says vaccine skeptics generally fall into two groups, the “wait and see” group, which includes many minority communities, including blacks, and is generally more receptive to new information, and the “hard not” group, which is so populous. white Republicans as well as evangelicals, who often see getting a vaccine or disguise as a threat to religious freedom.

“The information will not convince them,” says Resnicow. “This ‘hard no’ group will not necessarily be moved by data on effectiveness or safety, because the fundamental objection is much more emotional” and is based on the continuing views of government and religion.

Helping writers and television shows to communicate persuasive messages is the mission of Cultique, a company that advises the entertainment industry on cultural issues. Linda Ong, its CEO and founder, says one way to do this is to model behavior. The technique is as simple as explicitly describing a character looking for more information about the vaccine or as subtle as presenting an elbow with a collision or running inside for a mask, which can be an effective tool for those on the sidelines, says Ong.

The NGO launched the “Be a Protector” messaging campaign in January to encourage industry professionals to help shape safe Covid-19 behavior. Michigan, Yale, HHS USC, The Ad Council and Creative Coalition – a non-profit organization that works with actors, directors and entertainment industry workers to educate on social issues – are among the groups that have already signed the program.

“Someone who hasn’t studied science in twenty years would prefer to hear a story,” says Sten Vermund, dean at Yale University School of Public Health, who works with the group. “Those of us in science need to do much better with stories.”

The Creative Coalition is currently working with writers on shows such as “New Amsterdam” and “Grey’s Anatomy” to combat the vaccine’s hesitation, says the organization’s CEO, Robin Bronk. Much of the activity of disseminating information through cable, digital and streaming channels involves briefings, Zoom meetings and the provision of raw data for writers to implement in stories.

Some organizations bet on advertising events with influential celebrities to gather support for vaccines. In March, Dolly Parton turned her vaccine into a public service announcement when she received her first dose of Moderna vaccine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and sang a “Jolene” vaccine song. BET, in an attempt to influence black audiences, aired a half-hour TV show in January, with actor and director Tyler Perry asking questions and receiving a vaccine.

The Creative Coalition, along with Yale University’s School of Public Health, will debut a series of short public service announcements in an attempt to influence public opinion, the first of which was presented by Morgan Freeman and aired on April 5th.

“It’s about using the power of entertainment and the arts for the social good,” says Bronk. “We are working as fast and furiously as we can to get the message across.”