As the pandemic evolves, so do the messages healthcare communication professionals need to communicate. Below are the six messages that will define the pandemic's second winter, according to a Sept. 20 report from The Atlantic.
- Vaccines don't give people total protection against COVID-19 infection. However, they are important to receive because they significantly reduce the risk of transmission and reduce the risk of severe disease, hospitalization and death even more.
- The proportion of people getting vaccinated is important, but it's also crucial to know who is getting vaccinated and where they are. In some parts of the country, many residents ages 65 and older remain unvaccinated, even though their age group is the most susceptible to COVID-19. Vaccination rates can vary drastically from county to county, and unvaccinated people are clustering together in many rural counties.
- The people who are at greatest risk from COVID-19 may change. Older people and healthcare workers have been prioritized in vaccine rollouts as the most vulnerable, but unvaccinated children could become more vulnerable as new coronavirus variants emerge.
- More breakthrough infections will occur as more people get vaccinated. Infections among vaccinated people are relatively rare, but they will become more common as more people get vaccinated.
- Rare events, such as breakthrough infections and allergic reactions to vaccines, are common at scale.
- Every coronavirus variant wants to spread — there is no "worst" version.