Piece on @BBCRadio4 Today this morning suggesting significant numbers may not get the COVID vaccine when they become eligible.

I’m no expert on vaccinations, but I work for a union & know a little comms, so some thoughts…

First, don’t be surprised at the extent of doubtfulness. A new vaccine, coming after a terrible year? Of course people are anxious. The job is to reassure and move people to action - ie getting the vaccine

First: sort the policy. Make it as easy as possible to get the jab. Deliver it at care homes. Give workers PAID TIME OFF to get vaccinated.

Second: persuade and reassure, don’t coerce. Managers need to lead by example and get the vaccine, plus make sure decent info from the NHS is available.

Third: the comms campaign. I assume NHS England have one ready to go when it’s care workers’ turn. Lots will be women, all will be low income, many BME, many getting their info from social media not mainstream news. The campaign for them needs to take account of these factors

Still on the comms campaign: my hunch would be care for family and community would be hugely persuasive to these workers. And “doing it together for our residents” may be compelling.

Gotta build the social norm. Get people talking to one another and friends and family. Seeing “people like use getting vaccinated - ordinary people, HCPs and influencers.

*”people like us”

These groups will have questions. Find out what they are. Then pre-emptively provide the correct info - NOT as a mythbust or FAQ, but positively and assertively, upfront

Final point: in social care, we reap what we sow. These workers are outsourced, low paid, often no sick pay, working multiple jobs, in a rapacious race to the bottom sector funded by private equity. They enjoy little respect and little dignity at work.

We’ve told them they are key workers, applauded them, but still pay most below the living wage and deny them the decent conditions they deserve. Social care is a valuable job - for some a vocation.

So let’s pay staff the professional wages they deserve & raise skills levels. Let’s build a professional social care sector. Let’s kick out the private equity trying to make a quick buck. A respected rewarded profession would raise vaccination rates.

Final point: stop talking about mandatory vaccination. Since when did we allow employers oversight of personal health decisions?! Since when did we give conspiracists the ammo they need to scare people out of doing the right thing?! Persuade and reassure - don’t coerce.

Oh god just realised the first tweet in this thread should specify that the report & my response is about *social care workers*. Sigh.

Oh, and one further thought on this. Stop sharing tweets that say “OMG I can’t believe x% may not get vaccinated”. Social proof can work against us too: telling people that lots of others share their concerns won’t help raise vaccination rates.