Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
35689
Abstract
COVID-19 vaccines are by no means a silver bullet. With more COVID-19 vaccines expecting approval in the coming months, it is necessary to note that vaccine availability does not equate to vaccine accessibility, nor vaccine efficacy. Some research suggests that approximately 9 out of 10 individuals living in lower-income countries will not have access to COVID-19 vaccines until 2023 or later. For higher-income countries, such as the United States, the prevalence of vaccine hesitancy may further compound the situation. These insights combined, in turn, emphasize the fact that even though COVID-19 vaccines are becoming more available, safety measures (e.g., face masks, personal hygiene, and social distancing) are still of pivotal importance in protecting personal and public health against COVID-19. Furthermore, this paper argues for the continued imperative for health experts and government officials to communicate and emphasize the importance of COVID-19 safety measures with the public, to make sure people are protected against COVID-19 till the pandemic ceases to pose a threat to personal or public health.
DOI
10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100204
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Su, Z., Wen, J., McDonnell, D., Goh, E., Li, X., Šegalo, S., ... Xiang, Y. T. (2021). Vaccines are not yet a silver bullet: The imperative of continued communication about the importance of COVID-19 safety measures. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health, 12, article 100204. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2021.100204