I was speaking to a lady in my building the other day and I found it really illuminating. Discourse online tends to paint people as either science-based, pro-public health, and eager to get vaccinated, or anti-vaxxer, anti-masker nuts. My conversation with her came from me mentioning in passing that I was happy as I had just gotten vaccinated the previous day, and she followed that expressing uncertainty and hesitation about the vaccination itself. Notably, she was happy that I got the vaccine, she is not at all anti-mask, and not at all anti-public health, and even said she probably would get the vaccine eventually, she just was hesitant and unsure and clearly conflicted. I didn't try to offer any medical advice as I definitely don't feel qualified, but I did mention how surprisingly smooth and hassle-free the whole experience was for me and how it felt good to feel like I was contributing to getting us closer to being out of all these restrictions. She specifically said the latter was actually a strong motivation for her to get vaccinated.
I suspect there are actually quite a lot of people like her. When I went and got vaccinated, there were a lot of people my age, but there were still people getting vaccinated who were clearly eligible months ago. I was prepared to get vaccinated the day that Health Canada approved the Pfizer vaccine, but other people are going to take longer to come round. I do think one thing that has been lost in the communication to the public is that while we are individually vaccinated and individually benefit, it is also an act that benefits the whole community. It was something I constantly reminded myself as someone who was farther to the back of the queue of eligible people - that even though I wasn't getting my shot just yet, I'm also benefitting from every single other person getting a shot. The corollary is that by getting the shot, I'm benefitting the people around me too. Often times, more outward-focused community-minded motivations like that can resonate with some people/cultures more than the more individual-focused ones.
I suspect there are actually quite a lot of people like her. When I went and got vaccinated, there were a lot of people my age, but there were still people getting vaccinated who were clearly eligible months ago. I was prepared to get vaccinated the day that Health Canada approved the Pfizer vaccine, but other people are going to take longer to come round. I do think one thing that has been lost in the communication to the public is that while we are individually vaccinated and individually benefit, it is also an act that benefits the whole community. It was something I constantly reminded myself as someone who was farther to the back of the queue of eligible people - that even though I wasn't getting my shot just yet, I'm also benefitting from every single other person getting a shot. The corollary is that by getting the shot, I'm benefitting the people around me too. Often times, more outward-focused community-minded motivations like that can resonate with some people/cultures more than the more individual-focused ones.