According to a manuscript published in the July 2021 issue of the Journal of Communication in Healthcare, inconsistent communication about COVID-19 from public officials has created mistrust and confusion about public health recommendations, which has contributed to increased mortality in the United States. National, state, and local leaders have offered conflicting narratives about the seriousness of the pandemic, the steps needed to contain it, and the safety of the vaccines that are being administered. Much conflict has been over the choice of public health safety or the need to keep businesses and schools open. Framing this binary choice between public safety and the economy may be presenting a false dichotomy since containing the spread of COVID-19 is a prerequisite for a strong economy and a return to normal activities.
Language is viewed as playing an important role in the likelihood of motivating individuals to follow science-based public health recommendations and feel more confident about taking a COVID-19 vaccine. By a margin of 61% to 39%, one poll showed that respondents said the benefits of taking the vaccine would be more likely to motivate them than the consequences of not taking it. Moreover, gaining trust is particularly vital when communicating with members of vulnerable, marginalized, and underserved communities who regularly face systemic barriers and discrimination. Polling also examined differences in words that are likely to build trust about COVID-19 vaccines among Black and Latinx respondents. Overall, when these individuals were asked to choose the words that would give them the most trust and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine (from a list of 12), the two most popular words were “advanced” and “groundbreaking.” Among Black respondents, however, the most preferred word was “innovative,” and for Latinx respondents, “unprecedented” was the first choice.