Physician outreach and health systems’ adoption of best practices are contributing to rising vaccination rates during the pandemic.
That was the message the White House COVID-19 Response Team delivered during a national virtual town hall meeting held on Monday.
Across the country, more than 475,000 people are receiving their first dose each day, on average, for the first time since mid-June, according to officials. Texas has administered 73,379 vaccines each day, on average, since early August, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS).
This is welcome news as the rapidly spreading delta variant causes new cases and hospitalizations to spike in communities with low vaccination rates.
“We know vaccinations are the key, the best line of defense against COVID-19 and how we end the pandemic,” White House Vaccinations Coordinator Bechara Choucair, MD, said. “And we’ve made, as a country, significant progress getting people vaccinated and protected.”
Primary care physicians play a critical role in addressing vaccine hesitancy, according to a new survey conducted by the Larry A. Green Center in Richmond, Va., and presented at the event. Nearly half of primary care physician respondents said they were able to convince one in five hesitant patients to get vaccinated.
“Given that this is the hardest population to reach, we’re heartened by that (finding),” the center’s co-director, Rebecca Etz, said.
Antonio Falcon, MD, a family medicine doctor practicing in Rio Grande, knows this firsthand.
Many of his mostly rural, Hispanic patients were skeptical about the COVID-19 vaccine due to misinformation spread on social media networks, he said during the event. But physicians and community groups were able to address their concerns, and today more than 78% of the population aged 12 and older in Starr County is fully vaccinated, according to DSHS.
“People do listen to us,” Dr. Falcon said. “They do listen to their family doctor, and they trust us – probably more than anybody else out there – in making a decision about whether to get vaccinated or not.”
In addition to recognizing physicians, the White House pointed to other ongoing efforts to further spur vaccine demand.
Five large health systems that collectively care for more than 30 million patients – including Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare – recently signed a pledge committing to best practices to improve vaccine confidence, according to officials.
The pledge involves physicians and other staff asking each patient – whether in the emergency department, at an ambulatory center, or upon discharge from the hospital – whether he or she is vaccinated and offering education and a shot on site, if possible.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday granted full approval to the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for people aged 16 and older, which physicians are anticipating will help them overcome vaccine hesitancy among some patients.
The Biden administration also recently announced plans to offer booster shots for the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines as soon as Sept. 20.
Emma Freer
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1383