A different approach to reach vaccination holdouts in rural areas

Flashy lottery prizes or mandates are not on their agenda. Instead, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (PA AAP), the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians (PAFP), and the Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition (PAIC) are collaborating on a series of ads placed in local newspapers.

Amy Wishner, MSN, RN, APHN-BC, a consultant for PA AAP, who originated the concept, told MedPage Today in an email that she felt "many very reasonable questions about COVID-19 and other immunizations could be addressed differently." She also noted that outreach via local newspapers was a method that hadn't yet been tried. (Previous campaigns covered busses, billboards, and radio stations.)

PA AAP pediatrician leader Bonnie Offit, MD, who helped craft the ads for local newspapers, told MedPage Today that it's important for the organizations to continue to try to reach more people in rural communities, where lower COVID vaccination rates have persisted in Pennsylvania and in other parts of the country.

"At first, we thought it was just access," she said. But after months and months, it appears to be hesitancy or reluctance. There's a real need to "pull out different ways to reach people," she added. ...