linnugripiblog

One reason for this lack of cooperation is that many people would be seriously worried about something other than what planners are trying to protect them from.
Two-fifths of the American people would be seriously worried about what government officials would say or do. This concern is even more prevalent among members of the public who are Hispanic, African-American, foreign-born, have a low income, lack health insurance coverage, live in New York City, or have not attended college. People’s trust in official instructions and actions is important because people who don’t have a lot of trust are only half as likely to cooperate in the smallpox and dirty bomb situations as are those who do.
Three-fifths of the American people would have serious worries about the smallpox vaccine — that’s twice as many people as would be seriously worried about catching smallpox in the outbreak situation.
Worries about vaccine side effects would make one-fifth of the American population afraid to follow instructions to go to the vaccination site.
The public’s worries appear to be well founded since it is estimated that over 50 million people in this country have conditions that put them at risk of developing serious complications from the vaccine, either from being vaccinated themselves or from accidentally coming in contact with someone who has recently been vaccinated.

Half of the American people — and two-thirds of African Americans — would be seriously worried if they were told that the smallpox vaccine is investigational. More people would be seriously worried about this issue than about any other aspect of the smallpox situation. Concern about the investigational status of the vaccine would make one-third of the population decide not to get it, even if they were at the vaccination site already.Many people would face conflicting worries and trade-offs in these situations, which would make it very difficult for them to decide what the most protective course of action would be.

Three-quarters of the people who would be seriously worried about catching smallpox in the outbreak situation also would be seriously worried about the vaccine. People who are only worried about catching smallpox are three times more likely to cooperate as those who are not. But that increase in cooperation is completely eliminated when people are also seriously worried about the vaccine.
Two-thirds of the American people would try to avoid being in the same place with other people they don’t know in the smallpox situation. But going to a public vaccination site violates people’s inclination toward protective isolation.
Two-fifths of the population would be afraid of catching smallpox from other people at the site.
One-fifth would be afraid of coming in contact with people at the site who shouldn’t be exposed to anyone who recently got the vaccine.
In the dirty bomb situation, many people face conflicting obligations, and assuring the safety of people who are dependent on them is often more important than assuring their own safety. One-third of the people who would not cooperate fully in this situation would leave the shelter of their building in order to take care of their children; one-quarter would leave to take care of other family members.
A substantial number of people would be able to cooperate with protective instructions if certain conditions were met, but those conditions are not met now.

Three-quarters of the people who said they would not fully cooperate with instructions to stay inside the building in the dirty bomb situation would do so if they could communicate with people they care about or if they knew that they and their loved ones were in places that had prepared in advance to take good care of them in this kind of situation. But three-fifths of the American population know only a little or nothing at all about how people would actually be cared for in those places.

Overall, the American people are half as likely to cooperate in the dirty bomb situation if they don’t know a lot about their building’s shelter-inplace plans than if they do. And they are half as likely to cooperate if they lack confidence in their community’s preparedness plans than if they don’t.

Not surprisingly, considering the serious worries and trade-offs people face, many people would want more information or advice to decide what to do in these situations. Members of the public are looking for decision-making support, not just facts, and they want to be able to talk with someone beforehand, not just during an
attack.For free telephone support from a trained person in the smallpox situation, considerably more people would find it very helpful to talk with someone who they know wants what is best for them (like their health practitioner) than to talk with someone they don’t know who works for their local government.