If we want to unlock the full potential of the vaccine, the communication has to be as effective as the technology

With the COVID-19 vaccine data released by Pfizer earlier this week, it's encouraging to see that once again human ingenuity and mastery of incredibly complex technologies has been able to create part of a solution towards bringing our lives back to what they once were.

Tomorrow's Economist celebrates the achievements of progressing this vaccine to market and reviews some of the challenges to getting the vaccine into the general population including logistics and distribution but seems to completely avoid one crucial element of success: good communication.

Whilst the speed of the development of vaccine options for the pandemic has been breathtakingly fast and impressive, as I reflect on this unique year, it occurs to me how one of the biggest threats to effectively manage this once in a century event has been the (in)ability of global leaders to communicate changing strategies effectively. I lost count at how many brilliant memes bushy Boris was the subject of not to mention his friend's bafflingly speculative and seemingly improvised bleach based recommendations for despatching coronavirus from the body. A collection of my favourites here:

I say 'part of' because the real battle we will need to win to tame this scurge is that of effectively communicating the imperative to vaccinate to a very wide audience with differing beliefs, prejudices, values and cultures. A recent survey published in Nature shows that up to ~50% of respondents across 19 major economies would not take the vaccine. This presents a very real risk to the scale and speed of our ability to control the pandemic, and restore our economies and every day lives from further damage.

Just as front line healthcare workers have risked their lives to save others, I believe the least we can do as the global healthcare community is to proactively offer our knowledge and insight to our local networks to help them understand any aspect of the technology or the process they require in order to build the confidence in those who are fearful or hesitant to take the vaccine.

For anyone that earns a living from the pharmaceutical industry, there will undoubtedly be those that will cynically question our intentions, poke fun at us for having ulterior motives or worse accuse us of brainwashing or being brainwashed by our paymasters. It's tempting to let this frustrate our efforts but I urge you to not let it discourage you.

This is a call for all to put our differences and frustrations to one side, to empathise with and understand those who may yet need convincing, whomever, wherever or whatever their scepticism stems from, and support our local or global communities in whatever way possible to help move the needle as quickly and as strongly as possible towards embracing this opportunity towards a fast and final resolution of this pandemic.

A survey I conducted in my own village in rural Sussex (UK) earlier in the year showed that again, only ~50% of respondents (63 out of a village of ~2000 people) would be keen to take the vaccine when available.

I tonight followed up by posting a brief message on Facebook to my local community making myself available to answer any questions by PM to any of those who still need convincing, openly and honestly encouraging them to reach out as the potential access to the vaccine draws closer and the pressure to decide increased. So far the response has been positive, and I'm hopeful I can open a few eyes, and change a few minds over the course of the coming weeks as we build up to the vaccine being available in the UK.

Depending on the response, I may take this to the community more broadly, but for now I would just invite my fellow industry professionals to reach out as creatively and humbly as possible to their own communities to help address any unanswered questions.

Personally, and certainly compared to the many incredible frontline hospital workers, I've felt quite powerless in making a meaningful positive contribution to the pandemic - my knowledge and network offer a small opportunity to change this, and I invite you to use yours too.

On a broader scale, I am hopeful that just as Pfizer and our global healthcare infrastructure are preparing to roll out billions of doses over the coming months, our leaders are thinking carefully about how to change the many hearts and minds that still need to be changed, by unleashing the full power of effective communication