Published: 11/12/2021 7:00:01 AM

Since August, I have seen five different healthcare providers. Each time, I was asked for my insurance information and asked to consent to treatment. Not once was I provided with any information about the COVID vaccine. In his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman describes research into what motivates human behavior. Individuals who read a short piece describing the benefits of something are more inclined to react favorably to it. Dr. Kahneman has also researched the familiarity bias, which states that the more often people hear something, the more likely they are to believe it is true, even when it is not. Donald Trump exploited this principle, with the result that many people endorsed election fraud.

Research also shows that people are less likely to opt out of the default option than to opt into a different or novel one. Healthcare providers can use this research to increase the vaccination rates. At every visit, every healthcare provider could hand each patient a non-argumentative, one-page sheet about the benefits of the COVID vaccine either at the reception desk, where patients sign other forms, or in the waiting room before the doctor comes in. The default position should be vaccination. Those who dont want to vaccinate themselves or their children should have to affirmatively opt out, not opt in. Particularly now that COVID rates in New Hampshire are the highest theyve been since January 2021, we must get this pandemic under control.

Sheila Zakre

Concord

Original post:
Letter: Spread the message - Concord Monitor