WVXU: Local organizations still fighting misinformation, vaccine hesitancy

The Center for Closing the Health Gap has been hosting virtual town halls since last April, focusing on COVID-19 health protocols and then the vaccine. One of its board members, Louito Edje, MD, associate dean of graduate medical education at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, says for a person to be able to separate anecdotes from facts is the whole point of the town halls. She is a regular participant in the virtual sessions.

"We have actually had over 32 Facebook live events every couple of weeks so that people can kind of dip into the pond of knowledge and then pop back out and come back and revisit and get closer in an iterative fashion to making a decision," Edje, a family medicine physician, told WVXU. "We've watched the needle move in that direction for people."

To help people understand the vaccine, Edje says she relies on simplifying the science of the vaccine during the live streams. "There are three major ingredients: mRNA, sugar, and a little bit of oil lipid nanoparticle. Just simple ingredients -no preservatives - and trying to simplify some of the language around some of the science," she explains.

Read the WVXU story online.

Learn more about Louito Edje, MD, and vaccination online. 

Featured image of Louito Edje, MD, was taken by Colleen Kelley/UC Creative + Brand.