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Welcome back.

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Most Canadians won't need convincing that[br]a COVID vaccine will be worth taking

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once it arrives.

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But, as you just herd, [br]many Canadians have questions.

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So, to answer some of ours,

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Dr. Cora Constantinescu, [br]an infectious disease specialist

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who works at the vaccine hesitancy clinic

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at the Alberta Children’s Hospital[br]in Calgary.

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And Dr., I didn’t even know [br]a place such as yours even existed.

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I mean, who gets referred to you, exactly?

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We have made it [br]into a more of a streamline process

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and have actually going out [br]in the physician community

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and told them that we are here to support them[br]as they refer the patients into us.

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And then, do you see it as your job

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to sort of convince people to get vaccinated?

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I see it as my job to support people [br]as they’re making the decision to vaccinate.

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So, how does that conversation sound?

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I mean, where do you even begin?

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I star every time reminding myself

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that at the heart of each [br]and every vaccine hesitancy appointment,

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there is a parent trying

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to make the best decision they can[br]for themselves and for their family.

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And it actually takes [br]quite a lot of courage to come in

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because they’re battling[br]a lot of fears and misinformation,

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and overall, a lack of trust.

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So we spend quite a lot of time [br]building rapport and trust with each family

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understanding more about them [br]so we can actually personalize

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and tailor the communication and the message[br]that we give them about the vaccinations.

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And then, [br]we work closely with public health

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where they go ahead [br]and actually administer the vaccine.

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And that’s striking, that you would say [br]there is this kind of lack of trust.

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I mean, how would you even begin to advice?

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I don’t know, like a provincial government, [br]a local government,

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or the federal government[br]to create that or to build that.

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Yeah, so, I really think that [br]when we think about trust,

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we have to think at the personal level,[br]and at the population level.

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And at the personal level,

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it goes back to this idea [br]of putting it into perspective

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and understanding [br]what the benefit of the vaccine

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and the dangers of the diseases to each of us.

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So, when it comes to COVID, for example,

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I would encourage every Canadian [br]to think of what this pandemic

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and what they have done for this pandemic

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and what this virus[br]has taken away from them.

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So, it might be that [br]some have lost loved ones,

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others have lost their social interaction,[br]the ability of the kids to go to school.

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There is a cost to each and everyone of us

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and therefore, there is a benefit[br]to each and everyone of us.

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And then, we all have to go [br]and have to take this vaccine

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so we can show [br]that we’re indeed in this together.

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And then, when we move[br]at the population level,

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it’s really important [br]to start building this trust.

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It’s a hard task to take on

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because you have to consider[br]the complexity of human behavior,

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especially about COVID-19.

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And our health care institutions[br]can't do this alone.

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I don’t want this to come across[br]as a callous question,

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but, how do you know what you do works?

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Because you are not the one [br]administering vaccines, right?

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Do you track your success rate,[br]so to speak?

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So, depending on how we look at it.

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It’s anywhere between about 50 to 65 %[br]

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that patients will go ahead and have a vaccine [br]after they’ve attended our clinic.

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And in the vaccine hesitancy world [br]actually that’s quite successful.

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This has been an interesting conversation,[br]to be sure.

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Dr Constantinescu,[br]thank you so much for your time.

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It was a real pleasure to be here,[br]thank you for having me.