As many will be aware, there is a considerable amount of reticence amongst many people, including those who have a high level of education, around having either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. Without mass uptake of the vaccine(s), relaxation of lockdown would see high death rates (or borders being closed) and will likely mean flying in 2021 remains at 2020 levels
I imagine that Govts all round the world know of this reluctance and presumably are planning public education films / campaigns to try to persuade the masses that the vaccine is absolutely fine
The question is then - what sort of strategy should be taken ? Should it be just a recording of someone with grey hair (beard optional), wearing a white lab coat saying "I am a scientist and I say it is safe so do as you are told" or maybe instead it will be something with a suitable A-lister telling everyone to "be cool" instead ? I'd like to think that the campaign would involve explaining the science in some way that sidesteps the deep detail that requires a biosciences degree, but still avoids treating the public like idiots (i.e. more than just a few graphics). However I worry that even the concept of RNA being separate from DNA is too much for most people to understand and the
PR people will act accordingly. My knowledge of mRNA is from 25+ years ago - enough to have specific worries but not enough to really understand what's going on in any kind of substantive detail and certainly not enough to read (properly) any kind of scientific paper or claim ability to peer review test results
I've seen very little in the press explaining how these vaccines work, why assertions of safety are valid or questions about what might go wrong with the vaccines - it's almost as if the political journalists (who didn't do science at university) don't know what to ask of senior medics at press briefings, and the science journalists who do know what to ask don't get an invite to the major press briefings