Docs inject facts into vax discourse

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This article was published 16/06/2021 (1573 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

More than three years after retiring as a family doctor in Altona, Dieter Bueddefeld prepared to field public questions on everything from vaccine development and clinical trial funding to long-term side-effects, incentives and even microchips.

Leading up to an hour-long, virtual question-and-answer session for area residents, Bueddefeld spent several hours a day for nearly a week, researching the latest science on COVID-19.

It was something he couldn’t have predicted during his 34-year career in Altona, which currently has some of the lowest vaccination rates in Manitoba.

He and fellow retired family physician Ken Kliewer answered more than 50 questions about vaccine safety and tried to dispel some conspiracy theories during the June 10 session, which was organized by the Town of Altona.

About 40 per cent of Altona residents have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, compared with roughly 70 per cent of Manitobans as a whole.

The Southern Health region, which includes Altona, has the lowest vaccination rates of any region, at about 50 per cent, according to provincial data. Next week, Altona’s first pop-up vaccine clinic is set to open.

The retired Altona doctors have a combined 70 years of experience caring for the families they were trying to reach, and both have held the title of town citizen of the year.

They’re among scores of well-respected residents in several Manitoba communities trying to use their status to take COVID-19 questions, on the principle that hearing from trusted professionals is one of the best ways to tackle misinformation.

“The trust that’s built up through a relationship, that certainly goes a long way to transmitting information,” Bueddefeld said in an interview.

“That level of trust will be a huge factor in making the message believable.”

Bueddefeld said he doesn’t know if he changed anyone’s mind, but it was important to present the science in an understanding and honest way.

“The vaccine is our only way out of this situation, and I think the greatest barrier to people getting vaccine is one of two things. It’s either mystery — not knowing what’s going on — or misinformation. Those are things that would keep people from acting,” he said.

“You have to be sensitive to the fact that people come from all kinds of different backgrounds, they have different perspectives, and you don’t want to belittle that or discount that in any way,” Bueddefeld said.

“And yet, one of the things that made me go into medicine is the fact that, by nature, I’m a scientist. I think that science is one of the best ways we have of knowing things, and by no means is it a complete way, but I think it’s probably one of the best ways.”

Several other prominent Altona residents — including a pastor, police chief, firefighter, pharmacist and former patient hospitalized for COVID-19 — voiced their support for vaccines during a video organized by the town office.

The goal was to reach people who have questions about the vaccine, not those who are adamantly against it, Mayor Al Friesen said.

Other than those who are firmly pro- or anti-vaccine, “there’s a huge chunk in the middle for whom there’s hesitancy for whatever reason,” Friesen said.

“If we are able to address some of those concerns, if we’re able to make it easier for people to access the vaccines in their backyard, in their community or through their pharmacist, then I think we’ll be successful.”

Altona’s pop-up vaccine clinic is expected to open June 25 at the Rhineland Pioneer Centre community hall. Appointment bookings for the site haven’t yet begun.

 

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay