Spoke w @HarveyLevinTMZ @charleslat @TMZLive regarding the role of athletes & public figures in addressing vaccine hesitancy, the focus here being on Lebron James’ recent decision to keep his vaccination decision private. #covid19 (part of conversation here)
2/ I recounted the story of my recent Lyft driver who asked about vaccines and said he didn’t trust politicians or the pharmaceutical industry. But we still had a productive conversation. And it ended w/ him a little closer to getting vaccinated. #covid19
3/ This brings up an interesting ethical dilemma re the role of public figures like athletes or movie stars etc who have significant influence - & who people may actually end up trusting or following more than politicians & others who have been politicized during the epidemic
4/ @HarveyLevinTMZ posed an interesting question — if an athlete decided not to get the vaccine, and they came forward with that proclamation- could they actually end up doing more harm than good? And- do they have an obligation, morally, to avoid doing this publicly?
5/ I think that if public figures are unsure about vaccines, one thing they can do is facilitate a public forum with experts from public health & medicine to actually help answer questions and concerns. This, I think, could actually help move the dial toward building trust
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