Trusted Messengers and Vaccine Hesitancy: A Qualitative Focus Group Analysis

<p dir="ltr">This brief examines how trusted messengers dealt with vaccine hesitancy to rebuild trust with the community and deliver clear and consistent messages about the vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic. It finds that trusted messengers experienced conflict between their role as public health messengers and as community members. Trusted messengers had to navigate lingering hesitancy, even after community members received an initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Findings of this study offer practical recommendations for policymakers and practitioners to develop more effective outreach strategies for diverse communities.</p>