ARCHIVED DOCUMENT 

(COVID-19)

The following document is for historical 

purposes and is no longer being 

updated. Please go to the COVID-19 

Vaccination Clinical & Professional 

Resourcesfor more recent information. 

U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services

Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/vaccines

CS322225-A | 01/29/21

Your healthcare personnel were placed first in line to receive the COVID-19 

vaccines because of their essential role in fighting this deadly pandemic and 

their increased risk of getting COVID-19 and spreading it to their patients. 

Their decision to get vaccinated can protect more than just their health. It 

can also help protect their colleagues, patients, families, and communities.

What Is Vaccine Confidence?

Vaccine confidence is the trust that patients, their families, 

and providers have in:

 Recommended vaccines

 Providers who administer vaccines

 Processes and policies that lead to vaccine development, 

licensure or authorization, manufacturing, and 

recommendations for use

Many factors influence vaccine decision-making, including 

contextual factors (e.g. cultural, social, political), individual 

and group factors, and vaccine-specific factors. However, 

confidence in the vaccines, the vaccinator, and the system all 

support the decision to get vaccinated.

Why is it important?

Being first in line to be vaccinated makes some healthcare 

personnel hesitant to get the vaccine. Before they agree 

to be vaccinated, they will want answers to their questions 

about the expedited process for developing these vaccines 

and information about the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness.

By answering their questions and taking time to listen 

to their concerns, you can help healthcare personnel be 

informed and confident when they decide to get vaccinated. 

When they decide to get vaccinated, healthcare personnel 

can have a powerful influence on their families and 

communities. And communities with strong confidence 

in the vaccines lead to more people getting vaccinated, 

which leads to fewer COVID-19 illnesses, hospitalizations, 

and deaths.

Six steps to building confidence 

in your facility

Healthcare personnel need to feel confident in their 

decision to get vaccinated. One way to build that confidence 

is by making vaccine confidence visible in your facility. 

Here’s how:

1. Encourage senior leaders to be vaccine 

champions.

Identify trusted leaders from various areas of the facility to 

serve as vaccine champions. These leaders should look like 

the healthcare personnel in your workforce. Ask them to 

lead by example by getting a COVID-19 vaccine and being 

photographed while doing so.

Invite leaders to share with staff their personal reasons for 

getting vaccinated and the importance of vaccination. You 

can share their stories and photos using:

 Testimonials given during elevator conversations, 

meetings, and staff presentations

 Short videos

 Email blasts

 Social media

 Blogs or web 

articles

How to Build Healthcare Personnel’s 

Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines

U.S. Department of 

Health and Human Services 

Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention 
CDC | NCIRD | How to Build Healthcare Personnel’s Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines

2. Host discussions where personnel at different 

levels can provide input and ask questions.

If all healthcare personnel in a facility—from food services to 

nurses to the chief medical officer—get vaccinated and use 

all current protective measures against spreading the virus 

that causes COVID-19, it will help ensure that healthcare 

personnel, patients, and families are protected. An important 

step to achieving this robust level of protection is holding 

discussions across job areas in your facility about how to 

promote confidence in and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines. 

These open discussions can help you address staff questions 

and concerns and get their input on how to best build 

vaccine confidence within your facility and ensure the 

success of the steps described below.

CDC resources:

 Use Appendix A. COVID-19 Vaccine Communication 

and Confidence Checklist to plan multiple ways 

to communicate with staff to promote COVID-19 

vaccine confidence.

 Use Appendix B Vaccine Confidence Conversation 

Starter Guide to create ideas about how to structure 

these discussions to promote vaccine confidence 

within your organization. Ideas generated during these 

discussions can help you tailor approaches that will 

work best in your facility to build staff buy-in and 

vaccine confidence.

3. Share key messages with staff through emails, 

breakroom posters, and other channels.

Use a variety of communication channels such as meeting 

announcements, posters in common spaces breakrooms, 

bathrooms, hallways), email blasts, your health system 

intranet, and social media to share key messages with 

staff about the importance of vaccination and vaccine 

confidence. Messages should include:

 Get the COVID-19 vaccine to protect yourself, your 

patients, your colleagues, and your family from infection.

 Vaccine confidence starts with you! Building defenses 

against COVID-19 is a team effort in our facility.

 Getting a COVID-19 vaccine adds one more layer of 

protection against infection for you, your coworkers, your 

patients, and your families.

 You can do several things to build vaccine confidence:

 Choose to get vaccinated yourself.

 Share your reasons for getting vaccinated and 

encourage others to get vaccinated.

 Learn how to have effective COVID-19 vaccine 

conversations with others to encourage them to 

get vaccinated.

4. Educate healthcare teams about COVID-19 

vaccines, how they are developed and 

monitored for safety, and how teams can talk to 

others about the vaccines.

Remind your staff of the important role they play in their 

communities by sharing vaccine information and building 

confidence in the vaccines. Teach them how to have effective 

COVID-19 vaccine conversations and answer common 

questions—with their families, friends, and communities.

CDC resources:

 COVID-19 Vaccine Basics: What Healthcare Personnel Need 

to Know (PowerPoint)

 COVID-19 Vaccine Training: General Overview of 

Immunization Best Practices for Healthcare Professionals 

(PowerPoint)

 Building Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines Among Your 

Patients: Tips for the Healthcare Team (PowerPoint)

 Quick Answers to Common Questions People Might Ask 

about COVID-19 Vaccines: Tips for Healthcare Professionals 

(Fact Sheet)
CDC | NCIRD | How to Build Healthcare Personnel’s Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines

5. Educate non-medical staff about the importance 

of getting vaccinated.

Educate non-medical staff about COVID-19 vaccines and 

the vaccine development and safety monitoring processes. 

Emphasize the benefits of protecting themselves, their 

families, coworkers, patients, and communities.

CDC resources:

 COVID-19 Vaccine Basics: What Healthcare Personnel Need 

to Know (PowerPoint)

 Fact sheets in multiple languages accommodating a range 

of literacy levels (Coming soon)

Create a feedback mechanism for staff to get answers to 

their questions. Let them know they also have an important 

role in making vaccine confidence visible in your facility.

 Offer patients a dedicated phone line to call with 

questions about vaccination.

 In large health systems, consider a dedicated line for 

healthcare personnel as well.

 Solicit and update FAQs regularly on the staff intranet and 

public website.

 Host live question-and-answer sessions with vaccine 

experts and local staff members using:

 Brown bag sessions for staff

 Public-facing social media livestreams

 Outreach sessions for community and 

faith-based groups

6. Make the decision to get vaccinated visible, and 

celebrate it!

 Provide “I got my COVID-19 vaccine!” pins, lanyards, masks, 

bracelets, etc.

 With permission, post a photo gallery in common or 

break areas of the health facility or online as part of a 

social media campaign showing cheerful staff who were 

just vaccinated.

 Offer a small, sincere token of gratitude for early adopters 

(such as a personalized thank you note from the chief 

medical officer, an ice cream treat, or a profile in your 

staff newsletter).

 With permission, record testimonials on why healthcare 

personnel in your facility decided to get vaccinated and 

share with the media.

 Get creative with producing and sharing inclusive, positive 

behind-the-scenes moments showing staff caring for 

patients (for example, record healthcare personnel’s 

reactions to the moment their first patient is protected 

against COVID-19).

 Reach out to local news outlets to highlight your health 

facility’s leadership in COVID-19 vaccine introduction.