This is a particularly difficult challenge for those trying to combat vaccine hesitation, especially in the province’s demand for the first dose of vaccine Seems to be weakening.

So far, approximately 69% of eligible Albertans have received the first dose of the vaccine, and only more than 20% have been fully vaccinated.However, the province Has been pushing the 70% threshold There will be at least one chance to enter the third phase of its three-phase reopening plan, which will remove many of its restrictions.

Experts who have reviewed education data said they were not particularly surprised by what the data showed. In poll after poll, people with higher formal education tend to be more willing—or even eager—to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

It now appears that the vaccination rates issued by the Alberta Health Department for each of its 132 local health districts are working.

But figuring out what happened—and how to deal with it—is not that simple.

Researchers emphasize that correlation is not a causal relationship, and because education level is related to many other factors, it is difficult to pinpoint the reason behind the relationship between these two variables.

However, it is hoped that a better understanding of this relationship will help increase vaccination rates and further eliminate the virus that causes COVID-19.

What the data show

Economist Blake Shaffer is the kind of person who does multiple regression analysis in his spare time.

Recently, he began to personally dabble in a large number of vaccination and census data, looking for patterns in many social and economic indicators, which may help explain why some Albertans snapped up the vaccine—and others did not.

Schaefer, who works at the University of Calgary, said: “I found that education, not income, seems to be driving it.”

In short, he said that the more people with a college degree, the higher the vaccination rate.

Conversely, areas with fewer people with a high school diploma tend to have lower vaccination rates.

Shaffer said that this relationship is so obvious that it cannot be ignored.

But he cautioned that a few charts can only illustrate a small part of the story.

“Correlation is not causation, right? This is the correlation we are mapping,” he said.

Identifying the cause of this relationship requires “richer research,” Shaffer said, which will require more data and more time-which is in short supply in the fight against a pandemic.

Marie-Claire Shanahan, a professor of learning sciences at the University of Calgary, says it can be tempting to find simple answers, but it can be worrying.

Education is not equal to intelligence

When discussing the role of this social indicator in various academic research (including vaccine hesitation), Shanahan used the term “formal education” cautiously.

She said that it is important not to confuse a person’s highest academic achievement with their intelligence. “Thinking about it this way is discriminatory and unhelpful.”

Shanahan pointed out that past research has shown that there is a close relationship between education and vaccination willingness, but this is not a perfect linear relationship.

“If we are studying… seasonal flu vaccines or regular childhood vaccines, there will often be increased hesitation as the education rate decreases. But it seems that there are groups with higher education levels who are also hesitant,” she said.

“People with higher education levels are actually more likely to behavior They hesitate and are more firmly committed to’I will never vaccinate my children’ or’I have not been vaccinated for seasonal flu. ‘”

The COVID-19 vaccination rate in Alberta is constantly changing as new numbers appear every day. But so far, Shanahan said, the same pattern of hesitation does not seem to appear at the high end of the education field.

She believes this suggests that the education data may actually cover up several other “deep-rooted reasons” that are themselves related to education and the lower COVID-19 vaccination rates in certain areas of the province.

“Education will change your lifestyle as an adult,” she said. “Then this will affect the relationship with health care and access to health care.”

Shaffer agreed.

“It may be for work, family or time reasons… but it may also be just for visits,” he said.

“I think that even in a country like Canada that prides itself on universal accessibility, this pandemic does make people pay attention to the varying degrees of accessibility of the healthcare system.”

Access to information and reliable sources

Shanahan said that entering does not just mean that there is a vaccine clinic near your home.

This may also mean having a family doctor who is willing to listen to your concerns, or a trusted neighbor working in the healthcare field, or just a friend in your social circle, with enough free time to learn about the latest vaccine recommendations And eligibility criteria-so you don’t have to.

She said that these types of things are unevenly distributed in our society, and people with higher formal education tend to have more access to high-quality information.

Public health officials try to keep things simple, but vaccine recommendations are often complicated, subtle, and full of medical jargon. There are many other voices competing for attention with simpler information, which may or may not actually be.

Dr. Cora Constantinescu, a pediatrician at the Alberta Children’s Hospital who specializes in infectious diseases and vaccine hesitation, said that when in doubt, humans tend to trust those around them.

“Information is not as important as a messenger,” she said.

“The idea that you can educate someone and then they will change their minds is incorrect-on many health issues. We have been studying in medicine for a long time; we feel that if we just tell people the right information, they will Do the right thing. But we have failed again and again.”

Constantinescu said that a better way is to “meet people.”

“You have to understand why they feel this way,” she said of those who have questions about the safety or effectiveness of the vaccine.

“For those with fewer years of formal education, this may be a different kind of trust. So they won’t listen to the opinions of CBC news experts.”

Nevertheless, when Alberta hopes to increase its vaccination rate to achieve the elusive herd immunity goal, she believes that the “vaccine champion” will be the key to our chance of success.

She said: “For those who have been vaccinated, it is time to advocate for others to move on and control their own health, control their own protection and get vaccinated.”

“Because one dose of 60% or 70% is not enough.”