This is NPR's Life Kit. I'm Michelle Martin.

Even as coronavirus vaccines become more widely distributed, lots of Americans say they're

still not sure they'll get one. According to a recent study from the Kaiser Family Foundation,

about a quarter of Americans say they remain unsure or hesitant about getting a coronavirus

vaccine. So as people begin to discuss whether or not to get the vaccine with friends and loved

ones, we wanted to know how do you talk to people who are hesitant about it? This episode

of Life Kit, a plan for talking about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Conversations about vaccines can be tricky, so to help us answer some of these questions,

we've called Nadine Gartner. She is the founder and executive director of Boost Oregon.

That's a nonprofit parent-led organization focused on educating parents about the safety of childhood

immunizations. And Nadine Gartner is with us. Now welcome. Thank you so much for talking with us.

Thank you for inviting me. Well, let's just start from the beginning. I just think this is a very

sensitive thing to discuss with people. And I was early intrigued when I was reading about your work,

how some people just kind of come right out with it and just ask, like, are you getting your

child vaccinated or not? And I just think that that might vary from place to place or region to

region, how open people feel about having those kinds of conversations. So how do you suggest

broaching a topic like this in the first place? Yes. So we always tell people to start from a place

of empathy. You always want to begin from the knowledge that people want to make the best health

decisions for themselves and their families. No one refuses a vaccine because they think that

it will harm them or harm their community. They do it because they honestly think it's the best

choice for them and their family. And so starting from the place of you want to do what's best for

your health and then making that a shared goal that as their medical provider, as their friend,

...