16 Mar 2026
Jessica Pritchard said vets have “a huge public health opportunity” to increase vaccine uptake of both pets and their owners.
Chris Simpson
Job Title
Image: © PhotobyTawat / Adobe Stock
Senior clinicians have shared strategies to help vets combat vaccine hesitancy among clients.
Jessica Pritchard, clinical associate professor and director of clinical assessment at the University of Wisconsin, addressed VMX delegates in the session “Vaccine hesitancy in vet med: how to move the needle in client conversations”.
Dr Pritchard suggested there is “a huge public health opportunity for us as veterinarians” if conversations with clients about disease “could also impact how folks feel about vaccine decisions that they make for themselves, it would give us the opportunity to protect more pets and people”.
She argued while it is “really hard” to change beliefs of people who staunchly refuse all vaccines, there is a “large proportion” of unsure clients who vets “can make positive headway on”.
She continued: “Someone not thinking that their pet is at risk for leptospirosis is a very different conversation for me to have than someone who fundamentally does not believe that vaccines prevent disease.”
Dr Pritchard added: “[Concerns regarding] side effects, cost and safety, are also things that we can make inroads on that are not fully just anti-vax sentiments… these are all things that we can positively influence and that aren’t changing a fundamentally held belief about vaccination.”
To increase vaccine uptake within clinics, she suggested: “The first thing that we want to do is listen and acknowledge concerns, clarify and reaffirm correct beliefs and try to modify misconceptions, but try not to get into that argument.
“Mention collective benefits as often as individual benefits, focusing on lives saved and hospitalisations avoided rather than deaths from not immunising.”
She continued: “Truth sandwich messaging, presumptive versus participatory messaging and decision aids, I think, are easy things that we can do for clients.”
On the former, she explained: “Lead with that agreed upon truth. You debunk the lie in the middle briefly and avoiding jargon – because you don’t want to get dragged into that argument – and then you end with another shared truth.”
Dr Pritchard said presumptive messaging – telling clients which vaccines their pet will be receiving – is “more likely to lead to vaccination” than participatory messaging, asking owners if they want to hear about available vaccines.
The vet added: “You are the expert on this. You know what the diseases are that you see in your area, and folks are coming to you for your expertise, and so saying, ‘These are the vaccines that we recommend and that we’ll plan on doing for your pet today, any questions that you have about those?’ I think you should feel absolutely confident in doing that.”
Speaking on the Vet Times Podcast, American Veterinary Medical Association president Michael Bailey said: “Vaccines have probably been the one thing that has extended human and animal life expectancy [more than anything else]… and now, because of vaccine hesitancy in human healthcare, we are seeing human life expectancy being reduced.”
Dr Bailey suggested vaccine hesitancy is “an education issue” and urged pet owners to “sit down and talk with your veterinarian, have them explain to you what these vaccines are, what they are doing for your pet and more importantly, for you, how can we tailor a vaccine schedule so that we reduce your concerns about the vaccine, but you’re still able to get what’s necessary”.