To reach the milestone of 70% Americans vaccinated by July 1st, the Biden administration has employed creative strategies like dating apps, beer breweries, and lottery tickets as incentives. And now, prominent celebrities like Nick Offerman are joining the effort. Today, Offerman, best known for his role as Ron Swanson in Parks and Recreation, testified before Congress on vaccine hesitancy. Offerman introduced himself as an actor, woodworker, small-business owner and proud Midwesterner, appealing to Americans “with experiences and backgrounds similar to my own who are hesitant to get the vaccine.”

The Science of Trust

According to the science of vaccine hesitancy, Offerman may be an ideal spokesperson for the Covid-19 vaccine, since two of the biggest drivers of vaccine hesitancy are trust and safety. Dr. Sweta Chakraborty, an Oxford-trained behavioral scientist, explains why Offerman may be ideally suited for this role. “The most important factor in decision-making is how trustworthy the person communicating the information is to you. It accounts for up to 50% of all decision-making,” she says. “That’s why public figures like celebrities, church leaders, and coaches can play such a meaningful role in communicating vaccine benefits. Hearing from Nick Offerman will go further for a certain group of people with his shared values and shared identity. This leads to a shared sense of interpersonal trust, which is everything when it comes to making decisions about the vaccine,” says Chakraborty.

The Misconception of Speed vs Safety

Using this concept of shared trust, Offerman aims to dispel one key misconception about the vaccine: that its safety was sacrificed for its speed. “The vaccine is a product of human ingenuity,” Offerman says. “Yet the very experience from which the vaccine has arrived is also a source of confusion causing people to fear it was rushed. Rest assured the hustle was not applied to the safety of the vaccine. The science was based on 40 years of work and didn’t arrive overnight. The hustle was applied to getting that science to you and me by bypassing the bureaucratic hurdles and red tape.”

Interestingly, while the Covid-19 vaccine has been proven safe and efficacious through numerous studies, this misconception persists. “In many instances, public perceptions of risk and actual risk aren’t aligned,” explains Chakraborty. “There are things that are influencing our perceptions that are not actually related to the decision we’re making. It’s almost as if the actual risk doesn’t matter, that our perceptions matter more,” she says.

Chakraborty says this common misconception stems from the disconnect between the speed of innovation and the speed of adoption. “Human ingenuity moves at a different speed than our brains’ ability to process risk,” she explains. “We move forward with innovation because that’s our human tendency, but our brains aren’t evolved enough to catch up. Risk is a natural consequence of innovation, but our brains fail to accept it. As much as we want innovation, we still fear it,” she says

Why Messaging Matters

According to Chakraborty, vaccine hesitancy is a predictable response to vaccine innovation. “Public pushback to innovation is a predictable behavior that’s been proven for decades,” she says. “But what’s also proven is that effective communication can overcome this resistance. We can absolutely tailor messaging to support improved decision-making and more openness to the vaccine.”

Specifically, Offerman’s messaging is tailored to appeal to his native Midwestern ethos, and includes several family members from his childhood village in Illinois who remain vaccine-hesitant. In his plea urging Americans to get vaccinated, he says, “What’s likely to occur at the hands of Covid-19 is much more catastrophic than what’s now been proven to be a harmless vaccine. Medicine doesn’t care who you voted for. The vaccine doesn’t take sides. Unless you count alive versus dead.”

That’s powerful, Ron Swanson-approved messaging that just might sway the 30 million Americans needed for vaccinations to reach our July 1st goal.