Medical professionals say they're on the 'front lines of the misinformation war'

Two years into the pandemic, many doctors and other medical personnel on Long Island are frustrated by the large number of people who still refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19, even though it could prevent hospitalization or death.

"Doctors are very frustrated," said Dr. David Battinelli, physician-in-chief at Northwell Health. "It’s common among all health care providers. The nurses in the hospitals are tired, having to care for people who aren’t caring for themselves."

Dr. Eve Meltzer-Krief, a pediatrician based in Huntington, said it has been discouraging to have families whose children she has treated for years be reluctant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

She largely blames false information posted on social media.

"Honestly, it has been incredibly frustrating countering the misinformation on social media," she said. "These are parents who have trusted us with their children’s health for years, through every illness and every vaccine and developmental milestone, and it is disheartening that they just won’t trust us when it comes to this vaccine."

Pediatricians, Meltzer-Krief said, "are truly on the front lines of the misinformation war."

COVID-19 vaccines first became available in December 2020. Since then, much progress has been made in getting the population on Long Island and in New York State inoculated, but medical experts said the numbers need to be higher, especially among younger children.

About 33% of children ages 5 to 11 in New York State are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The figure on Long Island is 29%.

About 71% of 12- to 17-year-olds in New York State are fully vaccinated, with 70% on Long Island. For adults, 85% in New York State and 88% on Long Island are fully vaccinated, meaning they got two shots but not necessarily the booster.

Dr. Salvatore Pardo, chair of emergency medicine at Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital, said he sees a steady stream of people arriving at the ER who are not vaccinated.

"There’s a form of frustration. I think it’s more disappointment," he said, adding that most people hospitalized for COVID-19 are not vaccinated.

"It’s frustrating for the front-line workers to see this because it is somewhat preventable," Pardo added. "If they choose to be vaccinated, their chances of being hospitalized are much, much, much less."

He said there is not a lot of time in the ER to try to convince people to get vaccinated, but it is always offered. Few accept.

Dr. Evelina Grayver, a cardiologist at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, said she lays out the scientific data as well as her own personal story to patients to try to get them to get inoculated.

Fully vaccinated, she suffered two "breakthrough" cases of COVID-19 infection, and at one point could barely make it up a flight of stars. But Grayver said she might not have lived if she wasn’t vaccinated — and tells that to her patients.

They don’t all listen, she said.

"I think we are all very frustrated," Grayver said, referring to medical personnel.

Medical experts said patients are offering a range of reasons to not get inoculated. Meltzer-Krief said the biggest obstacle is the incorrect information online.

"We literally spend hours during the day debunking false information that has made them hold off on vaccinating their children," she said.

Meltzer-Krief added that "it’s tragic that so many children have fallen victim to that misinformation, becoming seriously ill from COVID. There has never been a vaccine in the history of vaccines that has been more closely monitored for safety than this one."

Battinelli said politics has become entwined with science and medicine, leaving people confused. The anti-vaxxers’ "political sentiment" has become "anti-science," he said.

Grayver said patients don’t seem to know where to turn.

"People just don’t know who to listen to, what to listen to, unless they find that one physician that they actually connect with and they actually trust on the personal level, on the medical level," she said.

Meltzer-Krief said she is not giving up trying to get parents to have their kids vaccinated. She often has conversations of 30 minutes or more with parents to go over the issue — and sometimes convinces them.

"Nothing makes me happier than a grateful parent whose fears I was able to alleviate and who just needed to hear the information they needed," Meltzer-Krief said.

Grayver said a light touch is usually required. If doctors "push it and shove it down their throat, they’re not going to be very receptive to it," she said.

Battinelli said medical personnel need to be patient amid the resistance, since it took years to convince people of other health issues, such as smoking cessation or wearing seat belts.

"That’s the history of vaccines. That’s the history of fixed beliefs," he said. But "you have to keep up the fight."

COVID-19 indicators continued a downward trend in the latest test results since the omicron surge hit record-breaking levels in January.

The seven-day positivity average for Long Island fell to 2.19%. The region registered 214 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in test results from Sunday.

Statewide, 41 people, including two in Suffolk and one in Nassau, died on Sunday of causes linked to the virus, according to state data.

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