Biden team looks for help with next phase of vaccine messaging

"The messaging in a rural context is, 'Forget what the federal government's telling us,' " Morgan said. "As a community, what do we need to do to keep our family, friends and loved ones safe? What do we have to do as a community? And that's a huge communications shift than what is currently ongoing." That's the approach Dr. Ada Stewart has been taking. She practices at a community health clinic in South Carolina and is also president of the American Association of Family Physicians. She says transportation is a major issue for her rural patients. They can't drive two hours to a mass vaccination site. There's also a matter of trust. "I had patients that said, 'Uh ah. I'm gonna wait until Dr. Stewart can give me my vaccine. I don't trust anybody else,' " Stewart said. Her clinics now have enough doses available that if a patient comes in for another reason, they can usually give them a COVID vaccine right then and there. Some of her patients do have questions or are on the fence about getting vaccinated, but she says telling them that she is vaccinated often helps.