Between helping trusted community leaders share accurate coronavirus vaccine information, countering false information and addressing concerns over the "warp speed" of vaccine development, all while being upfront about what remains unknown, the communications subcommittee of the state's COVID-19 Vaccine Advisory Group has its work cut out for it.

Subcommittee Chair Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, explained that the role of the group is to provide recommendations to the governor's office on how to communicate about the vaccine, and to disseminate information at the grassroots level.

She said the group is basically charged with creating "ambassadors" within communities that people know and trust, and "we can make sure when people decide whether or not to take this vaccine, that they have the appropriate, accurate information."

The communications subcommittee met virtually Wednesday, and Somers spoke further about its goals and challenges in a phone interview Thursday.

She said her background starting a biotech company has been "absolutely critical and crucial" in informing her work as subcommittee chair, as she understands how vaccines work and the process of submitting something to the Food and Drug Administration.

The state has updated its ct.gov/covidvaccine page with answers to frequently asked questions about the vaccine. But Benjamin Bechtolsheim, director of the COVID-19 vaccination program for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, indicated it's important to go beyond DPH and "people in white coats" to build trust.

Somers described the model as "sort of training the trainers" and said the subcommittee will work with people to set up town halls or conversations. For example, that could be people from nursing homes, unions or the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, and she's already gotten requests from the statewide Parent Teacher Association and from pastors.

Somers also referenced the importance of working with leaders in communities of color, saying, "We've talked a lot about Black and Brown communities that have a tendency to be hesitant. They don't trust the government, for good reason, and they've had bad experience with the government in the past."

The communications subcommittee also includes Sen. Mary Daugherty Abrams, D-Meriden, and Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, and Somers said "all of us will provide our colleagues the same information so all of us are singing from the same choir book."

"This is an issue for humanity; this is not political," she said.

'Warp speed' in manufacturing and prioritization, not safety trials

Last week, Somers posted a picture on Facebook of Dr. David Boisoneau posing in front of a backdrop that reads, "I did my part to #CRUSHCOVID by getting Vaccinated!" She thanked the ear, nose and throat doctor.

She was surprised by the dozens of negative comments that followed, with some calling the post propaganda.

Some clinicians — including her husband, cardiologist Dr. Mark Somers — responded to comments that she called "off-base or not inaccurate," but she said "it seemed to fall on deaf ears, so I think we have a very large job of communicating factual information."

Another recurring theme in the comments was the question of why someone should get the vaccine if it doesn't prevent transmission. Somers acknowledged in the meeting Wednesday that it's "a tough thing to put in a one-sentence line."

The vaccine "prevents mild disease, it prevents severe disease, and that's really important," said Dr. David Banach, co-chair of the science subcommittee. "The question that we're still collecting data on is how much and does it prevent transmission, so can an individual become infected and not symptomatic and still spread it to others even if they've been vaccinated?"

Banach added that other vaccines have been shown to reduce transmission "and we have no reason to expect this vaccine will be different, but we just don't have that data to give a clear, concrete answer on that."

Others are understandably concerned about the speed with which the vaccine was developed.

"I think the Warp Speed name did the vaccine a disservice, that it doesn't necessarily promote trust," said communications subcommittee member Angela Harris of Phillips Health Ministry in Hartford.

But she noted that the speed came not from medical risk but from financial risk — fronted by federal government dollars — considering the vaccine was being produced as it was still in trials.

Banach noted that the clinical trial was "done with the same methodologies used for other vaccine studies" but added that since we're in a pandemic, there were quickly enough people infected in the placebo group to have enough data points for the trial.

Harris also noted it's just as important for subcommittee members and health professionals to admit when they don't know something as when they do.

In a follow-up interview Thursday, Somers said that with regard to information on vaccine distribution and prioritization, one thing "that is very difficult for many to understand is that this is all happening in real time, so what we say now may be different in six hours."

In response to some common misinformation she's heard, Somers made a few points: The vaccine doesn't cause infertility, people with food allergies can still take it and it doesn't contain one of the main ingredients in antifreeze. Antifreeze includes ethylene glycol, whereas the vaccine has polyethylene glycol, which is very different and has long been used in medications.

Somers thinks there's a fear the vaccine will be mandated in children, and she emphasized that a vaccine that hasn't even been tested in children yet isn't going to be mandated. Connecticut isn't mandating the vaccine at all.

e.moser@theday.com