Vaccine wars

"NO ONE will force me to vaccinate my child!" A recent comment online in response to the heating up of rhetoric over the topic of vaccinations for children.

Much of the language surrounding this ticklish issue is brutish and ill-conceived. There were utterances, because of their poor construction, that were interpreted by many to mean parents may be forced to submit their children (and themselves) to inoculation.

Attorneys lent opinion to the newspapers suggesting a path to mandatory vaccinations. It doesn't help that there are those who support vaccines who lord their choice over others as a sign of intellectual superiority. Trust human nature for people to grab at any opportunity to appoint themselves the betters of others.

Anyone refusing a vaccine, either for themselves or their children, is demonised as selfish, ignorant, or superstitious.

For many people, it's as clear as day – vaccination is the only feasible defence against covid19. That something so straightforward to them is unfathomable to others can only mean vaccine holdouts are plainly obtuse.

Society makes the mistake of lumping all those who refuse to get vaccinated into a homogenous homunculus. This tendency betrays an ignorance of the multiversal nature of hesitancy.

Most vaccine chatter is a casualty of reductive reasoning – the unvaccinated are stupid and their existence will be corrected by covid19. The pro-vaccine “lobby” are nodding sheep. Strong, intelligent leadership is supposed to bridge the gap between the two.

Given that we have the opposite of that, our leadership only feeds the rhetoric and widens the gap. Without the command of language and a grasp of communication skills, those in the echelons of authority don't have the tools to chip away at misgivings about vaccines. A flippant reference to hitherto largely unknown "horny goatweed" reflects this deficiency.

Not everyone is an anti-vaxxer, believing vaccines alter DNA or constitute a plot by the intelligentsia to castrate the lower order.

There are people genuinely afraid of side effects. Some have a mortal dread of needles. For others, reluctance may hinge on the choice of vaccine. Even if parents are told, for argument's sake, vaccines adversely affect one in a million children, that child will be theirs – because, for every parent, their child is one in a million.

Again, the challenge is nuance. Public education programmes should cater to different mental obstacles to vaccination. Naturally, it isn't possible to reach everyone. For those convinced covid19 is a “plandemic” and vaccines are a Bill Gates plot, no one should waste their time on such conspiracy junkies.

There are, however, many others who can be persuaded if the information is presented in a respectful, clear manner – one that directly confronts fears and offers hope.

When I went for my second Sinopharm dose I noticed several screens displaying videos meant to encourage citizens to get vaccinated.

These videos were being shown to people sitting in chairs waiting to be vaccinated.

What might have been more useful was content explaining what's next – because you're vaccinated doesn't mean you can discard your masks and kiss every indigent on a street corner the way you used to. Continue to maintain physical distancing and hygiene practices to minimise risk as vaccines aren't impervious to more potent strains of the virus.

More importantly, what do you do if you have a serious reaction to the vaccines? Where's the public education on that?

At NAPA, I was told perfunctorily, "If you have an adverse reaction to the vaccine, go to your nearest emergency room." This is a throwaway advisory, as public health, under the best of circumstances, is shambolic.

As it happens, I did have a fairly troubling reaction to my second dose. However, I am effortlessly convinced any side effect I endure now will be infinitesimal against the most compelling side effect of covid19 – death.

That, however, is how I think. Someone else may need more convincing.

The parents of yesteryear who dragged their children for polio vaccines did so in a different time. There was no internet to amplify apprehension and there was less mistrust in the authorities and government.

Before any conversation including the word “mandatory” is even begun, citizens either on the fence or opposed to vaccinations should be courted through reasoned arguments and education to see the value of getting their shot.

Ostracism and ultimatums create nothing but further division in society. Vaccination is crucial to the health and well-being of citizens – helping each other to understand that without judgment should be a key part of any strategy to boost uptake.