Hypen, I’ve been discussing this a lot with some anti-vax friends to try and understand their thinking. The first thing I’ll say is that there isn’t a single reason or thought process for why people don’t want to get vaccinated, but there are a few different themes, and my anti-vax friends have taken some or all of these on. None of these seem like necessary or sufficient reasons to not get vaccinated, but I think once a few take hold then there’s a tipping point.
Alternatively people instinctively/emotionally form an anti-vax view and these are some of the bases upon which they defend it.
I’ve listed these in descending order of (what I would consider) plausibility.
i. Distrust of ‘Big Pharma’: A lot of people don’t trust pharmaceutical companies, and so they don’t want to inject one of their products into their body. Companies like Pfizer have in the past given people reason to distrust them, so I have more sympathy for this position than the others. This ties a little into point ii.
ii. Unknown side-effects of the vaccines: COVID vaccinations were developed at incredible speeds. While I might see that as a testament to modern science, some are worried there could be long-term side effects or that the trials were insufficient.
iii. COVID isn’t as bad as is being made out: You’ll see a lot of COVID misinformation that suggests COVID isn’t particularly lethal, and therefore the thought is the responses to it, including vaccine mandates, are overblown. When coupled with points i and ii, some people start to consider the risks of the vaccine start to outweigh be protective benefits.
iv. Preference for ‘herd’ immunity:There are a subset of anti-vaxxers who consider that nature should take its course, and that by vaccinating ourselves we aren’t giving ourselves the chance for our bodies to adapt. This seems like nonsense to me, but there is a huge wellness industry predicated on the idea that your body is a perfect vessel that just needs tweaking with yoga, herbs and essential oils so I guess if you believe that then this might sound plausible.
v. Distrust of Government: This is huge reason, but has a few sub-branches. The most-plausible concern is that the Government is too cosy with pharmaceutical companies or incompetent to properly regulate the vaccines. Next is a component that the Government shouldn’t be mandating vaccines. This isn’t a reason not to have a vaccine per se, but it does seem to entrench views in an existing anit-vaxxer and motivate the resistence to them. Then there are plenty of conspiracy theories about the Government manipulating (and on some views creating) the conditions to more heavily regulate humankind for some nefarious reason.
Trying to reason with people who hold a number of these views is challenging because it’s a little like shifting sands. If I could summarise the general view, I don’t think there is an ‘anti-vax position’, but rather a sentiment that ‘whatever we’re being told is wrong/isn’t the full story’. The problem with that is they don’t feel the need to articulate their own view as to what ‘the real story’ is. You could knock down one pillar of their arguments, but another will spring up.
Sadly for some, being anti-vax has become a key part of their self-perception. They see resisting vaccines as a cause and they are standing on principle (this is especially strong when the primary basis of the arguments are a combination of ‘freedom of choice/tyranny of Government’ themes). It becomes very difficult for people to give that up.
Anyway, that’s just my best explanation. I’m sure there are better explanations out there.
