“No way,” he said, with a touch of anger in his voice, “I am not putting that stuff in my body!”
It was clear there was nothing I could say that would weaken his adamance. In his tone and his responses this 30 year-old man made it clear that not only would he not accept my recommended treatment, but that he thought anyone who did was deluded and risking harm.
If the recommended therapy had been chemotherapy of questionable benefit, or a medication with a long list of side effects, I might have understood, but all I had asked him was if he wanted a flu shot this year. When he began to rail further against the vaccine I replied, “I have been putting that stuff in my body every year for the last 30 years!” His look said he considered me a fool.
What bothered me was not that he declined the vaccine. He is young and healthy and complications from influenza are unlikely. What bothered me was his reasoning. He firmly believes that the vaccine is unsafe.
Thinking such as his is common nowadays, fueled by social media, fringe sites on the internet, and sometimes even religious leaders. I believe this is why only 45% of Americans say they plan on getting immunized against Covid. The reasons typically given are often patently absurd, but they have persuaded millions.
Some are convinced that the vaccines are a plot by Bill Gates to implant microchips into people so they can be tracked by the government. That this is medically and logistically impossible does not seem to matter. I have heard others say they would not take any of the mRNA vaccines because they did not want their DNA changed. They believe that they will be genetically reprogrammed. In their ignorance they do not understand that mRNA cannot be used to make DNA, cellular biology does not work that way. A Catholic bishop in Fresno is urging people to forgo the vaccine because he believes it was developed using cell lines from an aborted fetus (It wasn’t, and while a very few vaccines are developed using cell lines from a fetus aborted over 50 years ago, the Catholic church has issued issued a directive advising members it is morally acceptable to receive these vaccines. It appears the bishop did not read the memo.)
I find myself asking g, “How can I combat such misinformation?” I do not know the answer, but I do know finding it is important.
We are in the midst of a pandemic that has taken the lives of over 200,000 Americans and has harmed many more. While the vast majority of people with Covid survive, this does not mean it is not a serious disease. Even young and healthy people are often adversely affected. In one study, 20% of 18-34 year-olds reported some ongoing symptoms 3 weeks after becoming infected. Covid is the public health crisis of our generation. It is deadlier than measles or flu, yet many dismiss its risks.
Miraculously, we will soon have the ability to eradicate this scourge. Less than a year since it first arrived on our shores, we have two effective vaccines on the verge of distribution. Vaccines which will be useless if people do not take them.
Bart