What impact will the current health issue have on vaccine hesitant/refusing parents?

[HowFurloughCanYouGo]

You would hope that those who are vaccine hesitant or refuse vaccinations for their children will now understand what happens when a diseases is out of control and in desperate need for a preventative vaccination.

Do you think after this is over, it will improve vaccination uptake?

Or do you think those who refuse the MMR etc will also refuse the idea of covid19 vaccination and carry on as usual?

I'm currently writing a dissertation on vaccine uptake (or lack-thereof) so this really interests me. I really look forward to the literature that comes out over the next few years to show how things have (or have not!) changed.

If people are stupid enough to believe in the anti-vax bullshit they are beyond reason and aren't about to change their minds in the mere face of a global pandemic.

I think because the disease is seen as only dangerous for 'old' or already ill people it won't have the same impact. A year or two of this won't compare to everyone knowing a family who lost a child from measles, living with fear of tb etc

I'm not anti vax but I think some of the vitriol spewed about parents who chose not to vaccinate is disgusting. They obviously believe they're doing the best thing for their children, why would they vaccinate them if they truly believed it would harm them? They probably think we're all morons for injecting our kids with what they believe are harmful toxins, but I never see them talk about us that way.

Also, why is everyone assuming non-vaccinating people are thick?
I know very well educated people who have chosen not to vaccinate.

Being well educated isn't the same as being intelligent.
Antivaxxers in my experience are not particularly bright but like to think of themselves as bright and its particularly important to them to think of themselves as "independent" and "thinking outside the box".

They tend to jump on any alternative narrative out there and prioritise it over the "official" narrative or the "mainstream media" because they think it makes them sound brighter.

Of course it is true that not everything you read in the mainstream media is always true. But assuming that any "alternative narrative" must be true because it flies in the face of what the mainstream media says just shows a lack of ability to think critically.

PixieFringe

"They obviously believe they're doing the best thing for their children, why would they vaccinate them if they truly believed it would harm them? They probably think we're all morons for injecting our kids with what they believe are harmful toxins, but I never see them talk about us that way."

Presumably cult members, religious nuts and people who believe in marrying their daughters off to elderly relatives in the name of "family honour" also convince themselves they're doing the best thing for their kids.

Does that mean we as a society should sit back and give them a free pass if its demonstrably damaging to their kids?

They probably think we're all morons for injecting our kids with what they believe are harmful toxins, but I never see them talk about us that way.

I have.

I've had anti-vaxxers online tell me that I caused my sons' autism by allowing them to be vaccinated. I've seen them tell new parents that they should think very carefully about letting their baby be injected and that "They" (i.e., the medical community) are not truthful about the ingredients of vaccines and their safety. I've seen them refer to anyone who does vaccinate as "sheeple". I've seen them make comments about these sheeple being stupid for not questioning vaccines, for buying into "fake" science, for blinding doing what we're told.

Unless medical reasons like allergies, it should be compulsory for all children to be vaccinated. Take away school places, child benefits, passport rights etc for non compliance. Easy enough to implement proof of vaccinations.

I don’t think this will change non vaxers minds, they will just go with herd immunity theory or their current reasons for not doing any.

They tend to jump on any alternative narrative out there and prioritise it over the "official" narrative or the "mainstream media" because they think it makes them sound brighter.

There is a definite undertone of anti-vaxxers believing they are somehow superior because they've figured out the truth and therefore more special than the rest of us who are just sheeple.

(By anti-vaxxers I don't mean people who can't/don't vaccinate for health reasons such as a history of severe reaction or allergies to the ingredients, I mean people who can vaccinate but choose not to because of whatever spurious reasons).

@june2007
There is lots of articles about it now. But I don't think they know anything 100%
www.google.com/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/04/08/bcg-jabs-mean-six-times-less-likely-get-coronavirus-study-finds/amp/

www.newscientist.com/article/2241590-bcg-vaccine-being-trialled-as-potential-protection-against-covid-19/

Take away school places

Vaccination records are required for school entry in the US. DS also needed them for university.

I'm liking the BCG link.

That would be an enormous breakthrough if we could just use that.

We have anti vax family members who put a lot of pressure on me not to get our kids vaccinated. They are fully into their homeopathy, woo and other conspiracy theories especially about Bill Gates.
They think covid is basically a scam to make us all accept 5g and get vaccinated, probably with microchips. They also think it's flu and if you drink apple cider vinegar with horseradish you will be immune.
So no change on uptake there then.

We have anti vax family members who put a lot of pressure on me not to get our kids vaccinated.

This is not out of genuine concern for your kids, it's to provide the reassurance that comes from persuading you that they're right.

Not sure then if I believe the BCG thing as surely then uk wouldn,t have such a high rate as many popel 30-50 would have had the BCG if from uk. (I have as ave my oh.)

And don,t call anti vaxers stuipid. i am not being stupid not wanting a flu jab, which may or may not be effective and may or may not cause my child to have a seazure. (history of seazures post jabs.)

Not sure then if I believe the BCG thing as surely then uk wouldn,t have such a high rate as many popel 30-50 would have had the BCG if from uk. (I have as ave my oh.)

BCG is effective for to 15 years so most of the people vaccinated will now have either no immunity to TB or waning immunity so it wouldn't be effective protection against developing severe CV19 symptoms either.

I've had it all today

"My son got autism from "the vaccine" one day he knew his name he made eye contact the following day nothing"

I said my son had autism before the vaccine and I vaccinated him anyway

She blocked me

I know very well educated people who have chosen not to vaccinate

Being well-educated does not necessarily mean you have any critical thinking skills.

There are initial investigations into a potential benefit from the MMR vaccination as well.

www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.10.20053207v1

The most vocal anti vaxxer ‘friend’ I have, definitely won’t be changing her stance for a Covid one.

To paraphrase- vaccines are poison and WILL injure your child. Covid isn’t a real disease, it’s a cover up and all the reported deaths aren’t from Covid but have just been labeled as such. It’s Bill Gates and his population control bollocks.

Yeah she won’t be changing her mind anytime soon.

I think it’s not unreasonable to be cautious of a vaccine which will be rushed through.

They even had a one of the science people on BBC recently saying that in order to make the vaccine available sooner the trials will have to be shorter and there may be side effects which won’t have been picked up.

Does anyone remember that story a few years ago where some students were taking part in a vaccine trial and they all became unconscious and some even died IIRC.

I don’t think that being cautious of a rushed COVID vaccine makes someone anti vaccination as a whole.

But let’s be honest,a lot of people are saying that it’s not certain that people develop immunity. In many cases I do believe they say that to keep people afraid of COVID, but the truth is that if we genuinely don’t develop immunity after catching COVID then there will be no vaccine.

Does anyone remember that story a few years ago where some students were taking part in a vaccine trial and they all became unconscious and some even died IIRC.

Fact check time.

1. It was not a vaccine trial, it was a trial of a drug to treat leukaemia.

1. None of them died. That's not to say they weren't incredibly unwell but they did not die.

1. They all reacted within an hour of receiving the drug.

1. Before beginning the trial they had all received an 11 page consent form detailing all of the potential risks.

Extreme reactions like the ones seen in that trial tend to happen almost immediately rather than days, weeks, or months down the line. They were the first human patients in that particular trial and there was a full investigation into what happened which concluded that the dosage had been too high.

the truth is that if we genuinely don’t develop immunity after catching COVID then there will be no vaccine.

Far more likely in this scenario is that there will be a yearly vaccine as there is with flu which contains whatever that years prevalent strains are.

They’ll let the rest of us get the vaccine and benefit from the herd immunity. As usual.

I'm currently writing a dissertation on vaccine uptake (or lack-thereof)

Bill Gates, microchips, manufacturer virus conspiracy theories floating around.

Oh God I haven't even heard those.

WOW.....

Far more likely in this scenario is that there will be a yearly vaccine as there is with flu which contains whatever that years prevalent strains are. agreed but it’s unlikely to be available to everyone but more likely to be available to those considered at risk - probably those who currently qualify for a flu jab.