Great article about the Anti-vaccine trend

[Torvean]

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-pseudoscience/anti-vaccine-movement-2020

Well it is right about the link to white supremacists.

I think we all knew this

The biggest anti vaxers I know are health food shops owners. I might send them this.

What a load of BS propaganda!

I met my first antivaxxers in RL last week. They were very nice but had fallen for all the linked propaganda. It was like listening to comment section bingo. I didn't bother challenging just said I felt differently. This article makes a lot of sense

What is this article trying to achieve? Why do people think insulting and pigeon holing people will change their minds? I have had the Covid vaccination and every other that is scheduled (and paid for more). I know people who have refused Covid (and possibly others. I don't know as vaccine status wasn't something grown adults demanded to know before this year). They are nothing like this article describes. It's a ride generalisation. They have made their own decisions as adults. It's this kind of article that entrenched their decision as well as being called ridiculous names.

If the government let the success of the vaccination programme speak for itself, took people's concerns seriously about serious side effects and immediately investigated, stopped threatening sanctions for compliance and people weren't called ridiculous names for having another opinion they might be more willing to listen.

Insults never changed anyone's mind.

This is a US article talking about jabs before the covid one rolled out. It doesn't mention the activities of online trolls, something the WHO was warning about as one of the greatest threats to global public health back then as well as now. And how some of the most active online promulgation of anti-vax messaging comes from account associated with Russia

The idea that the people falling for it are being manipulated is one worth repeating.

Most are of course not trolls themselves. But they repeat stuff they have found online, and have clearly been influenced by troll accounts (directly or via friends who repeat it). WHO report lays this out, and together with concerns about how such manipulation has consequences

Insults never changed anyone's mind

Probably why the article pretty much says that, and recommends a completely different strategy!

@scaevola saying people not taking the Covid vaccination are qanon right wing conspiracy nuts is insulting

Looking at the high vaccine uptake, not sure a small minority of loud people constitutes a trend?

[quote GiveMeNovocain]@scaevola saying people not taking the Covid vaccination are qanon right wing conspiracy nuts is insulting[/quote]
That view however is not in the linked article.

Qanon have recruited teenagers in Germany who are protesting the locdown and vaccine on a Gefman YT page.

This articles does not call ppl named.
However anti-vaccers have been the most known for name calling. I think they've called us sheep, scared, made comments about wearing masks government clones etc.

At least uptake is 96% so the anti vaccers are not winning.

Ok I've not read it. I've had enough people close enough to me have severe reactions, one irreversible and life changing for me to be wary.

I'm following the covid symptom study Zoe app study into the changes in menstrual cycle with interest. I'm glad it's being taken seriously and looked at.
If there's open discussion of the potential issues, people are less likely to fall back on conspiracy theories.

I am absolutely in favour of people talking about worries and sharing factual information. It is when people share fake information, make up their own statistics without all the essential information needed or deliberately like on some of the threads individuals pray on others fear to push an agenda.

Here is a link that shows some of the points made in the article are true (Sorry about which newspaper it is from etc)

Anti-vaccine party 'made beeline' for Scotland's Justice Secretary www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9554539/Anti-vaccine-party-wearing-yellow-stars-armbands-beeline-Scotlands-Justice-Secretary.html?ito=native_share_article-masthead