What I don't understand about anti-vaxxers is...

[CanadianJohn]

What I don't understand about anti-vaxxers is how malevolent some of them are. If I decided I didn't want a covid jab, I certainly wouldn't picket hospitals and health centres. Recently an elected legislator in Manitoba faced a demonstration of about 30 people at her home, and someone left a noose on her lawn. www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/health/alberta-politician-angry-after-covid-19-protesters-leave-gallows-noose-at-her-house-575661242.html

A recent news story on booster jabs provoked dozens of responses poking fun at "sheeple" and referencing Big Phama and similar themes.

Why are so many people so vitriolic about the vaccine?

@UsedUpUsername

Protesters put a homemade guillotine outside Jeff Bezos’ mansion to protest worker abuses by Amazon sometime last year.

Does the good cause of worker rights become undermined by a few crazies? Are they representative of the entire movement? Should we throw our lot in with the oligarchs so as not to be tainted by association?

I think you know the answer here

Yay! You win the Monday Whataboutery prize!

Because anti vaxxers are nuts!

^problem is you have fat men in their 40s and 50s who kind of forget they aren’t so young anymore.

A targeted campaign for the middle-aged and elderly would be so much better.^

I agree with this. Apparently over 80% of people in critical care are overweight/obese but what we tend to keep hearing about is that the majority of people are unvaccinated. Perhaps there needs to a more targeted campaign about the risks of being overweight/obese irt covid. Some people may think that they are still young and therefore not high risk when actually their weight very much does put them in the at risk category. A targeted campaign may increase uptake in that group.

Yay! You win the Monday Whataboutery prize

Nice attempt to deflect.

The point is that a valid cause is not tainted by the actions of a more extreme fringe.

A lot of people are against vaccine mandates, it doesn’t make them an anti-vaxxer. I’m also pretty much against vaccinating anyone healthy under 25 with this specific vaccine.

Am I a vaccinated anti-vaxxer? 🤔

I'm double vaxxed, actually I've just booked my booster BUT I'm firmly against vaccine passports etc. I've seen the protests against this both here and in other countries. A lot of people labelled as anti vaxxers are actually protesting about vax passports and so on. Surely it would be better to look at whether someone has covid antibodies rather than just insisting they have a jab?

FWIW as I've been jabbed I'm not bothered about coming into contact with unvaccinated people, I don't understand the angst over this.

I don't think continuous posts asking pretty much the same question help. People don't want to get vaccinated that's their choice. People that do that's their choice as well. @Sonex That's a horrible thing to say. Just because someone doesn't share your opinion doesn't mean they have mH issues.

@PAFMO I think it’s a valid point. There are always some extremists. It doesn’t mean you should tar everyone with the same brush.

extreme pro-vaxxers who think everyone should be vaccinated

That is not an extreme position. It is the position of all credible doctors and Scientists.

I don't agree with some of the arguments about how to persuade people to do that but anyone who does not start from this position is extreme.

What I dont understand about anti vaxxers is why they are so resistant to a vaccine that has been through trials but will take any old experimental treatment.

I think it is more about the mandates and illegal removal of human and civil rights that they might be a bit miffed about.

Losing your job and being banned from shops/medical care does focus the mind somewhat.

Well, we've been encouraged by government-media-tech organisations to split into factions - the pro- and anti-mask or lockdown; the unvaxxed and the vaxxed - so people on all sides are being unpleasant about each other and fighting their own corners. Also, people - on all sides - naturally want to defend their own decisions in the face of uncertainty. So you get the unvaxxed highlighting all the problems with the vaccine, and prioritising this above the positive evidence, and the vaxxed highlighting the successes of the vaccination program while playing down its risks and failures. And people degrade each other and fight.

It's exactly how you get a population overlooking the shenanigans at the "top" (politicians, massive corporations and their dodgy interplay) because they're too busy bickering. They're doing it very well. We need to see it, and start accepting and communicating with each other, or - frankly - we're fucked.

@donquixotedelamancha

extreme pro-vaxxers who think everyone should be vaccinated

That is not an extreme position. It is the position of all credible doctors and Scientists.

I don't agree with some of the arguments about how to persuade people to do that but anyone who does not start from this position is extreme.

You’ve selectively quoted there. And yes, some credible doctors and scientists think ‘everyone’ should be vaccinated. Others think only those over a certain age/with certain conditions should be vaccinated and many are currently speaking out against the need to vaccinate young children. They’re hardly ‘anti-vaxx’ are they?

Anti-vaxxers are such a small percentage of the population, the ones with placards an even smaller percentage of that. Not worth giving any thought to.

@frozendaisy my Facebook feed is full of them. It’s spreading a lot of misinformation so it can be dangerous. People seem to think FB is a reliable source of scientific information unfortunately.

I haven't had the vaccine. I am retired, live alone, in a remote rural area.
If I'm in an area which requires masks to be worn, I do so. I keep a 2 metre distance and turn away from people in shops etc.
I respect other people's choices.
Many (60+) years ago, I had an antimalarial injection. I caught malaria and almost died.
I don't advertise my non-vaccinated status. I take practical responsibility for my choice.

The thing is, OP: the people you describe are not "anti vaxxers" as such. They are rabid extremist loons who have fixed on "anti vaxx" as their particular cause, because it's there and it's available, and it's a peg on which to hang their own particular type of craziness. If it weren't this, they'd find another cause to which they could attach their extremist tendencies.

Any "cause" attracts complete nutjobs.

I am neither a pro-vaxx or anti-vaxx person. I'm more a 'weigh up the risks' person. Most people I know who haven't had the Covid vaccination aren't rabid dickheads, and they are actually very quiet about it as they either can't face the bullying from the equally rabid pro-vaxx brigade or just don't think it's anyone else's business (in the same way as I don't think it's anyone else's business that I am doubly vaccinated, and wouldn't dream of telling anyone else what to do).

‘Many (60+) years ago, I had an antimalarial injection. I caught malaria and almost died’
I don’t understand why this is relevant to you not choosing to have a vaccine? There is no sense it this at all. Equally you could have caught malaria without having been vaccinated, would that have changed your mind about the covid vaccine? No vaccines are 100% effective, that’s just a given. I really dont get your point, it’s nonsensical.

@UsedUpUsername

What people don't seem to understand is that 3-4 months' data is long term data when it comes to vaccines. All these fuckwits wanting data for 5/10 years don't actually understand what they want. Hence why we should listen to the experts, not meatheads

We would have known about the sudden drop in effectiveness if they had studied these vaccines over a longer period. Pretty fucking huge oversight, don’t you think?

1. It was flagged from the very beginning that boosters would be needed as efficacy waned over time.
2. Most antivaxxers claim that the vaccine causes long term damage (or that we don't know if it causes long term damage). Not that the efficacy wanes.

So I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, but it's not the one you think.

@Astrak

That’s your choice and you obviously gave it considerable thought.

I’m double vaxxed but seriously rethinking the booster now.

@UsedUpUsername

Yay! You win the Monday Whataboutery prize

Nice attempt to deflect.

The point is that a valid cause is not tainted by the actions of a more extreme fringe.

A lot of people are against vaccine mandates, it doesn’t make them an anti-vaxxer. I’m also pretty much against vaccinating anyone healthy under 25 with this specific vaccine.

Am I a vaccinated anti-vaxxer? 🤔

I'm not the one deflecting.

Trixiefirecracker

What sort of people are they? I had just one anti vaxxer on my FB and I deleted her after one too many bonkers videos.

@RedHot22

"There are equally tragic stories about those who had the vaccine"

Not as many though.

So far, there have been 9 deaths where the vaccine has been listed on the death certificate and 164,491 deaths with Covid-19 listed on the death certificate.

blog.ons.gov.uk/2021/10/04/how-many-people-have-died-as-a-result-of-a-covid-19-vaccine/

coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths?areaType=overview&areaName=United%20Kingdom

I'm not the one deflecting

You are the one avoiding this very basic point: the actions of a fringe minority shouldn’t not be used to blacken a broader movement.

@Mythroatisstillsore they are clearly bonkers people! I don’t know what you mean, they come from all walks of life but are obviously nutters and are spreading their bonkersness all over social media. Sharing crap that gets shared and shared until people believe it to be true. Awful

@Trixiefirecracker

‘Many (60+) years ago, I had an antimalarial injection. I caught malaria and almost died’ I don’t understand why this is relevant to you not choosing to have a vaccine? There is no sense it this at all. Equally you could have caught malaria without having been vaccinated, would that have changed your mind about the covid vaccine? No vaccines are 100% effective, that’s just a given. I really dont get your point, it’s nonsensical.

Nobody had a malaria vaccine 60 years ago. The first malaria vaccine was approved by the WHO earlier this year. Anti malaria tablets can be taken but are about 90% effective so people should still try to avoid bites.