I know a three people who are not vaccinated. In all three cases, it's because they are afraid, not because they are selfish.
One reads conspiracy websites and believes mRNA vaccines are a death sentence. Another one was influenced by the former and now doubts they are safe. The last one, independently of the previous, is concerned about the long-term effects the vaccines might have.
I have talked with all of them and tried to reassure them of the safety of the vaccines, to no avail so far.
I was able to convince a fourth to get vaccinated, but again this person was simply afraid, not selfish. If you hope to change their minds, it may be better to address their fears.
Can irrational fears be addressed? There is sufficient information on the 'Net to prove/disprove anything you would like re: vaccination and vaccines. Are you capable of evaluating which is (more) true? I would think it obvious that the risk from vaccination is much less than the risk from Covid, but a fully-vaccinated person would say that, wouldn't they...
I would also think that people's willingness to help others should drive them towards vaccination (as it's coupled with self-preservation). But then, life keeps proving that while people talk about altruism a lot, it's not common.
Yes it’s possible to address these fears. To do so requires that the media stop lying to the public. There are clear signals that this vaccine is more dangerous than any other vaccine brought to market thus far. Instead of reporting on it and investigating further, it gets brushed under the rug (except for right wing media, which blows this signal out of proportion and jumps to conclusions pre-maturely). This is what generates the fear and distrust.
Personally I feel it’s very patronizing and condescending when I see that there is definitely something there to worry about or at least explore further, but then get told not to worry about it, shut up, and sit down because the fact checking experts said so.
> There are clear signals that this vaccine is more dangerous than any other vaccine brought to market thus far.
You need to be more specific than "this vaccine". [0] lists 21 vaccines that are "approved", and an additional 89 vaccines in development.
From context, I assume you are talking about an mRNA vaccine approved for use in the USA, which brings the number of possible vaccines down to 2. Regardless, what signs are you looking at for "this vaccine" being the most dangerous one to hit the market.
Of the top of my head, the vaccine I would be most worried about getting is the one for small pox. This vaccine infects you with a live, not weakened form of the vaccinia virus. After getting the vaccine you are given specific instructions on how to care for the injection sight. Failure to properly care for the injection side can lead to the virus spreading to other parts of the patients body, or even other individuals. Even when properly cared for, the smallpox vaccine often leave a permanent scar on the injection site.
The second vaccine that comes to mind is the polio vaccine, which can cause outbreaks of vaccine derived polio in the surrounding population (although patient 0 typically does not experience adverse effects in this case). Currently vaccine derived polio is far more common than natural polio.
For polio, we have switch over to a less effective vaccine to help avoid vaccine derived polio.
A good friend of mine from Southern California was also "afraid" due to misinformation.
Few weeks ago he asked when he could come up and visit, with my response of course being two weeks after he was fully vaccinated. Guess who has an appointment scheduled for this week.
They can keep believing dumb shit from Facebook over educated friends and medical experts as long as it doesn't inconvenience them.
As far as I know the vaccine got emergency use authorization it is not fully approved by FDA yet and what I as a layman need to know about newly invented mRNA vaccine. Scientists say that it is not a gene therapy but what are long term consequences on human DNA of mRNA vaccine nobody knows or has examined as of today.
You need to know that 4 billion doses were given to at least 2 billion people in the world and it's time to stop playing like you have a reasonable excuse for your unfounded fear.
Right. So you just belive that you are way smarter about this than over 2 billion people and their doctors. Way more plausible. Have your wonderful source of insight prevent you from consuming any sugar ever from the start? /s
Somebody lied to you so now you won't believe anyone else about anything else ever?
mRNA is not new, dates back to the 90’s or even earlier I think. Vaccines are safe and very well established dating back to the 18th century. I think it can be argued vaccines are one of the most successful medical advances ever, having saved millions from horrible diseases. So we are not exactly dealing with completely unproven science here, and I would much more readily trust the vast majority of the scientific and medical community on this than some quack on the internet, or some random articles.
Yes big pharma should be looked at suspiciously, but that’s primarily an outgrowth of out of control capitalism. Most scientists get into this to cure diseases and help people.
Fear is a very common emotion in those afraid of the virus however addressing these fears is frequently thought as wrong. Fear is encouraged it seems, as it works as a motivator.
One obvious example is panic buying. This was caused by fear. Another example are healthy, young, people completely isolating themselves indoors and not leaving the house for exercise.
Addressing these fears is seen as not a good thing to do, sadly.
Disclaimer: I'm fully vaccinated.
I know a three people who are not vaccinated. In all three cases, it's because they are afraid, not because they are selfish.
One reads conspiracy websites and believes mRNA vaccines are a death sentence. Another one was influenced by the former and now doubts they are safe. The last one, independently of the previous, is concerned about the long-term effects the vaccines might have.
I have talked with all of them and tried to reassure them of the safety of the vaccines, to no avail so far.
I was able to convince a fourth to get vaccinated, but again this person was simply afraid, not selfish. If you hope to change their minds, it may be better to address their fears.
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