#vaccine refusal

[ask-an-epidemiologist]

So how do you change an anti-vaxxer's mind, anyway?

First, understand that sometimes, the answer is simply: you can't. Some people are very firmly entrenched in anti-vax narratives, and will become extremely aggressive in response to challenges.

Second, understand that in this case, saying nothing is better than saying the wrong thing. Becoming hostile, or expressing judgment (no matter how well-deserved) is likely to entrench them more into these conspiracies than it is to make them see reason, making them less likely to be receptive to even gentle challenges in future.

Third, understand that change isn't something that happens after a single conversation. It takes repeated discussions, and a lot of building up trust, to start making people change their minds.

So, then, how do you change an anti-vaxxer's mind?

First step: understand why anti-vaxxers feel this way. This can be summed up in one word: fear. Irrational fear, but fear nonetheless. There are a lot of reasons they may have gotten to this point. They may be deeply distrustful of physicians due to past experiences. People of color in the United States are very prone to vaccine hesitancy and refusal, not because of conservative views, but because of the racist history of the medical institution- in particular, the atrocity known as the Tuskegee experiments. Some, particularly those in the United States, are very prone to distrusting the medical-industrial complex, and extend that skepticism to vaccinations as well. Some may have encountered misinformation, such as the infamous Wakefield farce, which convinced them that children were in danger of being autistic (which is still heavily stigmatized) if they became vaccinated. There are also other reasons, but these are the most common.

And how do we deal with other fears people have? Empathy.

How to have an empathetic conversation about this issue:

First, you need to do just that: have a conversation. Ask open-ended questions, and listen to the answers no matter how much they anger or upset you. The most important and most simple: "what are your reasons for not trusting vaccines?" Other good questions are, "why do you feel this way?" "Are you interested in receiving information about vaccines from me?" "How can I help you work through these difficult feelings?" You need to then tailor your conversation according to how they respond.

You need to build trust with the person you are talking to. If you are in a position of privilege over them, particular if you are white and they are black, you cannot attempt to speak over their concerns about bias in the medical community. This also includes disabled people who no longer trust doctors to have their best interests at heart. Empathize with their concerns, don't erase them, and then segue into the facts. "This is an unfortunate reality, and should never have happened to you. May I share a counterpoint about (specific issue), with the understanding that this does not erase the systemic biases in the medical community?" It is worth noting that breakdowns in trust in the doctor-patient relationship are a key factor that leads to the development of antivax attitudes. This person already feels they can't trust their doctors or the government, and they have, in desperation, turned to a community of other afraid people to be heard. If you remember this, you will have a chance here to gain their trust and be an ambassador for vaccination.

Another way of building trust is to emphasize to them that your goals are aligned. They want what is best for them and their kids, even if they are misguided, and so do you. One rhetorical strategy (that is, incidentally, also used by lawyers in jury trials) is to ascribe positive traits to this person, and then challenge them to live up to it. "I know you love little Tommy very much, and want him to be healthy. I want him to be, too. I am sure, since you care for him deeply, you will look into this issue thoroughly."

That last point is also key. You need to start small, as counterintuitive as it might seem. Don't come right out and say for them and their children to get vaccinated; they need to make that decision by themself. Instead, say that you have information about vaccines that you would like to share with them. It is especially good if you have something saved for a particular claim they made. If, for example, they believed the Wakefield study, there are many refutations out there you can show them. If they are concerned about mercury, you can explain that the kind of mercury in vaccines isn't the "bad" mercury that we find in tuna- and even if it was, there is less mercury in the vaccines than there is in tunafish. Keep it focused, and keep it neutral; one claim at a time.

It is very likely that they will respond to you with a study of their own. Read it carefully before responding. "I noticed that the Wakefield paper has since been retracted. Here is a peer-reviewed study that reaches a different conclusion; it seems worth examining."

You need to show that you are actively listening to what they have to say, and that you appreciate them talking to you. "Thank you for trusting me to talk about this." "Thank you for showing open-mindedness." No vague-posting about anti-vaxxers, no eye-rolling, and no distractions while talking to them.

Another key for showing empathy is to make sure you acknowledge the root of each claim. You don't need to repeat it like a parrot- but for example, using the mercury example above, "it is understandable that you fear mercury! Normally, it is a dangerous substance. Thankfully, there are different kinds of mercury, and the one that can make you sick, methylmercury isn't the same as ethylmercury, which is the one found in vaccines."

Don't start right with debunking myths; always begin with an affirming statement ("that must be scary" or "I know there is a lot of information out there; you must be overwhelmed trying to sort through everything!") before pivoting to correcting misinformation.

Keeping your tone positive in nature is also very helpful. You don't have to be shooting rainbows from your mouth/keyboard, but positive statements help build trust and make people more receptive.

Remember that debunking myths is only one part of what you are seeking to do here. If the person you are talking to starts to feel like you only want to hear their thoughts so you can correct them, they will stop sharing them. No one likes to talk with someone who only wants to be right, even if they ARE right!

Unfortunately, these steps may not work. Sometimes, despite your best efforts, the person won't be receptive. That's okay. Simply tell them again that you are here if they have questions, and you wish for the best for them and their children. Let them come to you if they change their mind.

And please remember, above all else: while these are important conversations, you are never obligated to accept verbal abuse. You have a right to have your boundaries respected just as much as they do. If the person you are talking to name-calls, uses bigoted language, mocks you, wishes bad things on you, etc, it is okay to walk away. Maybe they'll be ready to hear it one day, maybe not, but you don't need to set yourself on fire to keep anyone warm here.

I hope that this guide helps you if you are interested in discussing vaccine hesitancy and refusal! Please let me know if you need anything clarified.

[aashiqeddiediaz]

you know what boils my blood.

over the last 2 weeks, i've seen countless patients walk into my urgent care center, symptomatic for so many things, refusing to get tested for covid and flu, citing that they don't want to knowingly bring it to their holiday tables. i had a patient tell me, verbatim, "i don't want to test for covid, because i don't want to be the asshole who brings it on a plane."

i understand that - i understand that holidays are times where people look forward to meeting loved ones that they might only see once a year, or where they get a break from the hectic back and forth of their lives.

but here's the thing - whether they get tested or not, they will bring whatever they have to their holiday tables. it's pure recklessness to know that you're sick, and walk into someone else's house spreading the disease.

today, january 2, i saw 91 patients, many of them who have tested positive for covid and flu. many of these patients are the same ones who didn't want testing 3 days ago, until their events were over, and now, they will have to reach out to everyone they know to let them know that they were positive because they were showing symptoms well before their event.

the next week or two? we're going to see many, many more, all people with symptoms that started around christmas. these are the only two viruses we test for rapidly in our office, but they are potent and can be fatal in many people.

so here's why i wrote this post, and maybe it's a little late, but - if you care about your loved ones, please get tested if you know you're sick. it doesn't have to be at a clinic if you don't want it to, because the over-the-counter tests work just fine too (if you test within 5-7 days of symptom onset). just...please don't try to run from the knowledge that you might have covid, because immunocompromised people, elderly people, people with co-morbidities like asthma, pregnancy, diabetes, etc...many of them may not recover. and they may not be sitting at your holiday table in the future because of it.

[lloydfrontera]

i think rakiel reinvents vaccines after dealing with one chicken pox patient too many. slapping some pus into that open wound babeeey

[pandemic-info]

Man Whose Daughter Died From Measles Stands by Failure to Vaccinate Her: "The Vaccination Has Stuff We Don’t Trust"

HIGHLY recommend getting titer testing done if you can, especially if you don't know whether you've been vaccinated for measles or how long ago it was. It's possible your antibodies are low, as mine were. I got an MMR booster: it was easy and unremarkable.

This is not a disease to fuck around with.

P.S. more Novavax (2024 formulation) is also available at many CVS now, for biannual vax.

(You can search this blog for Novavax or Measles info.)

[menlove]

I love when people are like shocked and horrified about the latine vote always going red like. every latine in this country is gonna go "yeah?" like it's not surprising. those of us that are leftists agree that it's fucking stupid and I promise you we're more frustrated than you are, but like. never a shocking event.

[eyedove]

i need vitamin d so fucking bad im so tired my ass is sleeping like fucking one mmillion hours a day. i havent felt this bad since my level was like. Seven.

anyway so if i havent talked to you in seventeen thousand years its because i currently am at a vitamin d level that would give a child rickets and im fully awake for maybe 6 out of every 24 hrs on my days off and 8 or 9 on days i work.

[petewentzisblack1312]

its crazy that the global community put in place checks and balances and forums for consensus between nations and one country routinely says they dont want to do whatever the thing that would benefit countless lives of the week is and even if its literally only that one country any proposal gets pretty much thrown out because they said no. like why do we live like this.

[shiveringsoldier]

parents who refuse to vaccinate their children should be charged with child abuse I think

[fourgottencoast]

Sorry but if you’re a leftist who isn’t masking you’re a performance artist not an activist lol

All that talk about collective liberation doesn’t amount to much when you won’t do the bare minimum of community care by doing your part to mitigate a deadly and disabling disease that disproportionately affects the most vulnerable/marginalized in ur community!!

[fixaidea]

So. Unless something drastic happens. I'm getting rabies shots tomorrow.

On one hand I'm a bit scared because everyone hypes it up as especially awful (and I'm gonna need two more rounds), but it'll have the added bonus of soothing a pretty awful paranoia, so. At least there's that.

Did I mention I don't like dogs very much?

[pochapal]

i think it's very fun and sexy that the new emerging culture war hot topic of 2025 is a rising stigma against organ donation. loving that one specifically for me

[serenhob]

I saw this video today of a republican woman (forgot her name) who said, quote:

'Women are like 'oh well I'm autistic, my husbands autistic and we have 7 autistic kids and actually we are all fine and thriving', hi OK so that's not normal, that's actually an issue. Why do you have autism and why do all of your kids have autism'

It startled me cause how are there people like this and I just wanted to remind us all that autism is largely genetic.

Crazy concept I know. Yes, science does agree that there are outside factors that they've seen that *could* influence whether a child is autistic (particularly having older fathers) but the majority of the time (up to 90%) it is simply the matter of genetics. Most autistic people have autistic family members whether they are diagnosed or not (personally my sibling also is and we suspect with my mother). So obviously, if you have 2 autistic parents that greatly increases thr chances of having autistic kids. The same as if they both were brunette or blue eyed or they wear glasses. Their kids would likely share those traits.

From the side always arguing about 'basic biology' I think its kinda funny that it stops as soon as we get to autism. It's like they pick the most stupid argument for every issue they are presented and run with it. We have many studies that over and over affirm the role of genetics (like twin studies) but apparently that all is a lie and we should be looking back at studies that have been debunked (the 1998 study in particular is so stupid, the mans medical license was literally stripped and out of the 12 kids he had, some weren't even autstic)

Also on the 'its an issue' part, autism isn't this scary, infectious and fatal disease. It is a neurotype, a type of human being. You can't seperate the autism and the person. Yes, there are negative sides to autism, violent meltdowns, harmful stims, the isolation of not understanding people, overstimulation and all of that, but that doesn't mean there aren't positives as well. Besides, it is a human experiance and for everyone there are strengths and struggles.

(Also just to address the autism epidemic vibe this is giving, the reason the diagnosis rates are higher is the following: the expansion of the definition of autism aka autism spectrum disorder which includes lower support needs; research of how autism presents in women and people of colour as it used to be reserved for affluent white boys; medical care becoming more accesable in general; the growing population (again if you've got an autistic person haveing two autistic children then both of them go on to have two autistic kids each and so forth then there will be more autistic people) due to life expectancy going up; awareness of autism in general; the inclusion of masking to the diagnostic criteria and probs more. Its not vaccines)

Autism isn't inherently less worthy than being allistic, a household full of autistic or otherwise disabled people isn't automatically worse or more harmful than a family of allistic, abled bodied individuals. In fact, operating in a neurodivergent house as a neurodivergnt person is often times quite good. Having the relatability and understanding between neurodivergent people is very helpful. Like personally all of my friends are autistic (not on purpose) simply because I find autistic people easier to interact with. There is less conflict.

Autism like every state of existence is neutral. Disabled doesn't mean inferior, nor is it intrinsically bad. Autistic people are just as worthy of compassion and life as anyone else, no matter their support needs or if they have an intellectual disability. So yes, autistic families and people at large aren't abnormal or an issue in any way. If you want to help autistic people then advocate for more support (especially given to high support needs autistic people and their carers) instead of to 'eradicate autism'.

[orcelito]

Tally still isn't quite back to 100% yet, but she's recovered a lot in general. Every time she does one of her normal habits that she'd stopped doing while she was sick, my heart just squeezes with gratefulness. Stuff like her yowling like I died after I go to bed, her climbing onto my lap while I'm sitting on the toilet and/or watching me from on top of her litter box, her jumping onto furniture, her getting up in my face and sniffing my breath as I slowly blow air at her, her trying to eat the plants, her PLAYING.... and of course, her eating.

I also discovered the coat rack toppled over onto the couch after getting out of bed today - surely her doing. Didn't break anything so im just glad she's back to being at least some semblance of a chaos demon, even if she's not totally recovered yet.

It's the little things, sometimes. All her little habits, some harmless and some annoying, that make up who she is and her presence in my life. When all of these stop, so she's just a lump on the couch, barely eating and barely getting up... it was unsettling. And worrisome.

But I've got my baby back. She's still not super high energy, but she's got enough to feel like herself again. And I'm so, so grateful.

[sydmarch]

antiviral but about the resentful forced intimacy of biological communion with someone you hate

[akascow]

hm

ironic how there are fuckin MEASLES outbreaks happening in mainly antivax states…

wonder how that happened🙂