Comment Re:Caused by morons not getting their vaccine (Score 1) 734
I have no problems being judgemental of those who are hesitant. Why? Because they have an almost complete ignorance about the vaccine they may receive, vaccines in general, virology, epidemiology, or any other subject area that would inform their choice. Yet they use that near-complete lack of knowledge to justify an opinion in opposition to consensus of opinion of public health experts that have spent decades accumulating the knowledge pertinent to the recommendations they give.
This is an over generalization, and somewhat lacks in empathy as well. I don’t disagree the quote’s sentiment entirely but I want to suggest that the world has more shades of gray than black and white.
I know people who pro-vaccines vaccinated in their lives and get their (and their kids’) shots for all other diseases, but are reluctant to be first in line for the COVID-19 vaccine. I also know folks who’ve had their COVID-19 shots but don’t expect to get their kids vaccinated anytime soon even after one of the vaccines becomes (provisionally) authorized for use on minors under 16. These are not typical anti-vaxxer tendencies - people remember (and over weight the importance of) Thalidomide babies, are genuinely concerned about long term effects and know they can self-isolate a little while longer while working from home and watching for more safety data and so on.
A lot of this is emotionally driven behavior (much like anti vaxxers’ behaviors are as well). My point is that a lot of ‘hesitators’ are otherwise near rational (or perhaps norm-abiding) people who have broken away from the norm - in a small but impactful way - for the first time - under extreme duress. Shaming them by calling them names like anti-vaxxer, which most of them probably abhor, is not going to win us any points, nor is it going to change minds. Our real options are likely patience and empathy - which is to say that there may be no way to coerce them into ending the pandemic faster by taking the vaccines. It’s not good news for those of us who want this over already, but that’s where things stand. Calling them names only serves to erode social capital/trust - we don’t need a second casualty to this pandemic IMHO.