THE MIND OF THE ANTI-VAXER CORONAVIRUS

I’m attempting to understand and enter into a dialogue with individuals who are not necessarily anti-vaxers, but are are against coronavirus vaccines. Their fears may be linked to mistrust of government and authoritative bodies such as the science community, underlying concerns in relation to medical intervention (the instrument/needle), the introduction of a manufactured substance (the vaccine) that is perceived as polluting (a substance that can make you sick when you are not sick), the immediate unwanted adverse affect (the immune system mounting defense against a foreign substance) and the possible long term affects of what they consider an unsafe vaccine even though adverse affect incidences are minuscule contrasted with the benefits of having a vaccine that will by all accounts reduce the impact on our bodies if it is invaded by the SARS CoV-2 coronavirus.

I am wondering whether in their attempt to deal with grief associated with personal loss of power and freedom (isolation, limited human/social contact, unemployment, dislocation, poverty, reduced opportunities, the certainty of uncertainty, the erosion of hope) occasioned by the pandemic virus, the only way they can gain any sense of power is to launch an attack on institutions which they may have already perceived as having too much control pre-pandemic. They consider the vaccine as a weapon against them, introduced by the very institutions they mistrust.

The offshoot of this suspicion is that their research on the vaccine and governments is generally undertaken in an echo chamber in which like minds simply support their world view providing little opportunity to challenge or fact check the information provided.  And their authoritative tone born out of the fact that they have read widely and ‘researched’ the situation convinces them that they are as knowledgeable as the medical fraternity. Suddenly they are virologist, epidemiologists, endocrinologists, scientists. What they don’t acknowledge is what they don’t know and refuse to know! Their focus is on the vaccine and not the virus itself. Although SARS CoV-2 is a respiratory virus it is more genetically complex than a seasonal influenza virus and although originally understood as debilitating and killing people in older age groups has become non discriminating affecting individuals in all age cohorts. It is more contagious than influenza viruses and has long term consequences. So, the argument of those opposed to any coronavirus vaccine that it may have long term consequences on their health pales into insignificance against proven, documented cases of long CoViD world wide. If you contract influenza you can get quite sick but it doesn’t affect your internal organs or leave you with debilitating symptoms long after you become well.

I believe that anti-vaxers secretly acknowledge the danger of the virus and their only way of dealing with their anxiety around an unseen entity out of their control is to shift their focus to what they consider the evil vaccine, take the reigns and refuse to be vaccinated; the one personal freedom they understand as left to them at a time in which much or our agency has been eroded.

In this sense we can all understand the mind of the anti-vaxer.