This column took me so long to research and write that I was flat laid out for a bit after it ran. Ergo, the delayed posting here for my dedicated followers!
I spent two months this summer in mostly email dialogue with a number of unvaccinated acquaintances. It was frustrating because the vast majority of them get their information from places that eventually link back to one of the 12 people known for spreading vaccine disinformation on social media, and I get my information from traditional news sources. And traditional news sources – while not perfect – get their info from vetted sources and they have a policy of corrections when they make a mistake. Except for FOX News and Tucker Carlson – as you can see right here.
Science is evolving around COVID, but one thing hasn’t changed: Areas with low rates of vaccination have high rates of spread. Washington state (high rates of vaccination) hospitals are being overrun with COVID patients from Idaho (low rates of vaccination), and after a time of seeing this sort of stuff, it’s easy to get pretty pissed at people who won’t get vaccinated.
But anger doesn’t change minds. Neither, it turns out, do facts. As long as there are outlier doctors out there promoting IV Vitamin C drips and Tucker Carlson and crew spread their particular form of “Why aren’t we talking about Vitamin D!” distraction, we will have vaccine hesitancy. Read more about my experience trying civil discourse with an anti-vaxxer here.
Renee Wrote This 