THE EDITOR: Based on existing scientific evidence, the risks associated with covid19 far outweigh those associated with vaccination. By all accounts, getting the jab is a far better decision than going without it as unvaccinated individuals risk getting affected by the full effects of the virus and its many variants.
Despite this, the vaccine-hesitant should not be quickly labelled away as innately stupid or foolish. This sort of rhetoric may wrongly cast them as lost causes whose viewpoints are not liable to change. Additionally, there may be legitimate and systemic reasons for the distrust, uncertainty and anxiety that they describe feeling.
For one, trust in government institutions, especially healthcare, has been poor even before the pandemic. A 2016 UWI study found that public confidence in TT's national healthcare system was remarkably low, with less than 50 per cent of those surveyed expressing trust in it.
There has also been a tremendous amount of mixed messaging about covid19, as people are being bombarded by scientific information locally and from abroad. And it is not just 'fake news' that is the problem. Established outlets like CNN and the BBC and even international organisations like the WHO have all changed their stances on numerous issues related to covid19.
While this is normal and should be expected given the ever-changing nature of the pandemic, this onslaught of conflicting information can make anyone feel confused, distressed and doubtful about which choice is the right one.
People should not feel morally right in engaging in ridicule of vaccine-hesitant individuals either, justifying it as a way of shaming them into getting the jab. If you 'trust the science,' the science shows that shaming simply does not work.
Mocking and condemning people for making the choice to remain unvaccinated may exacerbate an already fraught situation. For oppression in all its forms breeds resistance. As has happened in other countries, the hesitant may take the negative public rhetoric directed towards them to heart, causing them to double down in their decision not to vaccinate. It becomes more of a symbolic or emotional issue than one based on practicality.
People's feelings and perceptions should therefore not be pushed aside, but openly embraced so their concerns can be addressed, and their doubts alleviated. People should feel safe to express their doubts, without being mocked and made fun of. Those who are hesitant are more likely to respond to constructive dialogue than outright criticism.
There may indeed still be people who continue to remain hesitant no matter what is said or done, but at least there is still the possibility they may change their minds, especially if they have not been tainted by the pain of ridicule and the resentment that comes with it.
ALEEM MAHABIR
via e-mail
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