Thread by @IndelibleFink

Why does it feel like there's sudden rise in #antivaxxers?

Answer (it's gonna be long):Since we've hit 70% of eligible adults having gotten at least one dose, most of the 30% of ppl who are left are those who have decried the vaccine from the start 1/21

https://twitter.com/cyrusshahpar46/status/1422226019260370947

It's about 57% of the total US population. I thought that also included those 12-17, but I was incorrect. Out of about 50 million eligible 12-17 y/o kids, approximately 10mil are vaccinated, so that's only about 20%

covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra…

It's less they are now everywhere & more media saturation as we push for everyone to get the jab.

Since this's become political, the places in the US w a certain political bent are also the states w the lowest vax numbers and the highest number of cases latimes.com/world-nation/s…

Because the numbers of antivaxxers are in the places with the lowest vaccination numbers, that's what the media & government are focusing on. npr.org/2021/08/03/102…

There is a concerted effort to fight the disinformation as well. 5/21

nature.com/articles/d4158…

If we didn't have to deal w the internet & w ppl making political hay out of what should be a non-political issue, we would've been a vax'd nation long ago. SCOTUS ruled to uphold authority to enforce compulsory vax in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197U.S.11 supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/…

So: how did this become political? The only answer to that is one that will severely divide folks-Republicans (read: Trump) made it political by ostracizing scientific thought & belittling critical thinking
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
cbsnews.com/news/why-did-c… thinkglobalhealth.org/article/how-or…

Sure, but that doesn’t explain why large numbers of Black & Hispanic people are not vaccinated. They're not the usual Trump demographic. There’s more to it than politics, right? 8/21

From a public health perspective- it's less that they aren't willing & more there's not enough outreach & there's very ltd access comparatively, though there has been a drive to close the equity gap.

cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…
kff.org/coronavirus-co…
pnas.org/content/118/33…

But it's only political if the vaccine had been tested for years & if the virus was deadly for everyone, which it isn't, right?

No, not quite right. 10/21

First - it may not be "deadly" for "everyone" - but it hospitalizes a great many who have it & causes many to become intubated; and even more who get it experience a wide range of symptoms ranging from loss of taste and smell to fecal incontinence. 11/21

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jm…

Beyond that, even if YOU only get a mild case (emphasizing "you," will come back to that) - you also have the potential to become one of the many who develop long covid.
bmj.com/content/370/bm…

What is "long covid"? It's a term referring to symptoms that linger for weeks or months beyond infection—affects between 10% and 30% of people who catch the virus, including those with mild or asymptomatic infections, according to experts. 13/21

What is "long covid"? In some cases, symptoms persist for more than a year. Symptoms include: extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain/tightness, problems with memory & concentration ("brain fog") changes to taste and smell, and severe joint pain

Sound fun? So essentially; there are few long term effects thus far, and those we've seen are worse than the alternative. 15/21

nhs.uk/conditions/cor…

Now, why did I emphasize "YOU"? Because getting vaccinated isn't just about YOU unless YOU never have any contact with anyone, ever. Sure YOU are young & healthy YOU may only get a mild case - or even a subclinical one (thought that is changing). 16/21

infectioncontroltoday.com/view/younger-p…

But if you have COVID & are unaware & you come into contact with someone who is immunocompromised or is under 12 & you give it to them... it's no longer about YOU. Your individuality and singular health becomes unimportant. As previously stated the Supreme Court agrees.

"BuT I dOn'T tRuSt TrUmP''s VaCcInE!"

Cool. But...you know that the U.S. government did not fund the companies’ research and development. Pfizer chose to risk its own money on vaccine research and not take federal funding, right? 18/21 politifact.com/article/2020/n…

Operation Warp speed was mostly about logistics & streamlining approval.
Beyond that, the vaccines have been tested for safety, and there is a low chance of serious adverse effects.

sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditi…
idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

eg about 100 people out of 8+ million who received J&J developed Guillain-Barre Syndrome (0.00125%) & 28 cases of blot clots in women under 60 (0.00035%). Vaccines are so much safer than the hospitalizations, death and potential for long COVID. 20/21

thelancet.com/journals/lanin…

So: why does it feel like there are more antivaxxers? politics and the media. Fin. Please go get #vaccinated . #VaccinesWork #Covid19 #DeltaVariant

21/21

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