They also aren’t voiceless. In fact their voices are heard disproportionately more than people who got the vaccines months ago and are desperate for a booster shot to lower their risk of getting infected at all.
Of the Americans who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination (66%), 76% would like a booster shot.
That means over 50% of Americans have had a COVID shot and want a booster shot.
When’s the last time you heard any of them interviewed?
We make decisions about the stories we tell. We’ve chosen to highlight stories of individuals quitting their jobs or otherwise defying vaccination mandates despite the fact that they make up less than 2% of the population of any of these groups. Why?
The media has also done a poor job of putting those numbers in context whenever they are speaking about the people who are refusing to get vaccinated. They often will cite raw numbers and not percentages when speaking about those who defy vaccine mandates.
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We hear a lot about the people refusing to abide by vaccination mandates, but the truth of the matter is that they are a tiny fraction of the populace who have been given a voice that is much louder than they would be able to muster on their own.
Part of it is because people abiding by vaccination mandates isn’t necessarily news. However, it is extremely important that the media and news organizations put these stories into context of the overall population, lest we give the impression that this is a deeper issue.
Raw numbers are fine, but they HAVE to be put into context of the overall population. If you are reporting that X people have resigned, you need to provide the entire population of that workforce for appropriate context.
Too many people seem to think that it is a lack of belief that is keeping people from getting vaccinated, and that some piece of evidence (full FDA approval) will convince them to get vaccinated.
Overall, it won’t.
This isn’t lack of trust. This isn’t fear. It’s stubbornness.
These people are so emotionally invested in being correct—in part because our society has reinforced for decades that changing your mind on something, even when there is new evidence, is somehow a bad thing.
To them, getting a vaccination means admitting they were wrong.
And if there’s one thing they can’t stand it’s the idea of being weak. And so they project their idea of strength (which come across as willful ignorance), which quickly becomes toxic as it is disconnected from all reality and fact, which only emboldens them further.
Indeed, Frances Oldham Kelsey was in charge of approving it by the FDA and refused until additional tests were conducted, despite pressure from the manufacturer.
Her concerns were justified as the birth defects were seen in Europe.
Indeed for her service President Kennedy gave her the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, and an annual award for FDA service is named in her honor.
I recently discovered that anti-vaxxers have been promoting a anti-parasite medication instead of the vaccine. Their reason for doing so is that it is “generic” and therefore there no ulterior motive at play, but that is a hilariously ignorant position to take.
Even generic medication has to be manufactured and only major metastudy that has endorsed the use of this medication is one that is explicitly trying to promote the use of this drug, and held said position before the study.
What’s more, the most high profile instances of promoting this idea in the US came from an op-Ed from a company that already manufactures the drug and would be ready to produce large amounts.
That’s… not accurate. First and foremost people who are vaccinated remain less likely to get infected with COVID-19, period, even with the Delta variant. When you’re less likely to get infected, you’re less likely to spread the virus inherently.
Additionally, the mutations we are seeing all emerged before widespread vaccination, so widespread vaccination is therefore unlikely to be the cause of these mutations. reuters.com/article/factch…
Additionally, a study out of Singapore suggests that even those who are vaccinated and get a breakthrough COVID-19 infection have a shorter period where they are contagious than those who are not vaccinated.