You Can Only Ask For What You’re Willing to Give
Anti-vaxxers expect respect while showing none.
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Anti-vaxxers are learning new tricks.
Now they’re claiming to be “pro-vaccine” and “pro-science.” They’re calling themselves researchers and appropriating terms they don’t understand, for the mere sake of advancing bad-faith arguments about public health. One phrase they throw around is “anecdotal evidence,” which is exactly what you don’t use to draw scientific conclusions. See, anecdotal evidence is pretty much what it sounds like. It’s anecdotal. The subjective experience of a few people doesn’t represent a population.
Just to be crystal clear, getting sick with covid five times and concluding “it’s not that bad” isn’t research.
It’s stupidity.
Let’s make a few other things clear. Being pro-vaccine means you take vaccines that are available to you when you’re eligible, and you encourage others to do the same. Being pro-vaccine means acknowledging that while some people can’t get them because of medical conditions, the vast majority of us can and should be, as a collective effort. It also means acknowledging that while vaccines aren’t perfect, they’re the best tools we have for managing extremely contagious and deadly diseases.
If you’re encouraging people not to get the covid vaccine, or if you’re spouting rhetoric about “personal choice” as children lie in ICUs, then you are not pro-vaccine. You’re dodging the issue.
You don’t get to say, “I’m pro-vaccine, but…” That’s not how it works. Anyone who does this is simply parroting talking points from anti-vaxxer websites and Facebook groups. It’s the latest tactic.
The data on vaccines is clear:
- The vast majority of covid patients are unvaccinated, even among young people, including teenagers.
- We don’t have the greatest data on waning immunity or breakthrough infections yet, but we do know you’re far less likely to wind up in the hospital when you’re vaccinated.
- We also know the best way to be safe is to get vaccinated so you don’t die, and to continue masking to help reduce the spread.
- Natural immunity is great, but that’s not an…
