Page 54 - Standard Indicators for the social appropriation of science
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What is the best way to change the minds people often don’t take them seriously and
of people who do not support vaccination? the negative attitude is reinforced by the fact
that someone feels they are being laughed at
Be aware if the effectiveness and success of or, in fact, not taken seriously. If you ask why
vaccination that is happening in some countries someone doesn’t want to be vaccinated and
may be contributing to the anti-vaccination the answer is because it’s poison, then you
movements. The WHO developed a guide for can explain that it’s not poison. But if you make
health professionals to teach how to respond it sound like the person you’re talking to is
to people who are against vaccination. It is stupid, then it just reinforces the feeling. And
difficult, but there are people with doubts, that is very dangerous and can take a fatal
there are people who are hesitant, there are development. There are few people who are
people who refuse due to faith and then there actually against vaccines, but probably not
are the organised movements. These are the as many as you might think. We also have
dangerous ones. It is fashionable to be different to be careful not to artificially exaggerate the
and question some certainties. problem of the opponents of vaccination in the
reporting, because in the end there may not
How would it be necessary to be so many people who adhere to conspiracy
communicate and educate the public myths and oppose vaccination. They are
so that conspiracy theories about nonetheless serious groups that are organising
vaccination no longer appear or circulate? and engaging in disinformation. That, in turn,
needs to be mapped in the future.
This must be dealt with openly and early on.
It is often the case that information about side COVID-19 vaccines (questions
effects is not communicated transparently
enough. In the same way, one should point from May-December 2020)
out the conspiracy theories. That’s a double-
edged sword, because you then have to repeat Is there any vaccine against COVID-19 that
them in parts and offer them a platform. But is being done through antibodies from
there are good ways to not reiterate that too people who have already been infected?
much. You may be approached by friends or
family saying that they can imagine there is There are more than 100 clinical trials of
something to such conspiracy myths related to vaccines for COVID-19 at this stage. The
a certain issue. One thinks then perhaps one expert believe they are all being made from the
cannot take that seriously. But this is an attempt antigens of people who have been infected, but
of people to understand the things that happen plasma administrations are also being tested,
around them, this is a human need. And the instead of full blood being only part of the blood
fact that especially during the Corona crisis of people who have been sick, in people who
many of these conspiracy theories resurface are healthy. The same is true for patients with
is of course also due to the dimension of the leukaemia.
whole thing, nobody knows where it came
from, suddenly it was there, and half the world The British government had proposed
is in quarantine. So, you have to say it directly, to wait for the coronavirus epidemic
but never forget to put the facts behind. to spread until it naturally reaches
herd immunity. Is it a viable strategy?
There is a very good website of WHO, it
collects conspiracy theories about Corona, Herd immunity is calculated as a function of
with pictograms the conspiracy theories the value of R0, that is, the spreading capacity
are presented and then refuted with the of an infectious disease. Now, suppose that
presentation of the facts. SARS-CoV-2 R0 is 3, which is an intermediate
value, this would mean that 66% of the
How many people have a negative attitude population would have to contract the disease
towards vaccinations and how to respond? and develop immune antibodies for the disease
to stop circulating. The scientific community
The main problem of vaccine deniers is that believes that this is an excessive share, given
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