Comment: A Letter to an Antivaxxer

Dear anti-vaxxer,

It’s alright, I know the last year or so has been unbearable. I know you’re tired of the government telling you what you can and can’t do. I know you’re worried about all the unknowns, about side-effects and long-term problems. I’m sure you’ve thought about how much more we know about the long-term consequences of vaccines than we understand about this new and strange disease. You did consider that, didn’t you?

This isn’t directed at those with needle phobias, apprehensions or those who for whatever reason aren’t allowed the vaccine. Just those who disagree with evidence, the science, the truth.

I get that Facebook tells you that you’ll turn magnetic, microchipped with maladies and that the choice is down to you. Wait a few years to see how the rest of us turn out and then make your “informed” decision. Thing is, if enough people bide their time, a few years from now we won’t be exiting this pandemic…we will still be at the heart of one.

That is what you are hoping for, right? For everyone else to get vaccinated to make the world safe for you? Well over three billion of us have taken the first step, and we’d love for you to join us. You are probably very safety conscious, that’s okay. Not driving anywhere, not smoking, drinking, eating carcinogenic chicken, not going abroad, not breathing in your cleaning products, not crossing busy roads or being in crowds. Or have you decided that, for at least some of these, the minimal risk is worth the reward?

The vaccines are working, by the way. Even with new more transmissible and dangerous variants, our hospitalisations and deaths remain low. But that will only continue long term if enough of us are walking around with Pfizer and Moderna flowing through us.

Vaccines have already made your life easier. You live in a country not riddled with Polio, Rubella or Diphtheria. Your body is likely already thriving from your 6-in-1, Rotavirus, Pneumococcal, MMR and HPV vaccines.

You are exercising your right to choose, and that is genuinely important. But you may also be forgetting your privilege. Some who are allergic to the ingredients cannot have the vaccine and millions of others have no access to it yet. Not to mention, less than 1 percent of Africa’s population has been fully vaccinated, not due to demand but rather because of supply. Whilst you may have access to a ventilator and hospital bed if you are struck down with Covid, vaccineless, others will not have the same luxury. And they will die. Because this pandemic isn’t over until it is over for everyone.

I get that you are nervous, but first you must be informed. So, please reconsider, on behalf of all of us, and get that jab.

Yours truly,

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