“Everyone wants me to do it to save the population as if I’m supposed to sacrifice my child for everyone else” - Melissa Floyd, a mother and an anti-vaxxer.
Disclaimer: Most information is adopted from this video called “Pro-Vaccine vs Anti-Vaccine: Should Your Kids Get Vaccinated? | Middle Ground” on Youtube. Here’s the link to the video; https://youtu.be/WQptarOLSBU
ANTI-VAXXERS. Have you ever come across someone who is an anti-vaccine? Do you ever just want to know why they are against the idea of vaccines? We know you do! So basically, with all the technology and knowledge we have today, we have more information to avoid certain diseases and as everyone knows, vaccines are one of the solutions. But! This is where anti-vaccination comes into action.
Anti-vaccination, known as vaccine hesitancy or anti-vax is a reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated or to have one's children vaccinated against contagious diseases.
Now, the reason why we would like to talk about this, is because we saw a video called “Middle Ground” on YouTube, a video that showed a discussion between pro-vaccine and anti-vaccine, It intrigued us how these anti-vaxxers view vaccine but before we get too deep into this week’s topic, we believe that everyone has their own opinion on vaccine. Though we may not be able to change your opinion on this matter, we would like you to acknowledge the presence of these people and why they view one of the solutions to the problems we have, as a threat.
Truth to be told, most anti-vaxxers are naïve. “What do you guys mean by naïve?” What we mean is that these anti-vaccine people started from a person who knows nothing and has no idea of anything regarding vaccines. According to William Schaffner (n.d.), the president of the department of preventive medicine in Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, (as cited in Parker, 2015) he stated that we now have two generations who have not seen measles and it causes these anti-vaxxers to not see the consequences of not receiving vaccines.
Since we all grew up being very well updated with technology, these anti-vaccines rely on the source of the internet a little bit too much. Hence, the misinformation they receive from the internet makes them view vaccines as a threat. For instance, they learnt through social media that receiving a vaccine will lead you to have some side effects, such as seizure and allergies. Despite that, they assume so many theories about vaccines without any verification from those in the medical field, and all of the overabundance misinformation they had received led them to the second part which is their strong ignorance caused by their personal experiences.
Anti-vaxxers are ignorant. Some of them have bad personal experience but due to no trustable bond between a patient and a doctor, they validate their own symptoms and blame the vaccine they received. As an example, Melissa Floyd from the “Middle Ground” video claimed that the reaction received by her daughter was caused by the vaccine. She also stated that whether vaccinated or not, anyone can be spreading diseases.”It’s hard to trust someone who sees your child for 10 minutes twice a year. In the end, parents know their children best”, she said.
Another anti-vaxxer, Marisa, shared her personal experience through the video we mentioned before. She received a vaccine 15 years ago and had a severe reaction on her hand. After she went to many doctors, she said that none of them had any idea of her symptoms. Later, she did her own research and she believed that there are many things overlooked regarding vaccines. This clearly shows how these anti-vaxxers believe in their own assumptions and researches rather than the facts about vaccines from the professionals.
From being naive and then ignorant, now they are overprotective over literally everyone. This group of people grow stronger when they are being “protective” over others. They started with not vaccinating their children to spread misinformation about vaccines to other parents. They are getting stronger day by day, when most of the parents influenced are naïve. See how the cycle works? In addition, Immunise4Life chairman, Professor Datuk Dr. Zulkifli Ismail (n.d.) said that these anti-vaccines’ voices are so loud that they confuse others (as cited in Arumugam & Solhi, 2019). In contrast, they think that they are doing something while being concerned about others but at the end of the day, they only make it harder for the others to dismiss these risks that can actually be lessened by vaccines.
The next time you meet an anti-vaxxer, do not go against them but try to encounter them with the knowledge you have regarding vaccines. Remember, we can always help without discriminating against anyone. To wrap up this week’s topic, anti-vaxxers are basically people who are naive and ignorant. Their world revolves around the wrong information and what makes it worse is that some of them will start influencing others. Nonetheless, we can’t change their perspectives but we are sure that we can educate them in certain ways so their ignorance would not be a burden to those who accept vaccines as a prevention measure. Thank you for tuning it! Hope to see you in the next post! OH AND DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE COVID-19 VACCINATION AT THE MYSEJAHTERA APPLICATION #kitajagakita
References:
Arumugam, T. Solhi, F. (2019). Paediatrician: Anti-vaccination Group Endangering Kids's Lives. Retrieved on March 17, 2021 from https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/12/546496/paediatrician-anti-vaccination-group-endangering-kids-lives
Parker, L. (2015). The Anti-Vaccine Generation: How Movement Against Shots Got Its Start. Retrieved on March 17, 2021 from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/150206-measles-vaccine-disney-outbreak-polio-health-science-infocus
Proofread by Ilyana Elisa & Illya-Wardina
Published by Aisyah Hanim
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