The Selfish Cruelty of the Anti-Vaxxers Must Stop
The anti-vaxxer movement is a hindrance to public health and ought to be treated as such.
After a year of the coronavirus and months of fighting over vaccines, the time for games has passed. The anti-vaccine movement has long hampered public health efforts, and I have consistently deplored them for it, even before Covid-19. But with Covid deaths in America outpacing the 1918 pandemic, my patience is wearing thin and so too is the patience of the president. Rather than arguing why mandates are necessary, as I have already made that argument, I want to address the relentless cruelty of anti-vaxxerism. There is no other way to put it: anti-vaxxers are destroying our chances of defeating covid-19.
Getting vaccinated in the face of Covid-19 is not only a matter of personal safety; it is a duty to the public. Unlike most other forms of health, vaccines are an inherently collective form of health policy. It depends upon herd immunity, which significantly decreases the chances of the disease spreading and mutating. Rather than each individual getting protection for their own sake, getting the vaccination requires that all medically capable people get it to ensure the spread ends. It necessitates public cooperation.
As it stands right now, the percentage of Americans vaccinated is inadequate, with only 55 percent of Americans fully vaccinated and only 66 percent receiving a single dose. Cities like El Paso have bucked this trend, with 75 percent of their population getting vaccinated and falling within the minimum percentage of 70 percent set by the Mayo Clinic. Still, herd immunity is well below what is needed to slow the pandemic. And it is primarily driven by the vaccine-hesitant.
While it is difficult to always define or distinguish between anti-vaccine and skeptical, the studies that have been done show a disturbing level of influence among Americans. The Journal for Politics, Groups, and Identities found that an estimated 22 percent of Americans identify as anti-vaxxers. The anti-vaxxers are far from insignificant or inactive. Nor have they ever been. In 2019, an anti-vaxxer threw blood at California lawmakers over their decision to alter the vaccine exceptions under their laws. Earlier this year, anti-vaxxers disrupted a vaccination site at Dodgers Stadium, temporarily preventing people from getting access to the vaccine. One woman drove her car through a vaccination tent in another incident, nearly hitting a dozen healthcare professionals while screaming anti-vaccine slogans. This is not going away.
The fundamental problem is that anti-vaxxers won't merely refuse to get vaccinated themselves but will actively oppose any attempt to provide such services to the people. The fact that violence pops up within their movement is yet another reason to oppose their movement at every turn. And the consequences are evident for all to see. Hospitals are overrun with Covid patients, with ICU rooms unable to serve other injuries and illnesses, and instead of changing their ways, anti-vax advocates will argue that it is all a lie, a hoax. They don't care about the suffering they inflict on others because that selfishness is the centerpiece of their ideology.
There can be no more negotiations and no more games. Anti-vax content online must be treated as a violation of TOS and dealt with directly. It must be called out in the public sphere and treated like the dangerous deception that it is. Mandates must be passed and enforced, or we will never get out of this pandemic. They're the ones holding us back.