Vaccination

Vaccinations

Vaccinations are a very modern way of preventing infections. They work by letting the body's immune system learn to fight an infection without getting ill  in the first place. 

Vaccinations work by using either a weakened or dead version of a microorganism. This lets the body's immune system learn how to make antibodies to fight the microorganism, but because the microorganism is weakened or dead, the Body doesn't become ill. These antibodies stay in the blood and will attack live versions of the microorganism, if the body does become infected, without making the body ill. 

Vaccine Hesitancy 

Vaccine Hesitancy refers to people choosing not to be vaccinated due to a range of reasons. 

It is not simply a matter of people being "anti-vax" or refusing all vaccines. Rather, it exists on a spectrum and can vary depending on the specific vaccine, the individual's personal experiences, and the information they have access to.

Vaccine Hesitancy : Lack of Trust

Some vaccine hestitancy can be caused by previous poor medical experiences. Lack of trust historically can erode trust in modern medical advice, causing vaccine hesitancy. 

An example of this is the 'Tuskegee experiment' - For 40 years, from 1932 to 1972, Black men in Tuskegee, in the US state of Alabama, were enrolled in a study conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service. They were told they were receiving treatment for "bad blood," but in reality, they were not given any treatment for syphilis, even after penicillin became available as a cure. The study was conducted to observe the long-term effects of untreated syphilis, and the men and their families were deliberately deceived and harmed. 

This study, and others like it, have created a deep and understandable mistrust of the medical community among many Black Americans. This mistrust can contribute to vaccine hesitancy, as people may be concerned that they are not being given the full truth about vaccines or that they are being experimented on without their consent. It is important to acknowledge this history of abuse and to work to rebuild trust between the medical community and the Black community.

Vaccine Hesitancy : Misinformation

False or misleading information, often spread through social media and online platforms, can create fear and distrust in vaccines. This misinformation can range from claims about harmful side effects to conspiracy theories about vaccine development. 

It can be difficult to counteract misinformation, as it often plays on emotions and preys on existing anxieties, leading individuals to make uninformed decisions about vaccination. An example of this is the scientifically proven to be false link between the MMR vaccine and Autism. 

Due to a single, now discredited as fraudulent, study in 1998 which linked the MMR vaccine to autism in children, the vaccine rate for the MMR vaccine dropped globally. 

Though repeatedly proved to be  fraudulent in many research studies, the misinformation that there is a risk with the vaccine still causes hesitancy globally, and has caused outbreaks of measles that need not have occured, risking public health. 

Vaccine Hesitancy : Safety Concerns

In the recent Covid-19 pandemic vaccine hesitancy due to safety concerns was seen. As a brand new vaccine being depolyed under emergency circuimstances, some people had concerns that the vaccine had not been tested rigourously enough in order to ensure safety, linking into narratives started by misinformation. 

Whilst the timeline was accelerated, the safety and efficacy were still top priorities. The Covid-19 vaccines were proven to be safe and effective in preventing serious illness, hospitalisation, and death in lab and human trials prior to being rolled out to the population.