How should the Government deal with Anti Vaxxers?

 by Hamish Orr

As we face one of the most important phases of fighting the coronavirus vaccine, a growing number of people in Britain and abroad are becoming more and more concerned over the safety of the vaccine, with some suggesting that it was rushed or even contains a tracking device. 

With social media accounts held by so-called ‘anti-vaxxers’ having increased in following by 7-8 million globally since 2019, what should our government and governments abroad be doing to combat this lack of understanding and trust in science which will help us get out of this crisis once and for all. 

In Britain, it is estimated that as many as 5.4 Million people are said to not trust the COVID vaccine and are hesitant to take a vaccine with some estimates saying as many as 24% of the UK population are not 100% sure that they will take a vaccine. This isn’t surprising given that 1 in 3 people are exposed to anti vaccine messages in the UK regularly. 

Without a vaccine we will forever be stuck in a cycle of lockdowns and restrictions so what can the government do to prevent the infectious spread of misinformation and fear surrounding vaccines and in particular, the Covid-19 vaccine. 

There are many different approaches to tackling the ‘anti vaxxer pandemic’ with some approaches potentially more effective than others. There are three methods, with pros and cons, that I am going to outline. Some are more practical and enforceable than others.

Although the government currently cannot force anyone to receive medical treatment for COVID 19 or force anyone to take the vaccine, one approach that they could take is restricting travel of anti-vaxxers such as banning air travel without a vaccine certificate or preventing use of public transport and non essential public services. On top of this the government could impose restrictions similar to those now preventing anti vaxxers from leaving home for non essential purposes, this however is difficult to enforce effectively and would be considered by many as extreme and too authoritarian to be widely accepted as the best thing to do. 

Another approach would be to use social media and other platforms to show the benefits and safety of the vaccine, potentially using guilt trips to increase vaccine uptake. This is a method that will almost certainly be used, spreading awareness for the benefits of taking the vaccine and encouraging people to sign up is a simple and somewhat effective way of encouraging people to take a vaccine. A common way of spreading public health information is through TV and social media campaigns raising awareness for the safety and importance of taking the vaccine. 

Finally, another route, between the stringent measures of inflicting lockdowns on anti vaxxers and simple campaigning, is making the vaccine compulsory, with a consequence of failing to do so being a compulsory vaccination awareness course. A course could offer a targeted way of informing anti vaxxers which could be effective in ensuring people have a basic understanding of how vaccines work and why the COVID vaccine is safe for them to take. This tool could be used to inform those that have been misled by false information of the facts. As the government cannot force people to take the vaccine once this course has been taken if someone still doesn’t want the vaccine then there is not much more that can be done. This would also be effective as a preventative measure as some people might choose just to take the vaccine to avoid having to spend a day learning about basic vaccine science.

The British government could take a number of routes to help prevent anti vaxxers undermining the vaccine effort, most likely a combination of restrictions on those that can take the vaccine but choose not to, such as air travel bans as well as online campaigning to increase vaccine uptake. It is estimated that 70-80% of the population have to uptake the vaccine in order for effective herd immunity to protect those without. This is a number the government should be striving to surpass as soon as they possibly can take whatever steps are necessary.

It is important to note that some important historical factors need to be considered, particularly in reference to vaccine failures in the past. For Example the Cutter incident where a vaccine containing live polio was given to thousands of children, causing an outbreak of the disease killing 10 children and paralysing hundreds. These historical factors and the damage it caused to some families has to be taken into account and could be difficult to regain the trust of people badly affected by vaccines in the past and it could be argued they shouldn’t be punished for this today. 

There are many factors that the government will take into consideration when planning the best way forwards but I believe that the best way will involve a combination of restrictions (such as air travel restrictions) and education and these restrictions shouldn’t affect people that cannot take the vaccine for health reasons.