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I have never received the MMR vaccine. I was a child of the ’90s, when my mum read the papers every day, and the slew of articles linking the combined vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella to autism convinced my mother that the MMR vaccine was dangerous. (There is no evidence that the MMR vaccine causes autism.)
I found all of this out about two weeks before my university finals, when I sat next to a fellow student in the final revision lecture of the term. “I’m having a terrible time,” she told me. “My boyfriend has mumps.” I panicked, ran out of the lecture hall, and called my mum to check I’d been vaccinated for mumps. I had not. Thankfully, I did not fall ill, although I was incensed that someone would be selfish enough to go to a packed lecture after being exposed to someone with a highly contagious virus.
My mother is an intelligent woman; a scientist. She studied biochemistry at university. And yet vaccine misinformation got to her. (And to loads of other parents – figures released this year found that the recorded cases of mumps soared to the highest level in a decade.)
Mumps is one thing. But we are living through a global pandemic that has already claimed the lives of 1.58 million people. At record speed, scientists have found a vaccine – the NHS is already distributing the Pfizer vaccine, which is 94 per cent effective at protecting people from Covid-19, to frontline health workers and the elderly. If 2020 was the year of Covid-19, 2021 will be the year of the vaccine. We – by which I mean, much smarter people than me, people who didn’t flunk their chemistry GCSE – did it. We found a way out.
And yet. A recent study from King’s College London and Ipsos MORI found that only 53 per cent of the UK population intends to take a Covid vaccine. We need 70 per cent of the population to be vaccinated in order to end the pandemic. Which means that the most important thing any of us can do right now – aside from washing our hands and not being that annoying person on a train who refuses to wear their mask properly – is encourage our friends and family to take the Covid vaccine. But how to convince the vaccine-sceptic in your life? The experts weigh in.
Don’t be judgmental
“Rule number one is to start off with respect,” says Toby Green of the Royal Society for Public Health. “Things can turn sour if you start to wave your finger at someone. There tends to be an assumption that people who have concerns about vaccines are conspiracy theorists. But hesitancy around vaccines is often linked to valid concerns – not all of them are anti-vaxxers.” So: no rolling your eyes, shaking your head, and absolutely no finger-waving.
Hear their concerns
“Really try and listen to what they’re saying,” says Anita Emly, 34, an admin worker from New York. “As opposed to just using their turn to speak as an opportunity to rebut what they’re saying. Because people can tell when you’re doing that.” A former anti-vaxxer turned vaccine advocate, Emly knows what she’s talking about. She first became vaccine sceptical when pregnant with her first child. “I was worried about the safety of the ingredients,” she says, “and overwhelming the immune system with too many diseases.” Emly didn’t vaccinate her daughter. But she revised her opinion when a family friend died, at the age of 28, of flu – she had not received the flu vaccine. “I saw a vivacious young woman taken down by a vaccine-preventable disease,” she says. Emly’s children are now up-to-date with their vaccines. What would have changed Emly’s mind, back then? “Honestly,” she says, “having someone tell me that they heard me, and understood why I was concerned, would have made a big difference.”
Counter misinformation – gently
Look, none of us are vaccine experts, so we’re not going to be able to answer every concern. But, we can try and drive the conversation onto a more fact-based footing. “What I find works quite well,” says Emly, “is to say, ‘I just want to make sure you have the best possible information, so that you can make an informed decision.’” Ask them about their concerns, and then provide them with as much information as you can to counter these anxieties. But don’t be pushy. “If you push too hard,” says Emly, “that can be counterproductive. When I was deep in my vaccine scepticism, if I wasn’t at a point where I was able to hear things that countered my world view, I would have built a wall against it.”
Signpost them to appropriate resources
Obviously, you aren’t going to be able to answer all of their concerns off the bat, even with Dr Google. “Refer people back to the right resources,” says Green. “The NHS website is great. Or tell people to speak to their GP, if they’re concerned.”
Understand that facts only go so far
The evidence against anti-vaxxers is overwhelming, and yet anti-vaxxers persist – meaning that this isn’t an argument you can counter with evidence alone. It’s about feelings. “There are a constellation of psychological, political, and social factors that underlie vaccine scepticism and refusal,” says Professor Matt Motta, an expert in political science at Oklahoma State University. “Some people have low levels of trust in the medical and scientific communities. Others believe their bodies are temples, and don’t want to put anything foreign in their bodies. Some people are scared of needles.”
Be positive about vaccination
One way to overcome this emotionally-driven vaccine resistance is to reframe the conversation along more positive lines. “Focus on the benefits of vaccinating to yourself and others,” says Motta. “Say, ‘Wouldn’t it be lovely to get vaccinated so we can go on vacation and resume our lives?’ Talk about the health benefits to yourself and others. Point out that healthy people need to be vaccinated, because there are some people who can’t receive vaccines, due to allergies or because they’re immunocompromised.”
Read up on the vaccine approval process
If someone tells you that they’re not an anti-vaxxer but the vaccine has been approved way too fast, says Green, explain in a calm manner the process by which a vaccine gets approval. “It’s true the vaccine has been approved more quickly than normal,” he says. “But that’s just because we put so much resource into the trials. The Pfizer vaccine was tested on upwards of 20,000 people in phase three trials. And we have an internationally trusted regulator, the MHRA, looking at all the evidence, and determining that the vaccine is safe.”
Know when to give up
“I wish I could give you this silver bullet sentence that you can utter to make people want to vaccinate,” says Motta. “But it’s not that simple.” Hardcore Bill-Gates-is-microchipping-us-to-invoke-a-Satanic-world-order conspiracy theorists will always be beyond your powers. “There will be some people who are unreachable,” Motta continues. “Those people who believe the pandemic doesn’t exist, for example – it may not be possible to move the needle for those people, or the best investment of our time and resources. But one thing that is hopeful is that that group of people – [those] who are completely lost – is not very large.” In essence, you can’t ever change another person’s mind – you can only give them information that you hope will nudge them in the right direction.
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