Vaccine hesitancy is a symptom of people ’s broken relationship with the state | Nesrine Malik

From Khartoum to Kansas, vaccine conspiracy theorists have one thing in common: they have lost their faith in governmentCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIt ’s hard to explain what it feels like when someone you thought you knew intimately starts to repeat conspiracy theories about the pandemic and vaccines. You don’t really grasp what’s happening immediately: it’s too vast and jarring a realisation to gulp down in one go. So you go through phas es. First you clutch at straws. Perhaps it’s a bad joke, or they didn’t really mean it, or they’re just misinformed. Then you enter a stage of hot, disorienting rage and frustrated remonstration. Once that is spent, finally you cool off. But inside you is a leaden realisation that not only is this person you love putting their life at risk: perhaps you never really knew them at all.People with the wildest theories about the pandemic can be found in countries even where most people don ’t have access to the internet, cable TV or the shock jocks of commercial radio. A common impulse is to write off those espousing conspiracies, consigning them to the casualties claimed by WhatsApp groups, disinformation or silent mental health issues. These things may be true – but vaccine hesi tancy is a symptom of broader failures. What all people wary of vaccines have in common, fromKhartoum toKansas, is their trust in the state has been eroded. Without understanding this, we will be fated to keep channel...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Health Vaccines and immunisation Protest UK news Coronavirus Sudan Media Africa Science World news Source Type: news