6 ms·

What are the reasons for the hate of the COVID vaccine?

by bhaak 28d ago

declan_roberts 28d ago
Probably one of the most polarizing issues of the last 5 years.
- Insanity 28d ago
  I don't recall it being as polarizing outside of the US, where there was a larger group of anti-vaxxers to begin with. But that might be my "outside US" bubble.
  - estearum 28d ago
    And, critically, a malignant narcissist in the highest office.
  - user43928 28d ago
    I don't know how things were in the US, but it was polarizing in Europe too. People were holding protests. I know two friends who refused to get the vaccine and downloaded forged documents to be admitted into bars and clubs. Very anecdotal, but after we went out together they both contracted Covid and had a high fever, while I luckily remained healthy.
  - MFHava 28d ago
    Oh it was, actually still is - our right wing party is still talking about this stuff regularly...
- epistasis 28d ago
  "Polarizing" is a word that kind of applies, especially if one is trying to be polite, but really it's one of the most politically disinformed issues in a long long time. A bunch of grifters pushed fear, uncertainty, and doubt for personal gain, at the expense of the health of the nation. I try not to blame people who got tricked, but at some point we need to treat people like adults who are responsible for their own actions, and hold them accountable for the harm they perpetuate by believing BS and acting on it. A democracy cannot function when its members are low-functioning, and when bad information dominates. Those who spread disinformation, relish the conspiracy and disinformation because it makes them feel special emotionally, and wallow in the mess of it, are hurting us all.
  - Arkhaine_kupo 28d ago
    > A democracy cannot function when its members are low-functioning, and when bad information dominates. A discussion as old as time. Plato considered voting a skill, and if you were shit at it, then you shouldnt be voting
- SideburnsOfDoom 28d ago
  You're not wrong, at least in the USA - but it really shouldn't be. The polarisation was ginned up for various bad reasons, including political gain. It's deadly culture war nonsense.
alexlesuper 28d ago
Probably disinformation.
tasty_freeze 28d ago
There is a legitimate discussion of what can be mandated you do to your body. However, that discussion was largely side-tracked by the massive amount of disinformation (eg, "Plandemic") that circulated online. There are people who to this day swear that COVID-19 was just like the flu and simultaneously claim that the vaccine spike proteins have killed around 20M people. Not just crackpots, but people with reach, like Brett Weinstein on Joe Rogan's podcast.
- Arkhaine_kupo 28d ago
  > There is a legitimate discussion of what can be mandated you do to your body. But we have already protocols and frameworks on public health. Also plenty of other medical choices are taken with way less input of experts (see abortion discussions for example) Not sure, the midst of a global crisis, with almost universal scientific approval is the time to have a long discussion on bodily autonomy on countries like america where 50% of people cant read at a 6th grade level.
- SideburnsOfDoom 28d ago
  > There is a legitimate discussion of what can be mandated you do to your body. There is a legitimate discussion (dating back at least to Typhoid Mary (1) ) on excluding people from public spaces when they refuse to take basic public health measures. Taking a vaccine for a spreading deadly pandemic is one of those measures. Doing something so violently anti-social is not simply a "bodily autonomy" issue, and framing it only as such is deeply misguided in a way that seems particular to some USA norms. 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon > In 1907, she was forcibly quarantined at the Riverside Hospital
  - tasty_freeze 28d ago
    I got the covid shot and every booster. I have no qualms about mRNA messing me up, and I think it was a tremendous life saver. As stated, there was also a ton of misinformation floating around, and people believed that misinformation. The thing is most of those people made rational objections. The problem is their reasoning was based on false information. They didn't see it as being anti social as they thought the drug was a boondoggle, untested, and that covid wasn't serious. I disagree with all of it, but it is important to understand why they objected, and not just saying they are selfish or antisocial.
nyanmatt 28d ago
On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer, based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.
- attila-lendvai 28d ago
  heh, touché! :)
dosisking 28d ago
[flagged]
DaSHacka 28d ago
Mostly that it was forced unneccessarily on everyone, even those who did not benefit from it, if I had to guess.
- pfdietz 28d ago
  Forced on everyone? That's a thing that didn't happen.
  - DaSHacka 28d ago
    Uh, THAT'S the part you're going to try to challenge me on? You lived through 2020, right? Even people in this very website were supporting mandatory vaccinations. Where if you didn't get vaccinated, you couldn't keep your job or academic prospects, leave your house, or even go to most social gatherings. I cannot believe the people that supported such measures at the time now turn around and say "well, we didn't literally pin you to the ground and force you to take it. So therefore, it was completely voluntary and you're responsible for your own choices and we can't be held responsible whatsoever."
    - pfdietz 28d ago
      Yes, that is. Are there other bald-faced lies I should be focusing on instead? The vaccine wasn't "forced on everyone". Pointing to specific people for whom it was forced isn't "everyone". Nor does the existence of people supporting mandatory COVID vaccines imply "vaccines were forced on everyone".
      - DaSHacka 27d ago
        Well in that case, yeah sorry requiring it to participate to civilized society to any significant degree is essentially no different than flat out forcing it upon people. If the alternative is living in the woods not being able to go outside, that is obviously not a realistic compromise.
        27d ago

What are the reasons for the hate of the COVID vaccine?

by bhaak 28d ago

What are the reasons for the hate of the COVID vaccine?

declan_roberts 28d ago

Probably one of the most polarizing issues of the last 5 years.

Insanity 28d ago
I don't recall it being as polarizing outside of the US, where there was a larger group of anti-vaxxers to begin with. But that might be my "outside US" bubble.
- estearum 28d ago
  And, critically, a malignant narcissist in the highest office.
- user43928 28d ago
  I don't know how things were in the US, but it was polarizing in Europe too. People were holding protests. I know two friends who refused to get the vaccine and downloaded forged documents to be admitted into bars and clubs. Very anecdotal, but after we went out together they both contracted Covid and had a high fever, while I luckily remained healthy.
- MFHava 28d ago
  Oh it was, actually still is - our right wing party is still talking about this stuff regularly...
epistasis 28d ago
"Polarizing" is a word that kind of applies, especially if one is trying to be polite, but really it's one of the most politically disinformed issues in a long long time. A bunch of grifters pushed fear, uncertainty, and doubt for personal gain, at the expense of the health of the nation. I try not to blame people who got tricked, but at some point we need to treat people like adults who are responsible for their own actions, and hold them accountable for the harm they perpetuate by believing BS and acting on it. A democracy cannot function when its members are low-functioning, and when bad information dominates. Those who spread disinformation, relish the conspiracy and disinformation because it makes them feel special emotionally, and wallow in the mess of it, are hurting us all.
- Arkhaine_kupo 28d ago
  > A democracy cannot function when its members are low-functioning, and when bad information dominates. A discussion as old as time. Plato considered voting a skill, and if you were shit at it, then you shouldnt be voting
SideburnsOfDoom 28d ago
You're not wrong, at least in the USA - but it really shouldn't be. The polarisation was ginned up for various bad reasons, including political gain. It's deadly culture war nonsense.

alexlesuper 28d ago

Probably disinformation.

tasty_freeze 28d ago

There is a legitimate discussion of what can be mandated you do to your body. However, that discussion was largely side-tracked by the massive amount of disinformation (eg, "Plandemic") that circulated online. There are people who to this day swear that COVID-19 was just like the flu and simultaneously claim that the vaccine spike proteins have killed around 20M people. Not just crackpots, but people with reach, like Brett Weinstein on Joe Rogan's podcast.

Arkhaine_kupo 28d ago
> There is a legitimate discussion of what can be mandated you do to your body. But we have already protocols and frameworks on public health. Also plenty of other medical choices are taken with way less input of experts (see abortion discussions for example) Not sure, the midst of a global crisis, with almost universal scientific approval is the time to have a long discussion on bodily autonomy on countries like america where 50% of people cant read at a 6th grade level.
SideburnsOfDoom 28d ago
> There is a legitimate discussion of what can be mandated you do to your body. There is a legitimate discussion (dating back at least to Typhoid Mary (1) ) on excluding people from public spaces when they refuse to take basic public health measures. Taking a vaccine for a spreading deadly pandemic is one of those measures. Doing something so violently anti-social is not simply a "bodily autonomy" issue, and framing it only as such is deeply misguided in a way that seems particular to some USA norms. 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Mallon > In 1907, she was forcibly quarantined at the Riverside Hospital
- tasty_freeze 28d ago
  I got the covid shot and every booster. I have no qualms about mRNA messing me up, and I think it was a tremendous life saver. As stated, there was also a ton of misinformation floating around, and people believed that misinformation. The thing is most of those people made rational objections. The problem is their reasoning was based on false information. They didn't see it as being anti social as they thought the drug was a boondoggle, untested, and that covid wasn't serious. I disagree with all of it, but it is important to understand why they objected, and not just saying they are selfish or antisocial.

nyanmatt 28d ago

On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer, based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

attila-lendvai 28d ago
heh, touché! :)

dosisking 28d ago

[flagged]

DaSHacka 28d ago

Mostly that it was forced unneccessarily on everyone, even those who did not benefit from it, if I had to guess.

pfdietz 28d ago
Forced on everyone? That's a thing that didn't happen.
- DaSHacka 28d ago
  Uh, THAT'S the part you're going to try to challenge me on? You lived through 2020, right? Even people in this very website were supporting mandatory vaccinations. Where if you didn't get vaccinated, you couldn't keep your job or academic prospects, leave your house, or even go to most social gatherings. I cannot believe the people that supported such measures at the time now turn around and say "well, we didn't literally pin you to the ground and force you to take it. So therefore, it was completely voluntary and you're responsible for your own choices and we can't be held responsible whatsoever."
  - pfdietz 28d ago
    Yes, that is. Are there other bald-faced lies I should be focusing on instead? The vaccine wasn't "forced on everyone". Pointing to specific people for whom it was forced isn't "everyone". Nor does the existence of people supporting mandatory COVID vaccines imply "vaccines were forced on everyone".
    - DaSHacka 27d ago
      Well in that case, yeah sorry requiring it to participate to civilized society to any significant degree is essentially no different than flat out forcing it upon people. If the alternative is living in the woods not being able to go outside, that is obviously not a realistic compromise.
      - 27d ago