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News of a #COVID19 vaccine is abound, yet questions of feasibility, efficacy & implementation remain. @AnthMedJournal just published my commentary #Vaccines & #Vitriol, so here is my attempt at a #Twitter #thread to condense the arguments. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13648470.2020.1825618
For the past 7 years, I've been interested in the question of ' #religious opposition' to #vaccination. Firstly, thanks to @wellcometrust & @AnthroHealthDU for funding & supporting this interest, & the parents, health practitioners & #religious authorities that shared their time.
There is a tendency in discourse around #PublicHealth to amplify #religion & #ethnicity as categories of opposition, when [...] issues of confidence in #vaccines and trust in public health are instead at play https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13648470.2020.1825618
#vaccine-related challenges & opportunities from one context can be applicable to another, though we should not forget that #publichealth relations involve context-specific and historically situated issues. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13648470.2020.1825618
My book explores how the emphasis on ‘ #culture’ & ‘ #religious beliefs’ in #PublicHealth discourse is essentializing, & does not reflect how religious minorities formulate #vaccine decisions based on trust in the state & healthcare services more broadly. https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/KasstanMaking
Often there are internal ways of working around #publichealth issues in #religious minorities and attempts to improve and mediate public health relations, which challenges the representation of uniformly ‘non- compliant’ communities https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13648470.2020.1825618
What is true of any #ethnic or #religious ‘community’ is #diversity. Parents hold a diverse range of responses to #vaccinations that include acceptance, selective acceptance, delayed acceptance and outright refusal. This is not unique to them. https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/KasstanMaking
The issue of #vaccinations offers a signpost to explore critical representations of #religious minorities and relations with #publichealth services in high-income country settings amidst the 2020 #COVID19 pandemic. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13648470.2020.1825618
The long-term management of #COVID19 rests on maintaining sustainable #publichealth relations with minority groups, with many insights at hand from issues surrounding childhood #vaccinations. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13648470.2020.1825618
Addressing the legacy of the #MMR safety controversy among #minorities and the underlining issue of confidence in the state to appropriately protect population health will prove crucial in the roll-out of a #COVID19 #vaccine. https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/KasstanMaking
Lastly, the onus is on proponents of compulsory or coercive #vaccine policies to explain how this strategy would promote public confidence in #vaccinations. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13648470.2020.1825618
