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I've a hard time talking to ppl who are against vaccinations, but I try to articulate it this way:
1) I say I don't understand. Not that I hate them, but I don't understand
2) If they try to explain it to me, it becomes clear we can't detangle pharma mistrust from this moment
1) I say I don't understand. Not that I hate them, but I don't understand
2) If they try to explain it to me, it becomes clear we can't detangle pharma mistrust from this moment
This has come up in many contexts, including in my own family.
My POV is particular.
—My birth mother did NOT vaccinate me for MMR, which caused big problems for me later in life (& resentment)
—I study viruses for a living
—I signed up for COVID trials (but wasn't called)
My POV is particular.
—My birth mother did NOT vaccinate me for MMR, which caused big problems for me later in life (& resentment)
—I study viruses for a living
—I signed up for COVID trials (but wasn't called)
My POV, contd
—I study & write about medical racism & know its history relatively well
—I understand the history of vaccinations relatively well
—I have a lethal allergy (penicillin) & know there's little to be afraid of w vaccines
—As a gay man I live a life managing viruses
—I study & write about medical racism & know its history relatively well
—I understand the history of vaccinations relatively well
—I have a lethal allergy (penicillin) & know there's little to be afraid of w vaccines
—As a gay man I live a life managing viruses
What I *think* is partially happening is that ppl (even nurses) see the way medicine and pharma ruin ppl's lives. Like a person buying a printer always beholden to HP for ink, they see someone needing insulin or a cancer drug & know they'll always be beholden to that corporation
I think they think the vaccine will make them beholden to Moderna or Pfizer forever & refusal will stop that. I think a sense of control over their bodies (even as 400K Americans have died of COVID) is leading some to say, "I've kept the virus out of MY body...
...I don't want some drug company tinkering in my body and then having control over a proprietary drug I'll need forever."
Bc pharma has created this distrust & medicine will DESTROY ppl economically in the US & med history IS racist, it is impossible to say,
Bc pharma has created this distrust & medicine will DESTROY ppl economically in the US & med history IS racist, it is impossible to say,
"Just put all that aside and trust us this one time." You can disaggregate economics and history from the understanding of anything, let alone something as intimate as what does in "my body."
And then, the big fish: that phrase "my body"
And then, the big fish: that phrase "my body"
We are socialized repeatedly to think of "my body."
It's something one owns.
It is conceived of individually.
This isn't is just conservative; "my body, my choice" has been a cornerstone of liberal abortion politics for decades.
It's something one owns.
It is conceived of individually.
This isn't is just conservative; "my body, my choice" has been a cornerstone of liberal abortion politics for decades.
You can't immediately pivot from "my body, my choice" to telling 330,000,000 Americans "You must choose this vaccine" and expect them to make that choice—ESPECIALLY when the entire neoliberal onus is on them to figure out where to find and how to get (& understand) the damn thing
One of the biggest existential and philosophical crises presented to humanity in general & the US in particular is how we think of health—is it truly public? Or is it individual? "Our body, we choose collectively (and care for each other)", or "my body, my choice"?
And what makes this really difficult to address is that health is profit-oriented in the US, with the benefits flowing up, while ALL risk—debt, harm, ableism, racism, etc—flows down to individuals to solve by themselves, in alienation.
Add to this the constant chaos of drugs themselves (ie showing Pfizer works & Moderna works, but then asking ppl to combine Pfizer and Modern when they've never been tested?), of lockdowns (schools is open! now it's remote!) & of economics (stimulus is coming—now it's not!)...
...and, well, it feels a bit more understandable to me why people are guarded about the most intimate space they occupy (the body they live in) & the chance to say "No" in a society entirely framed around choice
The answer, to me, is not simply about public education or a smoother rollout, but on a fundamental shift in conceptions of body and risk—to conceive of and build a society where risk is shared, wealth isn't hoarded and the health of the public body at large is taken care of.
A related argument—I often hear professors say they can't believe someone would forgo vaccinations for themselves or their kids bc it's selfish to harm others.
I'll then ask, "Well, have you ever gotten on a plane, to go somewhere for fun?"
I'll then ask, "Well, have you ever gotten on a plane, to go somewhere for fun?"
Getting on a plane increases asthma of children who live near airports, usually Black & brown, shortening their average lifespans.
Getting on a planes increases global warming for ppl of the future.
We do things all the time which harms the health of others.
Getting on a planes increases global warming for ppl of the future.
We do things all the time which harms the health of others.
We make those decisions NOT intending to harm others, but bc economics allow us to make them &, if you can afford them, they bring pleasure.
It's important to think abt how pleasure & economics shape every decision ppl make—ALL of our decisions.
It's important to think abt how pleasure & economics shape every decision ppl make—ALL of our decisions.
TY. I didn't invent it—there's salvery scholarship on "my body." If a person "has" a body which they own, that ownership can be transferred or stolen. But as an HIV scholar, I've raised "my body, my choice" as an issue for HIV immunity & now w vaccines. https://twitter.com/SadieLansdale/status/1351184151374917632
Typo correction: You *CAN'T* disaggregate economics and history from the understanding of anything, let alone something as intimate as what ONE does in "my body." https://twitter.com/thrasherxy/status/1351176043554627587
