Combating the Anti-Vaccination Movement

Although the anti-mask movement is still with us—a full year after Flaskerud (2020) examined Americans’ irrational resistance to wearing a face mask to protect others from COVID-19—the anti-vaccine movement now has taken center stage (Haelle, 2021). After the development of safe, free, and effective vaccines for coronavirus infection, a collective sigh of relief was heard. Lonely days of lockdown ended. Grandparents traveled to meet the babies they had never held, and businesses welcomed shoppers and diners who ventured out once again. But along came Delta variant. The virus was not finished, and the nation is experiencing a dangerous upsurge of infections, especially among the unvaccinated. Bruni (2021) speculates that the current COVID chapter may be the hardest of all: “We thought we’d turned the corner, only to learn we hadn’t, and we’re neither isolated nor liberated.” We are impatient with those who will not become vaccinated. We cannot understand them.

Anti-vaccine movies, political action groups, and politicians uttering the rhetoric of “medical freedom” have been alarmingly influential among people hesitant to become vaccinated—including members of our own profession. I cringed recently when two nurses were among the vaccine refusers being interviewed by a television news reporter. One nurse claimed that “the vaccine has not been tested,” although data are publicly available on the testing of thousands of people, and millions more across the globe have received the vaccine with minimal adverse consequences. Another young nurse I know refuses the vaccine because she believes that it may cause infertility. As US hospitals began to mandate vaccination of their employees, some nurses resigned, escalating a troubling nursing shortage. Although a tiny minority in the medical profession, there are also anti-vax physicians who fuel the rumor mill with untrue statements about vaccine ingredients and disastrous vaccination sequelae.

I am watching the consequences of the “anti-vax” movement from a front-row seat in the state of Tennessee, where the number of COVID cases is at its highest level since the pandemic began. As I write today, September 16, Tennessee has the most coronavirus infections per capita of all US states, attributable in large part to the vaccine refusal of so many of its residents. Vaccination is free and readily accessible, yet less than half of Tennesseans have gotten their shots. Politics in our state has interfered with vaccination campaigns. For example, when our state’s medical director mounted a vaccination campaign aimed at young people this summer, she was fired.

As observed by Chan et al. (2021, p. 2), a global pandemic is “an ideal breeding ground for the spread of false narratives…a hallmark feature [being] the proliferation of conspiracy theories on social media.” Early in the pandemic, QAnon conspiracy theory spread the belief that COVID was a hoax, and more recently adherents to the theory are undermining trust in the vaccine. Flaskerud (2021) has provided information about QAnon as well as other myths and conspiracies about COVID-19, ranging from Bill Gates as the creator of the disease to a cornucopia of bizarre treatments that undoubtedly have caused deaths. She also reviewed an interesting proposal from Grohol (2020) for a new psychiatric diagnosis of Conspiracy Theory Disorder, but perhaps some anti-vaxxers would not meet criteria for this diagnosis. Perhaps some of them would respond to factual information and scientific evidence, were it made accessible to them in timely fashion by credible authorities. One new study of 111 countries and territories showed that the earlier a government had communicated to its people about the virus, the lower the interest in the QAnon conspiracy theory (Chan et al., 2021). Interest in QAnon rose specifically in response to later government communication, with effects larger in America, Europe, and Oceania. Sadly, information being disseminated at the federal level in the United States was often conflicting and confusing.

What can psychiatric-mental health nurses do in this dangerous pandemic time as myths and conspiracies still flourish, people continue to die from infection with this virus, and effective vaccines are refused? We can certainly serve as credible authorities, dispensing education to dispel misinformation. But education is the solution only when ignorance is the problem. People are fearful, and fear foments irrational thinking. As professionals with expertise in promoting mental health, we have some tools to help people reduce anxiety, engage in reflection, think more rationally, and make informed decisions.

Rothman (2021) pointed to several important new books shedding light on rationality which may be useful. Steven Pinker, author of one of these books, says, “We achieve rationality by implementing rules for the community that make us collectively more rational than any of us are individually” (cited in Marchese, 2021, p. 18). Thus, I believe we as nurses are called to advocate for sensible “rules for the community,” fighting the anti-vaccine movement and related legislation that endangers community health.