by: bruce hutchison
ontario’s chief medical officer of health, dr. kieran moore, wants to better protect ontario’s most vulnerable against the delta variant of covid-19 but
doesn’t want to make vaccinations mandatory.
a toronto geriatrician calls the decision “gutless.” this is an emotional word, characteristic of political partisan polarization which leads to divisiveness.
we have to find an effective way to handle vaccine-resistant people without calling them names. when we put people into two camps, such as being pro- or con-vaccinations, the result is an emotional reaction that divides and causes alienation. we need to find a better way to handle these disputes.
it is natural for vaccinated people to feel angry at the unvaccinated.
however, we need to be empathic toward the anti-vaccination people rather than be critical. being empathic does not mean that we agree with their position.
if we force them to receive a vaccination, then resentments and distrust will probably go up and their mental health will deteriorate.
much of the reluctance to accept vaccinations relates to emotionally based perceptions in the population which are probably distorted. in 2018, hornsey, harris and fielding wrote
the psychological roots of anti-vaccination attitudes: a 24-nation
investigation. they identified four main reasons people will not accept a vaccine: high conspiratorial thinking; high reactance to being told what to think; disgust reactions to blood, needles and hospitals; and strong individualistic and hierarchical values (anti-government).