Understanding Social Concerns and Anxieties

Understanding Social Concerns and Anxieties around the Use of Vaccines
 
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Understanding Social Concerns and Anxieties around the Use of Vaccines
 
Introduction
There is a long history of vaccine skepticism globally. However, social concerns and anxieties about vaccines are best exemplified today, thanks in no small part to the effects of COVID-19. In the wake of millions of COVID-19 infections and deaths, the global population remains divided on expectations for individually and collectively recovering from COVID-19. There is a sense of uneasiness around the virus’s most promising remedy: a vaccine. For example, a survey in the U.S. reveals that less than 50% of Americans are willing to be vaccinated should a vaccine become available (Murez, 2021). Although public hesitancy could be costly in the fight against infections, it is easy to understand the reserved global approach towards vaccination, and in some cases, downright refusal to be vaccinated.
Literature Review
            Vaccine skepticism is a problem that is deeply rooted in the global culture. Considering the historical harms caused by biased science and medical racism, it becomes easy to understand why many people are reluctant to take the COVID-19 jabs. Such historical injustices also go a long way to explain the disparities in vaccine skepticism across American demographic groups.  There is a longstanding global history of scientific racism. For example, many medical breakthroughs in the early 1900s America were made at the expense of minority groups’ human dignity. First, there was the involuntary sterilization era when Latina, Black, and Indigenous women were targeted for being “unfit” (Reilly, 2015). Although one’s genetic makeup determines whether one is fit or not, the understanding of unfit during the scientific experiment was based on economic statuses. Consider, too, the Tuskegee syphilis experiment when several black men with syphilis were recruited into the study in exchange for free care only be given placebos (Smolin, 2011). Fast forward to 2021, and you would be forgiven for thinking that the history of insults against people of color plays a part in the increased minority populations’ reluctance to commit to the COVID-19 vaccine today.
Also, conspiracy theories circulated against vaccines can be faulted for the social concerns and anxieties towards vaccines. For example, there have been rumors in the past making the case of injections containing surveillance microchips (Whatley & Shodiya, 2021). Even though history proves that the stories are far-fetched, such technology would allow scientists to collect vast amounts of personal data without consent. Such concerns would only serve to heighten contemporary data privacy and security issues.
Gainty and Arnold-Forster (2020) also contributed to this discussion by citing reservations about vaccine safety. There have been instances when people were concerned about contracting infections from the vaccines. Besides, some people are wary about the vaccines’ potential side effects. Some people are wary of contracting diseases from vaccines, while some are scared of the vaccines’ possible side effects. The famed hepatitis B vaccination project characterizes such concerns. Due to the circumstances, some are comfortable playing the waiting game with vaccination programs. They will only commit to the vaccines once their fears are addressed.
Finally, Willis (2020) attributed the pessimism around the fear for vaccination to needle phobia and “some fear.” She narrates that a good percentage of the public fears the prospect of facing the jabs. His sentiments are echoed by Murphy et al. (2021), who cite that others are worried about the needles’ safety. Remembering that these are people who have seen every bit of diseases such as anthrax, MERS, SARS, and most recently, COVID-19 unfold before their eyes, it is easy to understand their reservations about letting people they do not know administer the vaccines on them.
Methodology
            Cross-sectional, self-administered surveys collect data on the societal concerns and anxieties around the acceptance of vaccines. Afterward, the data will be evaluated to establish what population sections are accepting of, resistant to, or hesitant about the vaccination. Second, the data will be used to profile the respondents based on sociodemographic factors.
 
References
Gainty, C., & Arnold-Forster, A. (2020). Vaccine hesitancy is not new – history tells us we should listen, not condemn. Kings’s College, London. https://www.kcl.ac.uk/vaccine-hesitancy-is-not-new-history-tells-us-we-should-listen-not-condemn
Murez, J. (2021). The next vaccine hurdle? Convincing a skeptical public. University of Oregon. https://around.uoregon.edu/next-vaccine-hurdle-convincing-skeptical-public
Murphy, J., Vallières, F., Bentall, R. P., Shevlin, M., McBride, O., Hartman, T. K., … & Hyland, P. (2021). Psychological characteristics associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and resistance in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Nature communications, 12(1), 1-15.
Paul, E., Steptoe, A., & Fancourt, D. (2020). Attitudes towards vaccines and intention to vaccinate against COVID-19: Implications for public health communications. The Lancet Regional Health-Europe, 100012.
Reilly, P. R. (2015). Eugenics and involuntary sterilization: 1907–2015. Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, 16, 351-368. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-genom-090314-024930
Smolin, D. M. (2011). The Tuskegee syphilis experiment, social change, and the future of bioethics. Faulkner L. Rev., 3, 229. https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/faulklr3&div=16&id=&page=
Whatley, Z., & Shodiya, T. (2021). Why so many Americans are skeptical of a coronavirus vaccine. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-so-many-americans-are-skeptical-of-a-coronavirus-vaccine/
Willis, E. (2020). COVID-19 vaccination: needle phobia – it is the jab, not the vaccine, some fear. BBC News. com/news/uk-55175483“>https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-55175483
 

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