If, just a few years ago, someone had written a sci-fi story about a global pandemic in which a significant portion of the population refused to take the vaccine that would save their lives, it would’ve been dismissed as too far-fetched. And yet, here we are, well into that dystopian future.
As of this writing (mid-January 2022), the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has exceeded 800,000, with no sign of the virus abating. Despite the ready availability of effective vaccines, nearly a third of Americans still haven’t gotten inoculated. What accounts for this vaccine hesitancy?
In part, it’s due to “anti-vaxxer” conspiracy theories. False claims, such as the notion that childhood vaccines causing autism, have been rampant on social media. So, if you’ve bought into this misinformation and already have doubts about vaccine safety, it’s understandable why you’d have misgivings about the COVID shot as well.
Read more at Psychology Today.