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To be jabbed or not to be jabbed

To be jabbed or not to be jabbed

‘I can’t catch Covid, I have the sun in my bones’

Amongst the varying reasons I’ve heard for healthcare professionals not having their Covid vaccine, this has to be one of the most obscure.

Others have included:

‘I’ll wait until a few more people have had it.’ Yes, I see what you mean, it’s still a fairly niche activity, only 33 million people have had it in the UK so far. I’d wait until it becomes a bit more mainstream if I were you.

‘I don’t want to be controlled by the system.’ So I suppose you have no passport, driving license, national insurance number and have never used a computer or mobile phone?

It’s too easy to be sarcastic and flippant when faced with, what on the surface at least, seem like absurd and illogical reasons for not having the Covid vaccine, and I haven’t even mentioned the real wacko stuff like Bill Gates having inserted microchips into the vaccine vials to track us.

I’m genuinely compromised on this issue. The libertarian in me, the greatest part, believes that everybody should have the right to choose what medical treatment they do or don’t have. I believe that vaccines are different, though. It’s not just about you – it’s about protecting others.

There’s currently much in the media about care workers in nursing homes possibly being forced to have the vaccine as a prerequisite to employment.

A first glance, this could seem the first step towards the development of a dictatorial state. However, we have to remember that proof of Hepatitis B vaccination has been mandatory before employment in healthcare in the UK for many decades, and nobody is complaining about that.

Also, it has to be said, nobody is being forced to take up employment as a carer. If you’re not happy about being jabbed, find a different job.

I think what I struggle with most on this issue is the fact that many people have chosen to not trust science on this issue, when they quite willingly trust scientists and engineers with their life in other situations.

How many anti-vaxxers have got on an aeroplane and quizzed the pilot about his qualifications and experience and the safety record of the aircraft?

 Do the same people who believe that multinational pharmaceutical companies are in some way in league with the illuminati equally call into doubt the safety of the food they buy at the local multinational supermarket?

Yes, I know, I’m using rational arguments, and fear of having something jabbed into your arm isn’t necessarily a logical one.

 I can, at some level, forgive lay people for fearing the vaccine. But I find it harder to be as generous with the nurses, doctors, carers and pharmacists I’ve met who are Covid jab refusers.

I’m reasonably open-minded, though, and would be glad to hear their reasons…

Dr David Turner is a GP in west London


          

READERS' COMMENTS [1]

Please note, only GPs are permitted to add comments to articles

David Church 27 April, 2021 8:41 am

The greater problem is availability of suitable vaccine to give to those who want it, not those who don’t want it…..

PS my micropchip still isn’t working yet. I have had the second jab – the pne with the battery in it – and I still cannot pick up radio signals in my teeth.