'Anti-vaxxer' is the latest slur being used against people who may have chosen not to vaccinate at this time, or not to vaccinate at any time in the future or perhaps vaccinated reluctantly or felt coerced. I am not sure whether those who have vaccinated but talk about their concerns or object to having been coerced are still labelled 'anti-vaxxers'.
Labelling people in a negative way is a common strategy of Alarmist Gatekeeping used to try to marginalise or discredit people who don't agree with the dominant discourse. Along with the label often comes a whole heap of accusations about being uneducated or in the case of current covid discussion, even dangerous.
Our government and media are encouraging such divisions by equating a lack of vaccination to being infected and so locking unvaccinated people out of society in extreme ways.
The reality in my circles, both professional and personal, is that those who are not vaccinated with currently available covid 'jabs' have generally had all other vaccinations. This of course means they are not in any way an anti-vaxxer, but those determined to marginalise unvaccinated people from society aren't letting facts get in the way of their process of division.
People are assessing their personal risk against benefit and many are wondering why, if vaccinations work, vaccinated people are so scared to mingle with them. There is growing international evidence that the current jabs have a very limited time within which they work to reduce hospitalisation or death from Covid and many are now concerned with how many jabs they will be expected to line up for.
Our own Premier has indicated very clearly that people who miss their 6 monthly jabs will join the ranks of the unvaccinated so there's every chance that everyone but the most diligent will at some point know what it is like to be denied basic rights. The 'rights' denied to those choosing not to vaccinate at this time include the right to attend church, visit people in hospital, shop for shoes or clothes and even get a haircut. The majority in Victoria at least at this time are also denied the right to earn a living thereby making them dependent on the government. In Tasmania a General Practitioner has been advised that she cannot even do Telehealth unless vaccinated which is ludicrous and can't possibly be about health in any way.
I have been providing updates on adverse events reported to the TGA with a specific focus on teenagers. The reason I do this is because it seemed to me that such information was not being made generally available and I think it needs to form an essential aspect of the consent process when parents are deciding on vaccination for their children.
I have also produced videos showing people how to access information at the TGA for themselves so that anyone can locate information that is important to them.
It seems that it will be a surprise to some but none of this makes me an 'anti-vaxxer' and I absolutely reject the label. My rejection of it will make no difference in the discourse because it is those who dominate who are the ones with the power to determine who is 'in' and who is 'out' and how they should be labelled. I reject it regardless.
I am not anti vaccines in general. I have had all vaccines, as did my children. I have annual flu shots and encourage others to do the same without pressuring, shaming or being concerned about their ultimate decision. I hadn't made any early decision about the covid jabs and didn't need to because I wasn't eligible in the first months of the roll out.
I only really began to question whether I would vaccinate or not when it became apparent that there was a restriction of information through censoring and a lot of pressure to vaccinate regardless of individual risk. Censorship alerts me to take a closer look and I did.
I am gravely concerned about the banning of early potential treatments. In a pandemic, low risk, low cost alternatives with even small benefit should be considered, not banned. As more jabs were given the adverse events grew quickly and yet nobody was talking about them; another concern for me.
I was scared of Covid. I bought the initial fear mongering that it was randomly killing healthy people. I think if (more likely when) I get Covid my angst will still rise as the fear-mongering has been very effective, although my greatest anxiety will be about whether I will be denied appropriate treatments, more than the virus itself.
I have assessed my risk with the best available evidence and made my current decision accordingly. Other people I know have made different decisions. Many people I know, both personally and as clients have been coerced into decisions they didn't want to make and are seriously traumatised. Two clients submitted to coercion to keep their jobs then were so upset they couldn't keep working.
None of this means I am anti-vaccine.
I am anti-censorship
I am anti-mandates
I am anti- lockdowns because I have seen and experienced the greater harm they are causing.
I am anti- separation of families.
I am unquestionably anti-vaccinating our young children because it helps to protect adults. We should NEVER sacrifice our children for the welfare of adults. EVER.
I am pro informed consent.
I am pro transparency.
I do not see much of the latter anywhere, not from governments or the media.
If after assessing your risk with all of the available information, you decide to vaccinate I have no issue at all in any way with your decision. I wouldn't ask about your vaccination status before I liaised with you. I wouldn't even think about it.
Yet I and many others have been on the receiving end of abuse and discrimination and segregation even by our governments. The government has turned people against me deliberately by labelling me in negative ways and convincing them I am a threat. The government has instilled such fear in people that too many are believing that unvaccinated people have caused all their problems.
This is the thing that keeps me awake most at night. Not whether I might get Covid, or whether I have made the right or wrong decision (many days I don't know), but the divisive destruction of friendships, families and society in the name of keeping us safe.
It is not okay. It is NOT a world I want my grandchildren to grow up in. I will do what I can to fight it regardless of any future decision I might make about my own risk and health.
It looks like being a long fight.
