[fortuna86]

Congratulations to us all on the bump in basic civics knowledge.

Meanwhile, on more important matters, acceptance of vaccines (which used to be nearly universally viewed as safe and effective) have plummeted.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7...

Similar numbers can be found about faith in democracy, views toward fellow citizens, etc. It's not just lack of knowledge, it's the embracing and polarizing extremes.

[edanm]

Have you read the article? He talks specifically about this very subject, and why this narrative is wrong.

> When I asked Twitter followers to suggest the best evidence they had that misinformation has become worse than it was 30 years ago, a lot of people expressed their frustration with the people who won’t get Covid-19 vaccines. I also find this extremely frustrating.

> That said, vaccination rates for kids have actually risen since the mid-1990s [...]

> A lot of people know that the licensing of the polio vaccine in the 1950s was widely greeted with celebratory headlines and the ringing of church bells. [...] Eighteen months after authorization, vaccine uptake was still slow, and that was after a much longer development process.

[tekknik]

The COVID vaccine is not the same as other vaccines. One can have hesitancy towards the COVID and other mRNA vaccines and go get the flu shot the same day. If you want to solve the hesitancy problem you must recognize this first, otherwise you’ll be stuck in a loop like you are now, demanding they’re safe just like every other vaccine in history.

[fortuna86]

mRNA isn't new (it was discovered in the 90s), and has been arguably studied far more than other types of vaccines. Also, there are non-mRNA COVID19 vaccines available as well, if that is your issue.

Accounting for both these facts, how is vaccine hesitancy justified ?

[tekknik]

> mRNA isn't new (it was discovered in the 90s)

Actually the 1960s, and yet I’m still not wrong as the first mRNA vaccine approved for use was Pfizer’s COVID vaccine. So an actual large scale usage of an mRNA vaccine just happened.

> and has been arguably studied far more than other types of vaccines

Gonna need a source for that.

> Also, there are non-mRNA COVID19 vaccines available as well, if that is your issue.

> Accounting for both these facts, how is vaccine hesitancy justified ?

And this is covered by a lack of fear of the virus. Many people have caught it and recovered, substantially more than have died. So therefore the vaccine is not needed.