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Indeed, only seven percent of the US population has said they will get a vaccine if required. In other words, mandating that Americans get vaccinated may be the very thing that ensures they won't. In the absence of social trust, a coercive or incentive-based approach may backfire … It is already apparent that skepticism about the virulence of COVID-19 and strong suspicion of pharmaceutical companies, scientists, and policy-makers has become part of some people’s social and political identities. Writing in BMJ's Journal of Medical Ethics in January, a pair of researchers explained (without referencing the examples above) how contradictory and inconsistent reporting impacts vaccine hesitancy:Ĭonfused messaging and poor preparation from governments at the start of the pandemic may also have undermined social trust. Let's also not forget that the press has consistently demanded that anyone who expresses a contrary opinion on social media be silenced. The idea that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a lab was once a conspiracy theory now, it's a valid hypothesis worth investigating. Masks were unnecessary until they were essential, though the government later admitted its justification for the initial no-masking policy was misleading.
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For more than a year, Americans have been bombarded with contradictory, sometimes hostile messages about how to respond to the virus.
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Therefore, distrust in science can be problematic for society as a whole.Ĭonsider this information about trust in light of how science communication has proceeded during the pandemic. The same is true of the bond between scientist and citizen, as the authors of a 2019 study noted:īut why is trust so important? First, scientific knowledge is a critical resource that enables political actors to inform and legitimate political decisions, and it is also important for laypeople in terms of forming public opinion about important political issues. We all know from personal experience why it's essential to establish trust with others a lack of it is the death knell to any relationship and the consequences can be severe. The peer-reviewed literature on science communication is replete with strategies to help academics successfully engage the public and all of these center around building trust with the target audience. Nothing undermines trust like trying to force skeptical consumers to get a shot. The success of any public health measure hinges on earning the public's trust. And the US Supreme Court has ruled that governments can mandate vaccination if doing so is deemed necessary to protect public health.īut conspicuously missing from Chemerinsky's analysis is any awareness of how the public is likely to react to forced vaccination, and therein lies its fatal flaw. Getting a COVID vaccine is the best thing we can do to protect ourselves and others from infection. The government should require vaccinations as soon as vaccine supplies allow, and we should remind everyone that freedom does not include a right to endanger others.Ĭhemerinsky is both well-meaning and on solid legal footing. It is time to focus on the duty we all have to protect each other and to end this pandemic. Erwin Chemerinsky, dean and professor of law at the UC Berkeley School of Law, summed up this argument in a recent opinion piece for the Sacramento Bee:
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In so many words, that's the case some legal scholars and political commentators are making in support of a coercive vaccine policy. Never mind your liberties, there's a deadly virus on the loose, and that's justification enough for the government to mandate that you get a COVID shot.