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Bad jokes and memes about how people take drugs of unclear origin and inject Botox in their faces, but are skeptical of the vaccine hail. Fun first, maybe second time, extremely exhausting in the long run. Not only because it’s always sad to hear the same joke over and over, but also because these diversions help create an image that opponents of the vaccine are more than they really are. An opinion that in turn contributes to skeptics, or people who have not given much thought to vaccines in general, to get the impression that there is a great and strong movement against vaccines, and it is more reasonable to listen to it than a small e insignificant ditto.
The truth is that the critical movement with vaccines in Sweden hardly exists. Our vaccination coverage is high, and in 2019, 97 percent of the nation’s two-year-olds had received all vaccines in the national immunization program. The figure is higher than the 95% coverage that the WHO has established and is what must be achieved to fully protect a society. Therefore, it is not common to say no to vaccines in Sweden, not even when it comes to new vaccines. Both the rotavirus vaccine and the HPV vaccine that protects cancer had a coverage rate of 80 to 89 percent in 2019. This despite the latter, like the corona vaccine, was surrounded by debate. about the swine flu vaccine and narcolepsy.
If you look at the statistics, there is no reason for excessive scaremongering; however, there are reasons to continue the development of vaccine resistance both locally and globally. There are areas in Sweden where vaccination coverage is low. Between anthroposophists in Järna, people of Somali origin in Rinkeby and Tensta, and undocumented immigrants in Stockholm and Gothenburg, the health service should make swift efforts to vaccinate more people. If you look at the whole of Europe, the development is worrying, in several places the proportion of vaccinated children is decreasing. This has led, among other things, Italy to introduce a vaccination requirement for children to have the right to pre-school education, and in Germany there have been several extensive outbreaks of measles in recent years alone. At the same time, the WHO lists vaccine resistance as one of the ten greatest threats to public health worldwide.
The role of Swedish health care in maintaining high vaccination rates is to listen and respect patients’ questions about vaccines, even though these questions often arise out of sheer propaganda and lies. Up to 20 percent of those who actually vaccinate their children are hesitant to carry out vaccinations. What would it have been like if these people were only seen as aluminum hats, if they made fun of your concerns instead of solving them? Only through great trust in healthcare can we convert skeptics and continue to save lives. By mocking everyone who asks a question about vaccines, we are only drawing them further away from medical care and into the arms of the few but dangerous vaccine opponents, who deliberately spread lies, propaganda, and conspiracies to win over those who in many cases are only concerned about the health of their children.
