The religious bring up the idea that some vaccine ingredients may violate Jewish, Muslim or Hindu dietary restrictions. Freethinkers who distrust authority figures in government or academia are inclined to “do their own research” or discuss conspiracy theories. Political activists speak of “medical freedoms” and of personal rights to choose what goes into their bodies. But one constant is the use of language that has been repurposed from other divisive debates.įamilies invoke “natural parenting” in worrying about the long-term effects on their children of a new vaccination technology. In tracking vaccine hesitancy in online forums such as Facebook groups, parenting sites and Reddit subgroups, we’ve found a complex mosaic of conflicting feelings and ideas that do not neatly fall along demographic or political fault lines.
Our preliminary analysis shows that a significant majority of such language is directly appropriated from other sources, ideas or movements that provoke strong feelings. Vaccine-skeptical groups, including the Tennessee Coalition for Vaccine Choice and Texans for Medical Freedom, have lifted the language and syntax of reproductive choice to promote their own agendas.įor a Columbia University project on increasing COVID-19 vaccine confidence, we are examining online anti-vaccine rhetoric. If this slogan sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Take one example: “My body, my choice” is the slogan of the “medical freedom” movement spreading across the country. Language that has been co-opted from controversial debates, and is repurposed to express hesitation, ends up amplifying the vaccine skepticism. Vaccine hesitancy often develops through preexisting beliefs that are centered on politics, religion, the economy, parenting and health.
This also means that more than 100 million people do not want to be vaccinated - at least not yet. who wants a COVID-19 vaccine has had the opportunity to receive at least a first shot.
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