The recent pandemic has left the globe with lingering after affects that present a clear and present danger to many of our most vulnerable—and we are not talking long-COVID here. These dangers are largely preventable, and their rise is closely linked to disinformation campaigns and bad science.
The evidence is clear, well-defined by datasets stretching back generations and irrefutable—except by anecdotal evidence and false correlations—vaccines work.
Measles, once a disease nearly irradicated by science, has been on the rise across the globe and children and the vulnerable are once again dying as they did in our grandparents’ day—only this time around most of those deaths could have been prevented.
The uptake in vaccinations across the broader public has been dropping in lockstep with the rise of those deadly diseases once harried to near-extinction through a well-protected population. Coincidence? Hardly. The science is quite clear.
Certainly, there are rare side effects to be vigilant against. But those whose ideology trumps fact and whose (not entirely unfounded) distrust of the pharmaceutical industry provides them with a missionary zeal are quick to jump on such instances as proof positive supporting their stance. The spill-on effect on a wary and emotionally exhausted public has been to eschew the clear benefits of taking the jab.
For many, needles are scary things. Adopting excuses to avoid them, however tenuous the foundation of those concerns, is an easy way out. Besides, if everyone else gets them, then herd immunity will protect us, right? That’s science too, isn’t it? Except that so many are now taking the easy way out that the road ahead for our most vulnerable citizens, the elderly and the very young, is becoming increasingly rocky.
We have become far too timid when it comes to taking proactive steps on the road to good health, and there are those who are willing to play on those fears to further their own agenda. The weak and infirm become just collateral damage along the way. Survival of the fittest is a great philosophy, provided, of course, that you are among those fit who do not fall behind.
Luckily for the herd, Canada still has more people who are willing to roll up their sleeves for the benefit of all than not. But the evidence from across the globe shows that we cannot become complacent and fall prey to the timidity engendered by overblown anecdotal evidence of danger. In fleeing the big bad wolf of the jab, many global populations are finding themselves hurtling over a cliff.
The evidence is overwhelmingly clear—when it comes to keeping our loved ones safe, we all need to roll up to win.
