According to new research, people around the world show prejudice and discriminatory attitudes toward individuals not vaccinated against COVID-19.
Polarization after COVID-19: Global study reveals that the unvaccinated face prejudice in most countries
Researchers call on authorities all across the world to heal the divisions in society left by the research project of which this study is part.
”In the short run, prejudice towards the unvaccinated may complicate pandemic management because it leads to mistrust, and we know that mistrust hinders vaccination uptake. In the long run, it may mean that societies leave the pandemic more divided and polarised than they entered it,” says Michael Bang Petersen.
Professor Michael Bang Petersen, Aarhus University, Denmark. Credit: Ida Marie Jensen, Aarhus University
Fundamental rights could be in danger
A survey fielded solely in the United States as part of the overall study shows that not only do vaccinated people harbor prejudice against the unvaccinated, they also think they should be denied fundamental rights. For instance, the unvaccinated should not be allowed to move into the neighborhood or express their political views on social media freely, without fear of censorship.
“It is likely that we will encounter similar support for the restriction of rights in other countries, seeing as the prejudice and antipathy can be found across continents and cultures,” says Michael Bang Petersen.
Researchers warn against condemnatory rhetoric
In many places, low vaccine uptake still poses a challenge to pandemic management, but the researchers warn authorities against employing a rhetoric of moral condemnation in their attempt to make more people get vaccinated. A strategy otherwise deployed in a number of countries, including France, where president Emmanuel Macron has stated that he wants to ‘piss off’ the unvaccinated to a degree that will make them get vaccinated.
”Moral condemnation may strengthen the cleavages and further feelings of exclusion that have led many unvaccinated to refuse the vaccine in the first place. Our prior research has shown that transparent communication about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines is a more viable public-health strategy for increasing vaccine uptake in the long term,” says Michael Bang Petersen.
Reference: “Discriminatory Attitudes Against the Unvaccinated During a Global Pandemic” 8 December 2022, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05607-y
Funding: Carlsberg Foundation, Danish National Research Foundation
