Although Covid-19 has so far killed 5 million people globally, it is not the deadliest disease. American historian Michael Willrich said the worst killer in human history is smallpox. He said smallpox has been eradicated globally, so most people don’t know much about it, but it is estimated to have killed some 300 million people around the globe in the 20th century alone.
“It was truly a hideous disease; even people who survived it were very likely to be disfigured. It was the most feared disease in 19th century America because the virulent form killed roughly 30 percent of the people who contracted it. Even by the early 20th century, when vaccination existed and there were powerful efforts to eradicate it or hold it in check, it occupied a very large place in people’s imaginations,” Willrich said.
Willrich said there were also antivaxxers in the US when smallpox was raging nationwide. He narrated how a skilled public health communicator and surgeon named C. P. Wertenbaker traveled between smallpox-infected southern towns to talk candidly about vaccine science and safety. “Often, what made his visits effective is that respected townsfolk rolled up their sleeves and got the smallpox shot in front of the crowd,” Willrich said. “On a really successful visit, Wertenbaker could get people to be vaccinated where previously they were very resistant.”
As the government prepares to launch its national vaccination drive from November 29 to December 1, authorities should realize that persuasion and public education could succeed in achieving widespread immunization. While it is true that vaccination is by far our best tool for preventing death and severe illness from Covid, it is also true that millions of Filipinos are unwilling to get vaccinated.
A recent Social Weather Stations survey finds 18 percent of the respondents are still unwilling to get the jab, and another 19 percent said they are uncertain about getting a shot. Among the 18 percent who were unwilling, 14 percent said they would “surely not” get a shot, while 4 percent said they “probably” would not to get vaccinated. Although these figures are much lower than an earlier survey made by OCTA Research Group, which showed that 29 percent of respondents belonging to class E and 22 percent of those in class D are not willing to get vaccinated, vaccine hesitancy still poses a challenge for government plans to vaccinate 90 percent of the population.
Sen. Joel Villanueva views the Duterte administration’s three-day nationwide anti-Covid vaccination drive from November 29 to December 1 as the awaited “booster shot” needed to ramp up inoculation and hit the 50-percent target nine months after the first shot was administered. “This ‘one time-big time’ approach is what we need,” Villanueva said, adding he expects the year-end mobilizations to “draw the hesitant and the unreached to vaccination centers.” He suggests that one way of reaching unvaccinated people who are “outside the digital wall” is for the Duterte government to launch vaccination caravans that will sweep through workplaces and neighborhoods “with no or poor broadband connectivity.” (See, “3-day Covid vaccination drive seen to reach millions of ‘jabless’ workers,” in the BusinessMirror, November 9, 2021).
How to should government address vaccine hesitancy among the people?
In an article published in The Atlantic, Yasmin Tayag said: “Often, the people who are vaccine hesitant are our own family, friends, and colleagues. That’s worth remembering, because it reminds us who is at risk if we alienate the unvaccinated. If there’s any chance of persuading them to get a shot—and ample evidence shows that doing so is possible—it’s not going to happen if we only enforce policies that exclude them, foster resentment, and make them feel like their fears and concerns are being dismissed. Compassion, not coercion, is what’s going to get us through this pandemic together.”
Getting vaccinated is something each of us can do to help protect not just ourselves, but also our families, our friends, and our communities. Let’s convince our unvaccinated friends and relatives by focusing on the benefits of getting vaccinated—that Covid vaccine is safe and they can help fight the pandemic by getting the jab.