Talking Points to debate with Anti-Vaxxers

The coronavirus pandemic and the worldwide initiative to fight the virus have led to long debates about science and vaccination. However, another phenomenon has spread along with Covid-19. One that is called 'misinformation'.

To fight back the wave of fear and misinformation that has dominated the online conversation about the virus since the beginning, here are some debate points about what we do know and how to disprove some common lies.

However, before jumping into the argument, the BBC recommends that you pick your battles. Is the person you're about to engage with open to changing their ideas?

The BBC also recommends being humble when talking with someone who has doubts about vaccines; highlight the individual advantages over a more abstract, general picture and pinpoint the methods used to spread misinformation and how to refute them.

One of the most common arguments against vaccines, in general, is that they aren’t natural and that people have been fighting disease without any help for thousands of years.

Things like pasteurized milk or selective breeding aren't “natural” either, but they have helped humanity to live longer and better lives.

Vaccines have existed for over 200 years, and it has helped us to reduce infant mortality and overall raise life expectancy. If we have never heard of illnesses such as scarlet fever or cowpox, it's thanks to vaccines.

Described by The Washington Post as “the most pernicious anti-vaccine talking point,” people who oppose inoculation point out that none of the Covid-19 vaccines fully protect people from getting infected or infecting others with the virus.

Epidemiologist Antoine Flahault told France24 in September 2021 that the numbers speak for themselves when it comes to the results of the vaccine.

Flahault highlights that in countries with high vaccination numbers, Covid-related deaths remain low despite peaks of infection. In contrast, places with less vaccinated populations show much higher mortality rates.

“Of course, there can be glitches and a few vaccinated people might still contract the virus. There are even some who might experience serious complications and die,” warns Flahault. Here he can be seen talking in a press conference, along with France's Health Minister Xavier Bertrand.

Then comes the question of side effects and vaccine safety. Pharmaceuticals and laboratories work day and night at a neck-breaking pace… Surely they can’t be safe compared to others developed in less strenuous circumstances, right?

Cases where blood clots were linked to vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson were reported in March 2021. This fueled more concerns about side effects. However, these were pretty rare and measures specific to individuals with certain vulnerabilities.

“The most serious vaccine side effects in history have all been caught within six weeks,” declared Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the US Food and Drug Administration, to CNN. Immediate measures were taken to identify individuals that were vulnerable to blood clots due to age and health conditions.

Offit (pictured in the middle) pointed out that any side effects are negligible compared to the widely-reaching immunity provided by the vaccines. “Sometimes you're not going to pick it up initially because it's extremely rare, so you aren't going to pick up a one-in-a-million risk in a trial of 44,000 people.”

Another usual talking point is not science-based, but ethics-based. It claims that the government should not force vaccination on the entire population since it’s an invasion of personal freedom.

Doctor Salvador Macip, a lecturer from the Open University of Catalonia in Spain, counters this opinion by arguing that it’s a community issue, not an individual matter.

“Getting vaccinated affects society and those around us, so it is partly a civic matter,” states Macip in a guideline posted on the university website.