Vaccine conspiracy theories ‘more frequent and obvious’

GP urges Kiwis to fight back against misinformation.

A North Canterbury GP is sounding the alarm about growing vaccine scepticism.

‘‘They come in and tell me why they shouldn’t get a vaccine or how dangerous they are – and of course they can’t substantiate anything they say,’’ said Richard Clinghan, who operates a general practice in the small town of Oxford.

‘‘It’s becoming more frequent and obvious. There was a time when people who were against vaccines kept their views private. Now, more and more people are telling me they don’t trust vaccines and particularly won’t be getting this [Covid-19] vaccine.’’

Clinghan’s repeated experience with his patients illustrates a growing concern in New Zealand’s medical community: that if and when our vaccine roll-out begins, conspiratorial thinking will prevent the country from reaching a critical mass where it’s safe to re-open the borders, or lead to more deaths when we do.

‘‘If people don’t get the Covid19 vaccination, it’s going to come into the country, people are going to be hospitalised, and people are going to die,’’ Clinghan said.

He pointed to research that suggested the novel strain that had emerged in the UK was more contagious and more lethal. ‘‘We’re in a worse situation than we were in a year ago, in terms of the lethality of this virus.’’

Border and frontline health workers and their families will be the Ministry of Health’s first priority for vaccinations, which are expected to start in April. The general public will likely get access to vaccines by late 2021, a delay which has led to criticism. The ministry has confirmed vaccine shots would be optional, meaning that the spread of vaccine conspiracies could cause difficulties.

Director-General of Health Dr

Ashley Bloomfield previously said Covid-19 conspiracies hadn’t impacted or affected our response and ‘‘repeated surveys show that the vast majority of New Zealanders take [Covid-19] seriously.’’

Clinghan, who in 2019 selfpublished a comic book titled Jenny and the Eddies to debunk vaccine conspiracies, said he tried to address his patients’ concerns through open, trusting and non-threatening conversations.

‘‘I always listen to what people have to say on any matter. That includes vaccine hesitancy. That’s a very important opening stage to improving the therapeutic relationship. If I’m going to change anyone’s attitude, first I need to listen to them and be open-minded.’’

But he suspected those conversations didn’t always go both ways. ‘‘I’m not entirely sure that they’re listening to what I have to say. I often wonder if they’re just lining up their next claim in their head… They’ll just move on to another bit of information they’ve found on the internet saying vaccines are dangerous. It doesn’t feel like a two-way interaction.’’

Clinghan was hopeful that if the minority of New Zealanders who were vaccine sceptics couldn’t be convinced through conversation, they could be won over with lived experience.

‘‘By no means am I giving up on these people. Eventually the vaccine will defend itself,’’ he said.

‘‘People will see how safe and powerful it is. Hopefully those people who were against vaccines at the beginning, once they see how many people are taking the vaccine and that it’s bringing down mortality rates and stopping hospitalisations, will come round.’’

But he was emphatic that everyone must do their bit for that to happen.

‘‘If you trust in vaccines, we’re not asking you to go out and confront people who are against vaccines. Let’s not get angry with people, let’s regain trust and build confidence. A lot of the time it comes from word of mouth, from people saying, ‘I’ve got my vaccine’. Encouraging others... Making it the norm.

‘‘I’m not expecting to change the world through this one conversation. It’s just my little bit. And if everyone does their little bit, it’ll make the world much better.’’

‘‘If people don’t get the Covid-19 vaccination, it’s going to come into the country, people are going to be hospitalised, and people are going to die.’’ Richard Clinghan