Govt has task on vaccine hesitancy
No-one was expecting Labour’s first Budget this term to be a blockbuster, which is probably just as well; aside from the increase in benefits, which was well telegraphed, there were no big surprises. But the Budget is largely secondary to probably the one thing that matters politically this year anyway – which is making sure we don’t slip further behind the countries we measure ourselves against in vaccinating the population.
It’s stating the obvious to note that the borders can’t reopen until the percentage of the population that’s vaccinated hits critical mass, or ‘‘herd immunity’’ as we’ve all come to know it.
Without hitting that yardstick, the last 12 months of pain would be rendered largely pointless. We would be fighting constant community outbreaks.
The Government needs the borders to open as much as the rest of us; any sort of plan for economic recovery relies on it happening sooner rather than later.
So, for all sorts of economic, societal, and political reasons, keeping the borders closed until Covid goes away just isn’t an option, even if that seems to be the popular opinion.
It will be years, if ever, before that day comes.
So, progress on the Government’s vaccination roll-out is crucial; we should be concerned that so far, it’s been patchy, with some district health boards seeming to be better prepared than others. Voters will give the Government some leeway, though the goodwill will probably run out by the end of the year.
But the Government has less influence on vaccine uncertainty.
The latest research from the Ministry of Health suggests that the number of doubters is dropping, but there are still close to a quarter of New Zealanders in that camp.
More worrying is the number of parents and caregivers – more than 40 per cent – who say they are unsure about vaccinations for their children.
What are the reasons? Presumably they haven’t all fallen down the usual conspiracy theory rabbit holes. Rather, despite the best efforts of the Government, the health officials and scientists to explain why the vaccines are safe, they seem to feel that they still don’t have enough information to decide if that is so.
Recent Australian research seems to back that up, showing most people are either worried about side effects, feel like they don’t know enough about the vaccine yet, or would prefer to wait until more people have been vaccinated. A lack of trust in the Government, and feeling like others who need it more should take priority, are other reasons.
Worryingly, more than 20 per cent say they don’t need it as they won’t be travelling anytime soon, while others don’t see any reason to rush into it given that there’s no Covid in the community. Of course, that undermines the whole point of vaccinating the population as quickly as possible to gain herd immunity.
Given the parallels between our two countries on Covid, there’s no reason to assume attitudes here are any different.
Which suggests that there’s still a big public education job for the Government.
Without herd immunity, the last 12 months of pain would be rendered largely pointless.