MIT Study: Vaccine Hesitancy Is ‘Highly Informed, Scientifically Literate,’ and ‘Sophisticated’

Loading

by RICK MORAN

Vaccine hesitancy is a big problem, according to the Biden administration.  Less than half the public is fully vaccinated while about 56 percent have received at least one jab.
 
The goal of fully vaccinating the American public appears to have stalled. This should not surprise us. When the vaccines were first approved for emergency use back in December 2020, 40 percent of Americans expressed skepticism about the vaccine.
 
Trying to shame the holdouts has failed spectacularly. Insulting and degrading them as “morons” or “ignorant” has resulted in a vicious pushback and a hardening of positions on getting vaccinated.
 
The administration’s plan of sending people door to door to vaccinate them only feeds anti-vaccine skepticism. Trust in authority is at an all-time low, which makes a government-sponsored vaccine program suspect.
 
Still, most experts agree that some people who should be getting vaccinated aren’t doing so. But the root cause isn’t ignorance or a belief in conspiracy theories. An MIT study on the problem revealed some surprising results.
 



 
NRO:

Proponents of the vaccine are unwilling or unable to understand the thinking of vaccine skeptics — or even admit that skeptics may be thinking at all. Their attempts to answer skepticism or understand it end up poisoned by condescension, and end up reinforcing it.

The condescension is political in nature and crosses party lines. Sometimes, arguments against vaccination are mistaken for irrational thinking.

Sometimes the perception of irrationality is almost accidental, because arguments are usually social interactions, not strictly logical exercises. A vaccine skeptic may brush off a proponent by saying, “It’s approved for emergency use only; it’s not FDA-approved. I don’t think we should require it.” The skeptic is beginning with a fact that’s easily established and shareable. But when pressed, they might reveal that their line of thinking is elsewhere: “There are no long-term studies, and I’m worried about possible long-term effects.” Because the two objections aren’t exactly logically connected, the proponent concludes it is irrationalism all the way down.
 
But a study done at MIT showed that a substantial portion of public-health skepticism was highly informed, scientifically literate, and sophisticated in the use of data. Skeptics used the same data sets as those with the orthodox views on public health.

The study’s lead author, Crystal Lee, says those same exact data sets can be used by either side to marshal arguments.
 
MIT News:

The researchers combed through hundreds of thousands of social media posts and found that coronavirus skeptics often deploy counter-visualizations alongside the same “follow-the-data” rhetoric as public health experts, yet the skeptics argue for radically different policies. The researchers conclude that data visualizations aren’t sufficient to convey the urgency of the Covid-19 pandemic, because even the clearest graphs can be interpreted through a variety of belief systems.

“A lot of people think of metrics like infection rates as objective,” says Crystal Lee. “But they’re clearly not, based on how much debate there is on how to think about the pandemic. That’s why we say data visualizations have become a battleground.”
 
In fact, because of the data sets being used interchangeably, vaccine skepticism becomes logical and rational.

But most vaccine skepticism, if by that we mean reluctance, is not based on conspiracy theorizing — it’s based on risk-benefit calculations. You may think it’s an innumerate calculation. But when you look at patterns of uptake in the United States, two factors stand out, factors that are larger in their effect than partisanship: age and density. The older you are and the denser your community, the more likely you are to be vaccinated. The younger you are, and the more rural your community, the less likely you are to have gotten it. This reflects the real facts about the risk of death from COVID. People may be wildly overestimating their risk from the vaccine and underestimating their risks from COVID — but they have the directional thinking correct. Those who are in less danger, act like it.

This is why vaccine choice is so important. Why have the same mandate for someone who lives in New York City and someone who lives in rural South Dakota?

Read more

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
25 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Vaccine Hesitancy Is ‘Highly Informed, Scientifically Literate,’ and ‘Sophisticated’
Not always……
Kamala Harris did not trust the Trump administration’s push to rush a coronavirus vaccine into production.

“When Kamala was asked if Americans should take a vaccine, if the Trump administration were to approve one either before or after the election. “If Donald Trump tells us that we should take it. I’m not taking it.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That’s just partisan refusnik-ing.

I fail to understand why the Biden Administration continues to want all people vaccinated with out determining if they had COVID and developed anti-bodies naturally! As much as the RNA vaccine is sold, it is quite likely that the anti-bodies generated by manipulation of RNA may have a reaction of anti-bodies developed by the body after contacting COVID.

This appears to be a goal of vaccinating as many people as possible instead of trying to determine the number of people who need to develop the anti-bodies. The RNA vaccines have not been proven over the long run as natural immunity vaccines have been tested.

Also, there still is a failure by the medical organizations to implement a therapy that works. It appears that WHO, CDC and the AMA have such hatred of Trump administration efforts that they would rather see our population die. What happened to the vow “to Do No Harm”?

Idiot Biden is probably getting a kickback from the drug manufacturers. Or perhaps they are simply too stupid to realize the ignorance of blindly vaccinating everyone. Or, both.

“Do No Harm” was replaced with “Never Let A Crisis Go To Waste.”

Maybe readers should wonder why the article about the MIT study is some bullshit cranked out by PJ Media, rather than to MIT News coverage of the study, or to the study itself.

The MIT study HAS NOT concluded that “Vaccine Hesitancy Is ‘Highly Informed, Scientifically Literate,’ and ‘Sophisticated’. ”

It has concluded that the deceptive graphics being used to convince people that it might be smart not to get vaccinated fit that description.

In other words, the study finds that such graphics and misrepresentation of data are part of a slick con job.

Here’s the MIT News report about the MIT study: https://news.mit.edu/2021/when-more-covid-data-doesnt-equal-more-understanding-0304

So then, how would you consider Kamala’s and idiot Biden’s condemnation of the vaccines and telling people not to take them because they are inherently dangerous? Smart or stupid?

Also, in light of the adverse affects the vaccine has on some youth and those who already have the antibodies, is it wise to mandate EVERYONE get the vaccine without consideration of other circumstances?

First you would need to establish that Vice President Harris or President Biden actually “condemned” vaccines. I don’t recall either of them ever doing so.

They condemned THESE vaccines. I’m not that surprised you never listened to a goddamned thing they have ever said, just voted for them because you were told to (you and the other 50 million or so that actually voted for these liars) but yeah, they explicitly said they would not trust or take any vaccine developed while Trump was President and neither should anyone else.

https://thecongressionalinsider.com/trump-blasts-biden-on-vaccines-and-the-media-quickly-lies-about-what-trump-said/

Your linked article says ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about Biden or Trump having ever condemned vaccines. They never did so.

BTW, “The Congressional Insider” is an intensely pro-Trump right-wing propaganda outlet. The idiots who created it apparently weren’t even smart enough to pick a name that doesn’t immediately call to mind the 2020 Congressional Insider Trading Scandal.

BTW, the videos provided show these morons speaking their own words, so…

The main reason there is vaccine reluctance is because of these selfish, stupid, lying idiots. You know… the ones you voted for.

Well, that’s because Trump didn’t. But idiot Biden and the slut Kamala did, as the videos on the article clearly shows.

See, Trump cares about the United States and the citizens and sorry-ass Democrats like idiot Biden and the whore Kamala only care about their own power and personal wealth. Trump managed the epidemic well and the idiot Biden is bungling it and killing people.

Those are typically misrepresented, out-of-context sound bytes, which tend to be approximately as long as the typical Trump cultist’s attention span.

Well, full context is provided, so why don’t you explain how they are “misrepresented? Then you can explain the stupidity of denouncing the vaccines before they are even developed then whining because their lemmings won’t take the vaccine.

Unless I misunderstand, you’re misrepresenting the out-of-context video clips as evidence that Harris and Biden “condemned” COVID-19 vaccines.

And NO, full context IS NOT provided.

Yes, you misunderstand. You don’t WANT to understand because you’ve seen the videos and you’ve heard their statements. They were asked if they would take the vaccines and they said they wouldn’t because… TRUMP. You simply lack the guts to face it.

This was their plan: if the vaccines were distributed before the election, they would denounce them as dangerous so Trump could not score any political points for an absolutely amazing accomplishment. Like their denouncing of hydroxychloroquine, they would denounce the vaccines so people would continue to keep getting sick and dying, then exploit the sickness and deaths. All they cared about was making the epidemic as bad as possible and blaming it all on Trump and the more dead, the better. They never gave a single thought to the value to people’s lives the vaccines are or how they would turn their stupid denigration of vaccines around if they had enough fraud to win.

Nothing is misrepresented in the videos; idiot Biden and whore Kamala are lying scumbags.

What the context proves is that the Biden/Harris vaccines should not be trusted.
They have not been thru the “3 phases” to FDA approval either!
Funny how every other medication you might hear about in media, the LAW requires you to be informed about all possible side effects, even death.
But, because the corona virus vaccine makers are all protected by the “Emergency Authorization” that got them into use without FDA approval, we don’t learn about all the side effects, including all the deaths.
The makers can’t even be sued for wrongful death or injury unless and until the FDA approves their vaccine.

Waiting until lawsuits can proceed is just prudent.

Alternately, those refusing to protect themselves, their family, friends, and their coworkers can wait for the Delta variant to show up, and then decide if refusal was a good idea.

July 20, 2021 – Delta Variant Now Accounts for 83% of U.S. Cases

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20210720/delta-variant-now-accounts-for-83-of-us-covid-cases

The Delta Variant is spreading rapidly, and spreading fastest where vaccination rates are the lowest. I don’t know what people are thinking.

And the cowardly Texas Dems who fled the fight to the safety of Pig Piglosi’s office who have now tested positive for the Kung flu were all “vaccinated.”
We can now call Democrats the Super Spreaders.

Your preoccupation with scoring imaginary political points may have caused you to miss the significance of vaccinated people being possible asymptomatic carriers. I guess that would make those who refuse protection more likely to suffer from the consequences of their own bad decision.

Or people who SAY they are vaccinated but never got vaccinated. Meanwhile, lying, crying Texas Democrats are spreading it all over DC when they should be in Austin doing their jobs.

And it results in what appears to be a bad cold. Now, what about idiot Democrats like idiot Biden and whore Kamala preaching that no one should take a vaccine developed by the Trump administration? How about addressing the damage those stupid statements have caused, since that happens to be the topic here?

See, I don’t need the “context”. I heard them say what they said when they said it. I actually paid some attention during the campaigns, not just allowed left wing propaganda to tell me what to think. No, it’s YOUR propagandists that destroy context and make statements say what THEY want them to say.

So, answer the f**king question.

Yet, you can rest assured that the data on whatever harm has ensued from these vaccines and the side effects has been being studied and is mostly known. This criminal regime simply wants to keep it hidden.

New data shows that average life expectancy in the U.S. dropped by 18 months during 2020 owing to COVID-19.

Next year, a data comparison of COVID outcomes can be made between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated.

July 21, 2021 – ‘I’m sorry, but it’s too late’: Alabama doctor on treating unvaccinated, dying COVID patients

https://www.al.com/news/2021/07/im-sorry-but-its-too-late-alabama-doctor-on-treating-unvaccinated-dying-covid-patients.html

Yeah, you can thank your party for lying about the vaccines and scaring many away. But, all Democrats offer is misery and tragedy.