Comment

People are being infected by anti-vaxx lies – and that should be made illegal

   An anti-vaxxer could infect 1.2 people and 1.2 more after that; it’s
   the wilful infection of our parents, grandparents and friends

   Celia Walden 16 November 2020 • 7:00pm Celia Walden
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   German.” His eyes narrow: “That’s what they’re telling us.”

   It’s when the sinister “they” makes an appearance that any conversation
   with an anti-vaxxer must be curtailed, along with every attempt at
   logic. “They” are the amorphous dark forces unaccountably apparently
   trying to poison us all; “they” are the hooded villains at the heart of
   every anti-vax group’s stream of disinformation.

   When I wrote about the 14 per cent of Brits who declared they “would
   not want to be vaccinated against the coronavirus even if a
   high-quality vaccine were available” back in July, my inbox was filled
   with ‘theys’ for weeks afterwards. So it was heartening to read the
   findings of a recent survey by ORB International – published on Sunday
   – in which four out of five Brits agreed that those who spread anti-vax
   disinformation should face prosecution.

   We’re not talking about people like my cab driver being hauled off in
   cuffs (although by the end of that 20-minute journey and his detailed
   explanation of why Turkish scientists couldn’t be trusted either, I was
   fantasising about worse fates), but the heads of anti-vax groups with
   hundreds of thousands of members who are still churning out
   disinformation. Those people, like the ‘phone masters’ who claimed 5G
   networks were causing the spread of Covid, aren’t just stupid; they’re
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   information before giving their informed consent.

   There were readers who started their defensive emails with “we are not
   ‘anti-vaxxers’ nor ‘Covid deniers’ and consider ourselves
   well-balanced,” and went on to explain their concerns about a vaccine
   “that has not been widely tested.” One told me about the devastating
   effects of Thalidomide on a family friend, while another – a devout
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   effective – was developed. But that kind of information can only reach
   its target audiences if public health messaging around vaccines is
   strong enough; if legitimate questions are being answered
   comprehensively, and if the kind of anti-vax groups who swoop and prey
   on our fears are stamped out.

   Otherwise there will be smoke without fire. The spreaders of