Jump to content * News * Business * Sport * Opinion * Politics * World * Money * Life * Style * Travel * Culture Subscribe now Free for one month Log in See all Life * Family + Family home + Life + Parenting + Schooling + Relationships + Grandparents + Pets * Women + Women home + Politics + Work + Sex + Women Mean Business + Telegraph Dating * Columnists * Men + Men home + Thinking man + Dressing well + Relationships + The filter * Cookbook + Cookbook home + Quick & Easy recipes + Healthy recipes + Baking recipes + Special diet recipes + Browse by occasion + Browse by meal type + Browse by ingredient * Food & Drink + Food and drink home + Beer + Wine + Restaurants + Pubs and bars * Health & Fitness + Health and fitness home + Body + Mind + Nutrition * Education & Careers * Tel Mag * Cars + Cars home + A-Z car finder + Reviews + Advice + News + Classic cars + Great drives + Long-term tests * Gardening * More... + Recommended + Puzzles 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 “You wouldn’t actually have the jab?” my cab driver baulks, staring back at me in his rear view mirror. There’s a moment’s silence in which I regret having tried to make conversation with a cheery “what about this Pfizer vaccine, eh? That’s the game-changer we needed!” and debate whether it might be better for both my blood pressure and his to find a polite get-out and end this here. But with his outraged brows and wide conspiracy-theorist pupils, he’s prodded the bear, and woken the beast. I hear myself reply in as measured a tone as I can manage: “Not only would I have it, but I’d have it as soon as it’s rolled out. Hell – they can even double-dose me if they want.” “But it’s made in China!” the cabbie flings back. Deep breath. “No. It’s not. Pfizer is an American company, and BioNTech is 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 dangerous. As Shadow Culture Secretary Jo Stevens rightfully pointed out when she branded the Government’s record on tackling disinformation throughout the pandemic “pitiful”: “This is literally a matter of life and death and anyone who is dissuaded from being vaccinated because of this is one person too many.” Only it’s not just one too many, as we know from our current R-rate, but the added 1.2 people they will in turn infect, and the 1.2 people after that; it’s the wilful infection of our parents and grandparents, our vulnerable friends and relatives. So yes, the propagation of potentially fatal lies should be made illegal. And yes, as Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate has said, the Government needs to step up when it comes to “falling for Big Tech’s excuses, and introduce financial and criminal penalties for failures that lead to serious harm.” When I read one of ORB International’s further findings – that only half of the 2,000 people questioned believed a vaccine produced in record time could be safe – I wasn’t surprised. I thought back to some of the emails I got in response to my July column. Not the ones peppered with ominous ‘theys’, but also the carefully thought out messages from self-described ‘vaccine hesitants’ who simply wanted more 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 Catholic – explained his fears that the only successful vaccine might be developed using the cell-lines from aborted foetuses, making it morally repugnant to those with the same beliefs. Catholics should be able to rest easy in the knowledge that the Pfizer vaccine wasn’t made using such cells but through genetic sequencing using computers. Everyone should be able to find out precisely how the new Moderna vaccine – which is showing early signs of being 95% 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 misinformation and disinformation specialise in dropping precisely the kind of smoke bombs that obscure fact and rationality. ‘They’ are the hooded villains and the unregulated, not the scientists working day and night to free us from this pandemic. ‘They’ are the poison we should fear most. You can read Celia Walden every Monday at 7pm on Telegraph.co.uk Related Topics * UK coronavirus lockdown, * Vaccines, * Conspiracy theories, * Vaccination, * Coronavirus * * * * Advertisement More stories Related Topics * UK coronavirus lockdown, * Vaccines, * Conspiracy theories, * Vaccination, * Coronavirus * * * * (BUTTON) Save More from Women * The Cotswolds will be declared full and we will run out of gin – here are my predictions for 2022 By Sophia Money-Coutts 2 Jan 2022, 5:00am Cars will be replaced by horses, and every young man will want to own a flash carriage * 'I was a lost teenage mum – until a surprising project saved me' By Emily Stevens 2 Jan 2022, 5:00am 'I was a lost teenage mum – until a surprising project saved me' * Why we're retiring two decades early By Louise Burke 2 Jan 2022, 5:00am 'You never know what’s around the corner so I thought, why not quit and spend the time together?’ says Stevens, pictured at home in the south of France * Diane Kruger on having a surprise baby in her 40s: ‘I’m glad I didn’t have a kid at 30 – I would have resented it’ By Sarah Bailey 1 Jan 2022, 9:00pm Returning to the big screen after becoming a mother, Kruger takes on her most surprising role to date; she wears poly-faille dress, £1,540, Alexander McQueen * In France you can't make the home renovation equivalent of a fashion faux pas By Debora Robertson 1 Jan 2022, 6:00am Settling in: Debora Robertson and her husband Sean * Resolutions shouldn’t be about self-harm – which is why I’m giving up dating apps By Stacey Duguid 1 Jan 2022, 5:00am Resolutions shouldn’t be about self-harm – which is why I’m giving up dating apps More from The Telegraph Voucher Codes The latest offers and discount codes from popular brands on Telegraph Voucher Codes ASOS voucher codes ASOS discount code Dunelm voucher codes Dunelm discount code Pandora voucher codes Pandora discount code Luisaviaroma voucher codes Luisaviaroma discount code M&S discount codes M&S promo codes Office Shoes promo Office Shoes discount codes Back to top Follow us on: * * * * * * * Contact us * About us * Telegraph Extra * Reader Prints * Branded Content * Syndication and Commissioning * Guidelines * Privacy * Terms and Conditions * Advertising Terms * Fantasy Sport * UK Voucher Codes * Betting Offers * Modern Slavery * Tax Strategy © Telegraph Media Group Limited 2021 Please support us by disabling your adblocker We've noticed you're adblocking. 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