Coronavirus week 68: Vaccine-hesitant is not the same as antivax; more Zeynep

Ed Yong has the details on trying to avoid twosiderism, and maybe tribalism as well, on this issue. Yong talked to Rhea Boyd, a pediatrician and public health advocate, on issues involved here.

She notes that many vaccine-hesitant haven't gotten full information about possible side effects. White, black or brown, they may have gotten correct information out of context, if they do have information, and not straight up disinformation. She notes that even the vaccinated have questions; having gotten the Johnson and Johnson shot, and having heard about the side effects that led to a brief pause in its use, someone at a vaccine town hall asked about this.

As for vaccine access? She notes that if you don't have a car, or are a single parent, vaccination sites being nearby aren't the total solution.

As for the antivaxxers? Boyd thinks they're a minority among the unvaccinated in general, and very small among communities of color she's trying to address.

I'm not so sure about part one of the statement; one can be antivax and yet not that vocal about it. Yong started his question about this by asking specifically about people who do have easy vaccine access but choose not to get it, and Boyd said antivaxxers are "a small part."

Rather, perhaps traditional antivaxxer tropes are falling on more fertile ground due to a mix of political twosiderism, the neceessarily rushed and expedited vaccine approval process, and federal COVID money in general being grifted for at a high rate.

Let's call them "antivaxxer fellow travelers."

Then, there's this irony at the end:

The Atlantic’s COVID-19 coverage is supported by grants from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

That would be the initiative of Mrs. Mark Hucksterman, whose Facebook has been demonized, and largely correctly, as a font of vaccination misinformation.

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And, where does the likes of a Phil Valentine fall? The "just asking questions" schtick walks, talks, and quacks like antivaxxer fellow traveler, at least, I think. Anybody using "patriotism" and "herd immunity" in the same sentence is more than everyday vaccine-hesitant. And, the "I'm at low risk"? Same claim leads libertarian wingnuts to not get their kids vaccinated. I'm not here to totally kick people to the curb (and he did "repent") but, "wingnut influencers" don't get a pass.

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At the same time, Biden saying "you can't get COVID if you're vaccinated"? He's skating on thin ice indeed, and should know better from his past, specifically his former boss once claiming "you can keep your same doctor." And, this ties to the above. Just as Dear Leader's statement imploding in his face was another wedge wingnuts used to attack Obamacare, so this could undermine federal vaccination efforts.

There's another question with Biden. Are some of these "stumbles" indeed part of mental decline? #BlueAnon, don't tell me this is from him being highly focused on trying to control a stammer. He didn't have this problem as Dear Leader's No. 2.

Related? Dr. Peter Hotez describes the "triple-headed monster" President Biden faces in vaccine disinformation. 

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Zeynep Tufekci has a new piece at her Substack, which extracts from and explains a new NYT piece she wrote. It's good overall, but, has a weakness or two.

First, the current EUA is good enough for the EEOC to OK vaccine mandates. And, a federal judge supported that in tossing a suit against Houston Methodist. Besides, a permanent approval won't persuade the antivaxxers, or, in and of itself, the more strongly vax-hesitant. The former will say "Big Pharma," and the latter will want other information, or perhaps listen to the antivaxxers.

Second, yes, it would be nice for OSHA to do more, but it slow-walked Biden from the start, Biden didn't protest then and Biden's not protesting now. There's other ways he probably could stretch federalism to its limits re national standards. But, he won't.

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And now, other coronavirus news of the week.

Texas: Travis, Harris and Dallas counties have increased their threat levels, but thanks to Strangeabbott, it's all just advisory.

Texas: Pee Bush helped kill a lot of Texas veterans.

First, antivaxxerism is NOT "inherently" racist, and I've not seen the case proved that it's casually but firmly racist. As I blogged, this is a horrible misuse of Critical Race Theory that's just, at end, an ammunition manufacturer.

Second, Fauci lied again, last week, on "gain of function." And, again, the evidence is clear that we did start funding it again under the Trump Administration. Why???

Third, Hannity wants to both have his cake and eat it, saying "I believe in the science of vaccination," then when his fanbois claim he's the Fox equivalent of a RINO, backpedaling.

Fourth, could Fox be sued over Swanson Tucker Carlson's misinformation?

Fifth still refuses to allow further WHO-led inspections at Wuhan or elsewhere.

Sixth, David Wallace-Wells notes the US is not that far behind many developed nations on vaccine rates. It's part of a good long-read on Delta.