antivaxx

Friday July 15, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 15, 2022

Exposure to humorous memes about anti-vaxxers boosts intention to get a COVID-19 vaccine, study finds

December 2, 2021

Pro-vaccination messaging may be surprisingly effective when delivered through humorous internet memes, according to new findings published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior. A series of studies revealed that exposure to sarcastic memes about anti-vaxxers increased UK residents’ intention to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The researchers suggest that the humorous memes were able to bypass the typical defense processes of people who are vaccine-hesitant.

As a vaccine emerged to combat the novel coronavirus, public health officials in Western countries grappled with convincing the population to get vaccinated. Vaccine misinformation was rampant, and officials turned to educational campaigns backed by expert sources to persuade the public that the vaccine was safe and effective.

September 15, 2021

Unfortunately, such educational campaigns can backfire, since people who are vaccine-hesitant are prone to conspiracy belief and tend to be distrustful of authoritative sources. Informational campaigns are also not designed to go viral on social media and can become easily outpaced by anti-vaccine messaging. A team of psychology researchers led by Shawn N. Geniole proposed a need for newer interventions that use messaging that is highly shareable, scalable, and unlikely to be perceived as corrupt — something like an internet meme.

“I find memes to be interesting because they can spread–and be processed by viewers–quite rapidly; therefore, any messages/text within memes may have the potential to persuade/inform others efficiently,” explained Geniole, an assistant professor at University of the Fraser Valley.

Thursday August 19, 2021

“Further, that they’re processed and spread rapidly also means that they may reach and influence individuals who would otherwise not encounter–or might even try to avoid–such information. For example, the type of humor within memes, which often belittles or makes fun of certain groups of individuals or their beliefs, may lead some to rethink their views or to distance themselves from others who hold these views. Can exposure to these types of memes changes one’s beliefs or the extent to which they identify with certain groups? These were the types of ideas/questions that interested me when we started this project.”

The researchers designed six studies involving a total of 1,584 residents of the United Kingdom. In each of these studies, participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control condition. The experimental group viewed a series of eight vaccination-related internet memes that had been collected by researchers using Google Image Search, and the control group viewed control images. While the memes varied slightly depending on the study, the majority of them expressed sarcasm toward anti-vaxxers.

June 17, 2021

After viewing the images, participants were asked whether they intended to get vaccinated against COVID-19. A combined analysis of all six studies revealed that exposure to the vaccine memes increase participants’ intentions to get vaccinated, even after accounting for gender, age, and political orientation.

The study authors say that future research will be needed to explore the psychological processes through which internet memes may impact vaccine attitudes and behaviors. It will also be important to test how this effect may change depending on contextual factors, such as the stages of vaccine development.

The study, “Preliminary evidence that brief exposure to vaccination-related internet memes may influence intentions to vaccinate against COVID-19”, was authored by Shawn N. Geniole, Brian M. Bird, Alayna Witzel, Jordan T. McEvoy, and Valentina Proietti. (PsyPost) 

 

Letters to the Editor, the Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday July 15, 2022

The Hamilton Spectator

Booster cartoon 1:

Regarding MacKay’s pro-booster cartoon Friday: It is obvious, Mr. MacKay, how little you’ve grown in a year and a half!

Marilyn Haughton, Hamilton

Booster cartoon 2:

The Facebook comments on MacKay’s cartoon depicting anti-vaxxers was predictable, with those same anti-vaxxer idiots whining about being treated unfairly.

In my view, his depiction was too kind. These people are public-health hazard losers and deserve to be shunned by all decent people.

Anna Carter, Burlington

 

Thursday June 30, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday June 30, 2022

Ottawa braced for Canada Day protest by ‘freedom convoy’ supporters

Members of anti-vax convoy have vowed to maintain a presence over the summer initially mingling with the annual celebrations

April 30, 2022

Residents of downtown Ottawa are bracing for a Canada Day unlike any other, after “freedom convoy” protesters vowed to return to Parliament Hill on 1 July, and maintain a presence over the remainder of the summer.

Every Canada Day, people congregate on Parliament Hill in Ottawa to watch musical performances and fireworks on the anniversary of Canadian confederation. This year, it will probably be difficult for police to distinguish between celebrators and convoy members – which is what protesters are banking on.

In late January, groups opposed to vaccine and mask mandates drove tractor-trailers and other large vehicles into Ottawa’s downtown core and set up camp. The ensuing three-week occupation of the capital city was a traumatic experience for many locals, who faced harassment, incessant noise and other unwelcome encounters, said Ariel Troster, a candidate for city council in Ottawa’s Somerset ward.

“Many people were driven from their homes, many were subjected to harassment, there were at least two cases where people defecated on people’s front steps. There were reports of apartment buildings where convoy people took over the laundry room and wouldn’t leave,” said Troster. “Not to mention the symbols of hatred, which were quite visible not just on the Hill but in the neighbourhoods.”

February 8, 2022

Group communications on Telegram, YouTube videos and other channels show convoy sympathisers believe in white replacement theory and other conspiracies. QAnon activists and propaganda were often seen at the wintertime occupation.

It ultimately cost the city $36m in policing costs and has resulted in a proposed class action lawsuit against protest organisers.

Now that Canada has dropped most mandates, the convoyers appear to be demanding Justin Trudeau’s resignation as prime minister. They have been gaining traction with Conservative politicians, recently having held a meeting with their “allies” in parliament.

The Ottawa police service (OPS) has pledged to foil any new attempt to occupy the city. The force is under immense pressure to get Canada Day right after its many failures to police the previous occupation.

June 30, 2021

At a police services board meeting on Monday, the interim OPS chief, Steve Bell, said a heightened police presence and road barricades limiting the number of vehicles permitted downtown may not be able to keep convoyers arriving on foot away, but it will prevent people from setting up camp.

“Canada Day’s a very important day to Canadians. It’s a day where we celebrate our country and all the good things in it. But people, when they come, they need to be lawful. And they need to be respectful of our community,” Bell said. (The Guardian) 

 

Tuesday February 1, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 1, 2022

Vulnerable downtown residents hit breaking point as convoy enters 5th day

January 26, 2022

Ottawa resident Jo O’Connor says she’s been living a nightmare in her home just minutes away from Parliament Hill where a convoy of trucks and protesters remain for a fifth day in a row.

Constant honking and noise outside her building, as well as the smell of diesel fuel, has left her sleepless.

“It makes me so depressed and so sad that these people care so little about people like me, or people who are disabled, people who are immunocompromised,” said O’Connor.

Jo isn’t her first name. CBC has agreed not to use her first name for fear of reprisals from protesters, some of whom are still in Ottawa.

Thousands of protesters and convoys of transport trucks have clogged downtown Ottawa streets in what began as opposition to mandatory vaccination for cross-border truckers — and has since evolved to include a range of opposition to COVID-19 public health measures.

Wednesday December 29, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday December 29, 2021

As Omicron Spreads and Cases Soar, the Unvaccinated Remain Defiant

As a fast-spreading new strain of the coronavirus swarms across the country, hospitals in Ohio running low on beds and staff recently took out a full-page newspaper advertisement pleading with unvaccinated Americans to finally get the shot. It read, simply: “Help.”

December 2, 2021

But in a suburban Ohio café, Jackie Rogers, 58, an accountant, offered an equally succinct response on behalf of unvaccinated America: “Never.”

In the year since the first shots began going into arms, opposition to vaccines has hardened from skepticism and wariness into something approaching an article of faith for the approximately 39 million American adults who have yet to get a single dose.

Now, health experts say the roughly 15 percent of the adult population that remains stubbornly unvaccinated is at the greatest risk of severe illness and death from the Omicron variant, and could overwhelm hospitals that are already brimming with Covid patients. In Cleveland, where Omicron cases are soaring, a hospital unit at the Cleveland Clinic that provides life support to the sickest patients is already completely full.

Thursday December 2, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday December 2, 2021

Sweet vindication for Chapman’s Ice Cream

If you have the good fortune to visit Markdale, Ont., you will appreciate just how different Grey County is when compared to Ontario’s hectic urban environment overall. It’s a slower, gentle, more tranquil pace and place.

September 15, 2021

How odd, then, that the community — home to the admirably benevolent Chapman’s Ice Cream, purveyor of soothing frozen treats since 1973 — has emerged as an unlikely, though certainly flavourful, flashpoint of the COVID-19 civil war.

The family-run Chapman’s, one of Canada’s largest ice-cream producers, an employer of about 850 people, recently took the praiseworthy step of rewarding its vaccinated workers with a $1-an-hour pay raise.

This was not the first time the company had supported the local community in the battle against COVID-19.

At the end of 2020, when it became known that the first vaccines developed against coronavirus required sub-zero storage, Chapman’s was quick to offer up two medical-grade deep freezers.

It turns out the Markdale mainstay — which has donated millions of dollars to local hospitals, schools and sports facilities — had been approached decades earlier about emergency use of its cold-storage facilities in case of a public-health emergency and it was more than ready when the call came.

And grit? You want to see grit?

October 28, 2021

In 2009, the company’s century-old wooden creamery building was destroyed after a spark from welding work caught in the rafters.

Where some might have called it quits, Chapman’s built back, recovered and expanded to employ about twice the workers it once did.

This is not an age, however, in which decades of reputation, generosity, local history or context won’t be incinerated in a firestorm of toxic online recrimination.

After the raise became public, when a photo of the bulletin announcing it was posted online, Chapman’s became the target of chronically aggrieved anti-vaccine groups who were outraged at the very thought.

Local divisions of the small and tattered anti-vax army were inflamed at this outrageous assault by Chapman’s on their right to be fools and mounted an online campaign to boycott the company’s products.

The company said it received 1,000 or more emails and attacks on its Facebook group. Much of it was despicable. Inevitably, absurd analogies to Naziism were tossed about.

July 3, 2021

But, in addition to being rather stoutly anti-science, it appears the anti-vaxxers have no particular flair for numeracy or imagination.

A quick glance at public-opinion surveys or published vaccination rates should have made clear that in the boycott battle they would be hugely outnumbered and were charging off to near-certain defeat.

At Chapman’s itself, fewer than a dozen employees had chosen to remain unvaccinated and been required to go on unpaid leave.

Well, the entirely predictable result soon came to pass.

Voices of reason pushed back, lavishly praising and thanking the company, which saw sales jump and inquiries arrive from far and wide as to where its ice cream could be purchased.

The hashtag #IStandWithChapmans became the call to arms, and seldom was such a thing so delicious.

On its website, Chapman’s is now promoting its “Holiday Moments Collection,” urging the sweet-toothed to “Enjoy a taste of the holiday in each and every bite.”

So, let’s add a tip of the old double-scoop ice-cream cone — waffle, if you please — to Chapman’s for its good corporate citizenship, community-minded initiatives and delightful products.

Long may you prosper. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)