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hesitancy

Wednesday October 4, 2023

October 4, 2023 by Graeme MacKay

Amid rising COVID-19 cases and vaccine rollout, it's crucial to combat antivax sentiments by staying informed and resilient. Highlighting the recent Nobel Prize awarded to scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman for their groundbreaking mRNA vaccine development can serve as a powerful countermeasure against such sentiments.

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday October 4, 2023

Trust in Science: A Vital Component in Our Fight Against COVID-19

October 15, 2021

In the face of rising COVID-19 cases and a new vaccine rollout, it is disheartening to witness the resurgence of anti-vax sentiment. Yet, we must resist the urge to succumb to COVID fatigue and instead emphasize the importance of staying informed, resilient, and trusting in science. Recent developments have spotlighted the critical role of mRNA vaccines in our fight against the pandemic. In 2023, scientists Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their groundbreaking discoveries at the University of Pennsylvania that paved the way for effective COVID-19 vaccines.

Kariko and Weissman were honoured for their “discoveries concerning nucleoside base modifications that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.” These vaccines, along with others, have been administered over 13 billion times, saving countless lives, preventing severe illness, and allowing societies to reopen. This achievement is a testament to the power of scientific innovation and collaboration.

News: mRNA COVID vaccines saved lives and won a Nobel — what’s next for the technology?  

January 7, 2022

The story behind these Nobel laureates is a testament to the persistence and ingenuity of scientists. Their journey began in 1998 when they met while waiting for rationed photocopying machine time. Kariko’s breakthrough was finding a way to prevent the immune system from launching an inflammatory reaction against lab-made mRNA, a significant obstacle to therapeutic mRNA use. Together with Weissman, they demonstrated in 2005 that modifications to nucleosides could keep mRNA undetected by the immune system. This pioneering work laid the foundation for mRNA vaccines and revolutionized the way we combat diseases.

Messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, first discovered in 1961, represents a novel approach to medicine. Unlike traditional biotech medicines produced by genetically modified cells in complex reactors, mRNA functions as a software that instructs human cells to produce specific proteins. This technology holds promise not only for vaccines but also for treatments against cancer, malaria, influenza, and rabies.

July 15, 2022

Pfizer, in partnership with BioNTech, and Moderna harnessed the work of Kariko and Weissman, among others, to develop mRNA vaccines in record time when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in 2020. Yet, despite these remarkable achievements, a vocal anti-vaccine movement has emerged.

The Nobel Prize for Kariko and Weissman’s work may not sway the most ardent vaccine skeptics. Still, it serves as a reminder of the tremendous impact of science on our lives and the rigorous processes that ensure the safety and efficacy of vaccines.

The current wave of anti-vaccine sentiment, particularly in the United States, has deeper roots than political ideology. It reflects a broader decline in trust in institutions of all kinds, including science. This distrust, while most significant among Republicans, is not limited to any one party. It transcends politics and education levels.

It is essential to understand that skepticism about science does not fit neatly into traditional small-government conservatism. Even though mRNA vaccines were developed with private-sector innovation and streamlined regulatory processes, many conservatives remain distrustful of these vaccines, citing concerns about their rapid deployment.

News: Organized Disinformation Fanning the COVID-19 Flames of Vaccine Hesitancy  

July 21, 2020

Restoring faith in science is crucial for a functioning society. Experts must reflect on why so many Americans, regardless of political affiliation, have grown skeptical of institutions and science. It is not just about pro- or anti-government sentiment; it is about trust itself.

Empirical data shows that declining trust in science is linked to a broader decline in institutional trust. Those with more confidence in institutions are more likely to be vaccinated. Religious beliefs and education levels also play a role in shaping attitudes toward science.

The Nobel Prize awarded to Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman reminds us of the incredible progress that science can achieve. It is incumbent upon all of us to stay informed, resist the pull of misinformation, and rebuild trust in science. We must recognize that science, even in the face of skepticism, continues to be our most potent weapon against COVID-19 and future threats. Let us honour the tireless efforts of scientists like Kariko and Weissman by choosing science over misinformation and trust over doubt in our quest for a healthier world. (AI)

 

Posted in: International Tagged: 2023-17, antivaxx, covid-19, disinformation, fatigue, hesitancy, medicine, nobel prize, Science, Vaccine, virus

Friday January 27, 2023

January 27, 2023 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 27, 2023

COVID-19 misinformation cost at least 2,800 lives and $300M, new report says

August 7, 2020

The spread of COVID-19 misinformation in Canada cost at least 2,800 lives and $300 million in hospital expenses over nine months of the pandemic, according to estimates in a new report out Thursday.

The report — released by the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA), an independent research organization that receives federal funding — examined how misinformation affected COVID infections, hospitalizations and deaths between March and November of 2021.

The authors suggest that misinformation contributed to vaccine hesitancy for 2.3 million Canadians. Had more people been willing to roll up their sleeves when a vaccine was first available to them, Canada could have seen roughly 200,000 fewer COVID cases and 13,000 fewer hospitalizations, the report says.

July 15, 2022

Alex Himelfarb, chair of the expert panel that wrote the report, said that its estimates are very conservative because it only examined a nine-month period of the pandemic.

“It’s pretty clear that tens of thousands of hospitalizations did occur because of misinformation,” Himelfarb told reporters. “We are confident that those are conservative estimates.”

Himelfarb also said the $300 million estimate covers only hospital costs — the study didn’t include indirect costs associated with factors such as delayed elective surgeries and lost wages.

A number of studies have found that getting vaccinated can reduce the risk of COVID infection and hospitalization. But only 80 per cent of Canadians have been fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from Health Canada.

June 26, 2019

The CCA report defines two groups of vaccine-hesitant individuals: those who were reluctant to get a shot and those who refused. It says that reluctant individuals expressed concerns about vaccines in general and questioned the speed with which COVID vaccines were developed.

Vaccine refusers, on the other hand, were more likely to believe that the pandemic is a hoax or greatly exaggerated, the report says.

Beyond the health impacts, misinformation is depriving people of their right to be informed, said Stephan Lewandowsky, a professor at the University of Bristol’s School of Psychological Science in the U.K. and one of the report’s authors.

September 24, 2021

“In a democracy, the public should be able to understand the risks we’re facing … and act on that basis,” he said. “But if you’re drenched in misinformation … then you’re distorting the public’s ability — and you’re denying people the right — to be informed about the risks they’re facing.”

The report says misinformation relies on simple messages meant to evoke emotional reactions. It says misinformation is often presented as coming from a credible source, such as a scientific publication. (CBC) 

From sketch to finish, see the current way Graeme completes an editorial cartoon using an iPencil, the Procreate app, and a couple of cheats on an iPad Pro …

https://mackaycartoons.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/2023-0127-INT.mp4

Letter to the Editor – The Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday January 31, 2023 

MacKay unfair to anti-vaxxers

Again the tolerant and inclusive left shows their magnanimous humanity. Has MacKay explored the arguments of the side pushing back against the mandates, lockdowns, and other infringements on Charter rights, or is he content to show them as loudmouths dying for their freedom?

DeWitt Shainline, Hamilton

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2023-02, antivax, covid-19, death, disinformation, Feedback, grave, hesitancy, letter, lies, misinformation, pandemic, procreate, protester, truth, Vaccine

Wednesday June 23, 2021

June 30, 2021 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday June 23, 2021

The retreat of North Americanism: Canadians and Americans keep moving further apart

Back in the day, when Canada signed the landmark free trade agreement with the United States, there was a good deal of fear and loathing.

February 6, 2001

The Progressive Conservatives led the way on reciprocity and the Jean Chrétien Liberals, as former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy recalled in a phone call this week, reluctantly climbed aboard. Like many, he worried the border would weaken, that continentalism had won out.

Then, deus ex machina, beginning with 9/11, expectations were overturned. The response to the terrorist horror – with many Americans believing the hijackers had come through Canada – was to fortify the world’s longest undefended border. Passports became necessary.

A bitter split with the George W. Bush administration ensued over Canada’s refusal to take part in the invasion of Iraq. Later, under the Republicans, came the populist explosion on the right. Donald Trump treated Canada more like an adversary than an ally. His medieval empire, his attack on truth, democracy and decency, soured the opinion of Canadians on America like never before.

April 30, 2021

Maybe the bigger the border, Canadians reasoned, the better.

Then, taking the boundary divide to the max, came the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, which had the effect of cocooning Canada, shutting down the border to all but essential traffic. The closure has endured more than a year and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in no hurry to end it. He’s been hearing from his public: Keep the Americans out.

It doesn’t make sense, Maryscott Greenwood, the North Carolinian who is head of the Canadian American Business Council, said in an interview. “You’re saying vaccines don’t matter.” Canadians shouldn’t underestimate the opposition and frustration this has provoked in Washington. She’s hearing from top officials, she said, that the U.S. is considering opening its side of the border fully on June 21. If Mr. Trudeau and company don’t respond in kind, so be it. To heck with them.

October 10, 2020

All said, there’s been quite a turn since the heady days of free trade. Instead of continental cohesion, much division. Instead of a border thinner than ever, one thicker than ever. Instead of a new North Americanism, a retreat to a more fragmented mindset.

“The heyday of the Canada-U.S. relationship has come and gone,” said Christopher Kirkey, director of the Center for the Study of Canada at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh. “The trend is toward more divergence than convergence.”

In addition to the advent of Mr. Trump, the calamities of 9/11 and the coronavirus, there were other factors. Free trade, as Mr. Kirkey observed, coincided with the end of the Cold War. That termination meant Canada needed the U.S. less and the U.S. needed Canada less. The special relationship between the two countries that was built in the period 1945 to 1990 became too difficult to sustain and it isn’t, in his view, about to be restored by Joe Biden’s protectionist Democrats. “I can tell you Canada is hardly on the radar screen in Washington. Let’s be blunt about that.”

 

July 14, 2020

Michael Adams, the head of the Environics Institute who has been surveying Canadian attitudes toward Americans for decades, concurs that the North Americanism envisaged with free trade is pretty much kaput. In the post-Second World War years, Canadians used to look up to the U.S. in so many ways, he said. “It used to be like the utopia.” Now, given the hold Mr. Trump’s populist authoritarianism has on such a large swath of the population, “it’s more like the dystopia.”

 
Of course, as was rightly noted by Goldy Hyder, chief executive officer of the Business Council of Canada, economic dependence on the American market is here to stay, despite any other decoupling tendencies. The Trudeau government better be careful, he warned. With companies reviewing their supply chains in the wake of the pandemic, more investments will remain in the U.S. if the Canadian border poses too much of a barrier.

March 13, 2021

If the Liberals were following the science, they’d quickly open the border, he added, but instead they’ve been following the politics (their polling). He said Mr. Biden told Mr. Trudeau in Europe that he promised freedom for Americans by July 4 and that opening the Canadian border is part of the deal.

The Prime Minister will take his sweet time in reciprocating. Continental consolidation isn’t as big a priority as it was before the century turned. Since that time, it’s become increasingly clear how different Canadians are. Rather than welded to an American block, they much prefer their own. (Globe & Mail) 

 

Posted in: Canada, USA Tagged: 2021-23, Border, Canada, covid-19, customs, Delta, diplomacy, Donald Trump, hesitancy, immunity, pandemic, Planet of the Apes, Post Trump, shopping, travel, USA, variant

Friday December 11, 2020

December 18, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 11, 2020

Act now to stop anti-vaccine misinformation, says Ottawa researcher

December 1, 2020

Canadian regulators have approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, and one Ottawa researcher is urging public health authorities to start addressing false anti-vaccination information now to combat potential vaccine hesitancy.

Maxime Lê, a master’s candidate at the University of Ottawa who recently completed his thesis on anti-vaccine arguments in Canada, said now is the time to get ahead of conspiracy theories and misinformation around the COVID-19 vaccine.

One of the best weapons is answering people’s questions in a way that builds trust, he said.

“A lot of people are focusing on the logistical issues of vaccine delivery but the focus should indeed rely on that open and transparent communication,” Lê told CBC Radio’s All in a Day on Tuesday.

“Perhaps one of the reasons why people are so afraid is because their questions are not answered at all.”

A recent poll suggests that a fifth of Canadians are undecided about whether to get vaccinated while 16 per cent are against vaccination. Among the majority who said they wanted to get vaccinated, 15 per cent said they would wait several months before the shot and 38 per cent said they would wait one or two months, to make sure everything’s going well.

July 21, 2020

Lê said there are many themes that come up among people who question vaccines, from questioning the toxicity of ingredients, suggesting natural remedies or immunity as superior to vaccines, to the persistent myth that vaccines cause autism.

“People might be hesitant to vaccinate because they have unanswered questions, they have fears, they have concerns that public health authorities aren’t exactly addressing in their communications,” he said.

Lê suggests public health authorities begin consultations now to hear from residents about why they might be hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine to ensure they answer people’s questions and concerns, whatever they may be. 

He recently met with Ottawa Public Health (OPH) who he said was very receptive to his ideas. CBC reached out to OPH Tuesday but the agency was not able to provide information about its vaccine communications strategy by publishing time.

April 11, 2019

Lê said it’s important that organizations like OPH foster a trusting relationship with the public before anti-vaccination theorists have time to propagate misinformation.

“Anti-vaxxers position themselves as defenders of Canadian civil rights and liberties, and they’ll start to say these unscientific claims which, to everyday people, kind of make sense,” he said.

“It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what exactly is good science.”

Earlier this week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said 249,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses could arrive in Canada by the end of the year. The first shots will likely be distributed to long-term care home residents and staff.

Documents released by U.S. regulators Tuesday confirmed that Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine strongly protects against COVID-19. (CBC) 

 

Posted in: Canada, International, USA Tagged: 2020-42, Coronavirus, covid-19, doctor, hesitancy, monster, pandemic, pandemic life, Pandemic Times, Vaccine, virus

Tuesday December 1, 2020

December 8, 2020 by Graeme MacKay

December 1, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday December 1, 2020

How the health system is addressing vaccine hesitancy, a looming hurdle in race to end pandemic

Tanya Hayles is not an anti-vaxxer. The Torontonian has made sure her eight-year-old son Jackson is up to date with the standard vaccines, and she, too, has been inoculated.

November 21, 2020

“There are diseases that we were able to eradicate as a result of vaccines,” she said.

The event planner, whose business has suffered as a result of the pandemic, would like nothing more than to see the end of COVID-19 as well. Given the choice, though, she said she wouldn’t be “first in line” for a COVID-19 vaccination.

She points out that side effects of the immunizations she and her son have received in the past are well-known to doctors. “They can say, ‘Oh, look for a rash around the needle point,’ et cetera.”

However, Hayles has concerns about whether such clarity will be available with a coronavirus vaccine that has been developed so quickly.

“Something this big, something this major, something this rushed — I would want to know more information before I put it in my body,” she said.

October 29, 2009

Health authorities say the benefits of approved vaccines far outweigh any risks. But international research shows that while most people anxiously await the availability of pandemic-crushing immunizations, a sizeable minority are unsure whether they’d get the vaccine, at least in the early days after one is approved.

As Canada readies itself to evaluate and eventually distribute COVID-19 vaccines, this vaccine hesitancy is becoming a key focus of the country’s top officials.

According to Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam, 65 to 78 per cent of Canadians have indicated they would get a COVID-19 vaccine. Tam said in an interview with CBC that it’s “critical” for public health to bring what she calls the “moveable middle,” or undecided Canadians, onside.

“I think that’s why it is a very key pillar of our approach in the days and weeks and months ahead, to be able to get that group of people the information that they need to get vaccinated,” she said.

November 26, 2020

“It is really important that as many people get vaccinated as possible to protect themselves,” Tam added, “but also others who are at higher risk.”

Alongside Health Canada’s commitment to study the data about the vaccines themselves, Tam said the government is preparing a multipronged campaign to inform the public about it. That includes working with social media companies, such as Facebook and Twitter, and even gaming platforms.

Canada’s public health team has learned that people who get their information via social media are less likely to get vaccinated than those who follow traditional media, Tam said. “So, we’ll be collaborating with similar platforms to get the message out to Canadians about the safety of the vaccine, and how the trials are going, and what happens in terms of the programmatic implementation as well.” (CBC) 

 

Posted in: Canada Tagged: 2020-41, Canada, China, Coronavirus, covid-19, hesitancy, immunization, pandemic, UK, USA, Vaccine

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