Ignite Minds has been working with our educators to provide reliable information about Vaccinations. We encourage anyone who has concerns about vaccinations to discuss this with their trusted GP rather than through social channels.
Vaccination is now Manditory for all Early Childhood Educators who must show evidence of vaccination by 18th October. (COVID 19 Mandatory Directions No4)
I have been increasingly bombarded by 'conspiracy theories' including that mandatory vaccinations are 'apartheid' a 'Holocaust', 'against human rights' and against the 'Nuremberg Code' - I encourage anyone to research each of these historical events and understand how wrong it is for predominately white and privileged people to compare a simple vaccination with these historical horrors!
I also hear that this is an experimental vaccine and fear that it may have long term side effects. More than 3.6 billion people have received a Covid vaccine as of September 2021 and we have more data on the side effects than any other vaccine in history. Countries like Israel and the United Kingdom that use digital health records have data on effectivenss the of vaccines by age, underlying health conditions, and adverse reactions. The evidence is clear - the risks posed by the vaccines (death = 1:1million) are far less than the risk posed by COVID (death = 50:1million in Australia, 606:1million worldwide).
I recently had to terminate a service agreement with an Educator who told me that this Virus is fake and did not see any reason to enact safety protocols. The reasons sited are 'i have a good immune system and never get 'cold or flu' and I don't know anyone that has suffered from this virus' therefore it does not exist. It feels like we are victims of our own success in Australia. I cannot allow someone to continue to work with children when their views have become so out of step with the rest of society and they cannot acknowledge the risk or agree on the steps required in mitigating against it. The key issue is not about choice, it is about the safety of the children we care for and the communities they represent.
When we hear people talk about the 80% target we must think about the remaining 20% who will be predominantly under 12's. Early Childhood educators are now frontline workers and have a greater responsibility towards protecting parts of society unable to access vaccines.
I understand that no one likes being forced to do something - I don't like consoling friends and educators that have lost (dead) family and loved ones to COVID overseas. I don't like checking in on my nursing friends that are at breaking point with stress and anxiety. I don't like lockdowns, not seeing my parents, watching friends suffer loss of business, loss of confidence and increased mental anguish, bankruptcy and loss of family homes. I dont like that children have missed entire school years and missed out on basic reading and writing skills. There is so much that has been thrown on us that we didnt choose.
Choosing to be vaccinated is choosing a future, choosing hope, accepting that choices I make can contribute to a greater good, that my body is connected to a social body and that has meaning and purpose for the future connected humanity. Vaccination is not going to be the silver bullet but it provides the best available solution to this unbelievably complex problem.
If you are worried about the safety of these vaccines this is a great article that helps break down the numbers that sit behind the risk assessments. 'Doing the maths on AstraZeneca'
If you believe your human rights are being curtailed you may like to read this FAQ from the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
If your social feeds are full of supposed medical doctors with alternative cures and treatments (invermectin, zinc and vitamin supplements to name a few) you may like to check out RMIT fact checking page I am curious why the same people that are worried about vaccines being experimental are so keen to experiment with alternative medicines that have not had the same scientific rigour or scrutiny as the Vaccines.
Dr Robin Youngson is a holistic doctor from NZ who recognises the role of alternative medicine. This blog post attempts to fact check misinformation around vaccines. Dr Youngson is able to answer the questions without fear from a number of perspectives - including from the ICU and as a holistic health and wellbeing practitioner. I found Dr Youngsons perspective helpful.
https://neuroscienceofhealing.com/nzdsos/
If you are questioning why people are drawn into conspiracy theories then this 4 part podcast 'This much is True' provides a challanging perspective on how the alt right has co opted the left.
I think we can summarise 4 reasons why people are drawn to conspiracy theories.
- Epistemic - Lack of education in how to organise knowledge or discern credible knowledge
- Psychological motives such as narcissism (needing to be right) or low self esteem (needing to feel like you have access to better or insider information)
- Existential (feeling lost and needing certainty) and
- Social (falling victim to the wrong crowd or newsfeed).
If your courious as to how people can 'pick and choose' medical science then this podcast traces its origins to the 1970's counter cultural movement.