Regressing
It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post and despite (actually!) having other interests, this one is yet again about Covid - given recent developments across Europe, how could it not? More precisely, it is about the divisive impact the handling of the virus is having on society. I recently watched an excellent interview in which the guest, Paul Kingsnorth, put so well what many embroiled in the vaccine arguments, including myself at times, struggle to articulate: that beyond the scientific assessments and cost/benefit analyses associated with medical choices, society is turning into something alien, restrictive and distasteful as a result of decisions taken to combat the virus. Or perhaps the virus is revealing fractures and disturbing tendencies that already existed.
At this point, it is almost redundant to rehash arguments or data on virus transmission and infection, informed consent, or mortality rates - many are by now quite entrenched in what they believe (and I also think I’ve exhausted that in previous posts). What is deeply, deeply saddening however is not even the discriminatory measures being drawn up by a number of governments, but the fervent statements expressed by day-to-day people, some that I encounter, that will surely enable such discrimination. For example, that mandatory vaccination must be imposed on anti-vaxxers, no matter that the vaccines are still emergency approved drugs with negligible manufacturer liability - it is not mutually exclusive that vaccines can mitigate illness and have also resulted in unfortunate adverse effects for some (see VAERS, Eudravigilance or the UK’s MHRA). Or that those who actually did get vaccinated but refuse an endless cycle of boosters reinforced by QR-codes to participate in daily life, should be out of favour as well.
There is a concerning cognitive dissonance, or perhaps it is more short-sightedness, in believing that mandatory vaccination will end the pandemic, when it is clear that a vaccine-based strategy will require frequent boosters due to the waning efficacy of the vaccines - Gibraltar, with a near 100% vaccination rate of those eligible, is an interesting case study. If proponents of this route are to be intellectually honest, what one is actually proposing is mandatory and frequent vaccination, as in Israel, reinforced by social and professional exclusion. It is rarely communicated this directly, but perhaps many people are both aware and comfortable with this. I, and fortunately many others, are not - no words are strong enough to communicate how regressive such a scenario is for society, and individual and collective well-being. On this point, it has been quite genius to see authorities frame the curbing of individual rights and liberties, as protection of “the collective”, because it drastically lowers the bar of reasoning required to push through measures that would have been inconceivable just two years ago. Much easier than addressing underfunded healthcare systems, or a lack of focus on the increasing number of treatments. I also struggle to see how one can actually have recognised and respected societal values without steadfast individual rights, and it is no coincidence that in the past century, progress in both old and new democracies has often been synonymous with the furthering of individual legal protections.
A little closer to home, it’s worth considering why the most vaccinated provinces of Belgium are experiencing the most cases, or why such a high number of vaccinated individuals are being hospitalised - for example in November it was 64% in Belgium. That proportion is undoubtedly impacted by relatively high vaccination rates, but it is far above what we have typically expected - or accepted - of previous vaccines. These trends are not unique to Belgium and rather than appealing to the worst aspects of human nature by scape-goating, no less at an institutional level, should we not be focusing on how we can improve this situation for everyone and return to normalcy, by perhaps making the existing vaccines better, approving other promising ones (Valneva, Novavax), or adapting so that treatment plays a greater part in the health response?
In lieu of a longer blog post, here is the interview with Paul Kingsnorth, who expresses so well what is concerning about the current direction of travel: