Fiona Bruce invites covid anti-vaxxers on QT

Anti Vaxer or vaccine hesitant?

Look at it this way. If those who oppose vaccination are as stupid as is suggested then by being given the opportunity to publicise their views they will end up destroying their own arguments because the not so stupid will see through them.
On the other hand it might be that their arguments are not so dumb and vaxx. enthusiasts want to shut them down.
If the latter is the case then welcome to 1984.
Whatever happened to being allowed to decide for oneself?

It’s ok to decide for ourselves, but it is surely expedient for all of us who can ( ie don’t have pre existing medical reasons ) to accept & understand that in certain situations such as Covid, it is for the good of all who can to be vaccinated.

It's OK if they don't all spout conspiracy theories and those that do are shown that 99% of those conspiracies are rubbish. There also needs to be scientist there to disperse the stupid idiots that think it hasn't been tested enough.

sazz1
Don't you read or listen to the Covid-19 info. It's never been claimed that the vaccines stop you getting the disease. All they claim is that it will prevent a lot of people dying and a lot if people needing to be hospitalised. In my mind they have done that. I'm not sure if the vaccine had been available when my husband caught covid, that he would have survived as he would have only managed one dose. It definitely worked for me and my daughter when we caught Delta.

What an interesting discussion. The BBC are reporting that changed menstrual cycles are short lived according to studies in the USA. and Norway, however there is little information as to why this happens. Perhaps this is part of the reason that people are not confident in taking the vaccine?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60139091

To answer the OP's original question - I think it's a good idea.

In principle, debate about any controversial issue has got to be a good idea.

But - lumping all anti-vaxxers together as one homogenous group is a bad start.

There's a world of difference between the individual who believes that the vaccine contains a trackable microchip developed by Bill Gates, or is a world-wide government plot to re-engineer people's genetic code - and the person who is worried about the side effects / long term effects of the vaccine, or opposes the idea of governments ordering compulsory vaccination on its populations.

IMO, conspiracy theorists are a PITA , not least because they appear to rely on getting their 'message' across - certainly on social media sites - by using insulting terminology which is usually expressed in LARGE CAPITALS with the use of multiple exclamation marks and strings of laughing emojis, in response to anyone who questions, however politely, their reasoning.

Should we give these people air-time? People like Piers Corbyn who made an anti-mask video about "keeping a fart in your trousers"? (No wonder his brother Jeremy had him ejected from a conference on climate change) This is a man supposedly well-educated with a first-class degree in Physics from ICL!

IMO a definite line exists between the mob of anti-vaxxers and those who are worried about the effects of the vaccine and the principle of 'forced medication' of the population. From my personal experience, you can debate rationally and civilly with the latter, but if you attempt a discussion with the former it will more than likely end up with a slanging match.

Of course you’ll know what’ll happen, they’ll all get covid (but won’t acknowledge it), some may sadly due and they’ll say it was a conspiracy

Side Effects regarding Vaccines or Drugs is why people ask their Doctor not Government. Propaganda against Unvaccinated instilling Fear you will Die if you don't get Vaccine. Allow people to discuss eliminating the Fear. Education eliminates Ignorance.

I'll watch it just to see what these imbeciles have to say for themselves. I'd like to know how they came to think like that in the first place. This is unprecedented, I don't think there's ever been an anti-vax movement against any other vaccine before. It would be good if the panel can talk some sense into them, but I doubt it very much. All the AVs I've heard speaking on the radio are so convinced they are right. I hope Fiona can keep them all in order, as I expect it will be a very heated debate.

This is unprecedented, I don't think there's ever been an anti-vax movement against any other vaccine before.

Good grief, of course there has.

www.historyofvaccines.org/index.php/content/articles/history-anti-vaccination-movements

Jerseygal

Side Effects regarding Vaccines or Drugs is why people ask their Doctor not Government. Propaganda against Unvaccinated instilling Fear you will Die if you don't get Vaccine. Allow people to discuss eliminating the Fear. Education eliminates Ignorance.

Pardon ?

Facts about Vaccines from Reputable Sources ought to Dispel the Fear - but there is so much Scaemongering about Propaganda that People think that ALL Information is Propaganda and don't Believe Any of it.

Do You have German ancestry, Jerseygal ? They use capital letters at the beginning of all nouns. English doesn't normally do so.

grannyrebel7

I'll watch it just to see what these imbeciles have to say for themselves. I'd like to know how they came to think like that in the first place. This is unprecedented, I don't think there's ever been an anti-vax movement against any other vaccine before. It would be good if the panel can talk some sense into them, but I doubt it very much. All the AVs I've heard speaking on the radio are so convinced they are right. I hope Fiona can keep them all in order, as I expect it will be a very heated debate.

imbeciles ???

If you watch you may find out, grannyrebel

Just because you disagree with someone does not mean they are imbeciles even if they may be wrong.

I like that they are now only referred to by their initials, the AV's . Its like some sort of master class on how to entrench people in their beliefs.

jerseygirl Propaganda against Unvaccinated instilling Fear you will Die if you don't get Vaccine.

Can you give details and links to where this is happening. I have certainly neither seen or heard anybody saying this.

If you are not vaccinated, there is a higher probability you will be seriously ill with the disease, but nobody has suggested that death is inevitable if you are not vaccinated.

If that was true why was the COVID death toll before the vaccination was introduced not 100%. I cannot believe that anyone thinks that in 2020 everyone who got COVID died.

Glad in the UK you do not have a Vaccine Mandate. You are able to make decisions for yourselves. ❤

I watched a bit of QT last night. I thought Victor Adebowale who is Chair of the NHS Confederation made an excellent point when he told the unvaccinated in the audience that although it was their right not to have the vaccine, it was not their right to spread the virus. There was one man asking a question which was answered by Professor Robin Shattock, an eminent scientist from Imperial College. This chap kept thumbing through piles of papers and quoting information from 1997! At this point Fiona Bruce asked him why, when there was an expert on vaccines sitting in the studio, he would rather believe outdated research than the Professor. There are some people who clearly have the misinformation entrenced in their minds and won't change.

I watched it and thought there was a good discussion without getting acrimonious. Robin Shattock was excellent.

Farmor15

I watched it and thought there was a good discussion without getting acrimonious. Robin Shattock was excellent.

Yes. I wondered if it would become a free for all but as you say it was a good discussion with a knowledgeable panel.