They are citing ONS figures of excess deaths as proof the vaccines are killing people. I tried to explain that not being able to get a doctor’s appointment, staying home and getting fat, etc explain the figures (official sources have said it too) but they said it’s “gaslighting” and then said their family doctor wouldn’t get the vaccine.
/j
Tell them the vaccine for not being whalloped with your baseball bat is to shut up about that stupid anti-vaxxer shit and you highly recommend they take that vaccine.
My mom said basically the same thing, putting a date of 2 years on anyone who got the vaccine. Here we are way past that mark.
She’s still a lunatic, and I’ve been low contact with her for months now.
Oh my god I met a few of those people. Every single person that died they’d say it was the vaccine. Every time a headline about a celebrity that dies “yeah they SAY it was cancer, but they took the vaccine only 6 months ago, know what im saying? Open your eyes!”
Like mate, people aren’t just going to stop dying.
A lot of people are saying cut them off, but I have a family member who was into the anti-vax conspiracy theories and kinda still is, but it’s much less of a focus now and is pretty obviously just being carried forward by cognitive dissonance at this point. There will never be total victory, but there can be a reasonable truce.
What I’d suggest is the most counter-intuitive strategy - show genuine interest. Say “Ok, I want to know more, but I need you to be specific. Tell me what your theory is and what the evidence is, I’ll take my time looking at it, and respond in detail.”
Keep in mind, they probably won’t pay attention to whatever your respond with. That’s ok. The response isn’t the point, pinning them down on what they think is. So often these things are purely emotional, and forcing them into a logical framework will make them do the work for you. As for the response, odds are it’s some combination of cherry-picked data and spurious correlations, if not outright made up facts. Think of alternate explanations for what they’re showing you that are more plausible than a vaccine killing people. And remember that if the vaccine really was killing people, it would be really obvious, not something we need look deep into the matrix to find.
Wow, wasn’t expecting a reasonable and emotionally grounded response as one of the top comments.
Keep up the good work my dude.
My sister once tried to come at me with the 5g antenna vaccine thing.
“Do you have a source? That sounds like fox news.”
She spent almost an hour on her phone trying to find something credible and then never brought it up again.
I’ve been waiting for over a year now for my dad to send me his source for “the new information that’s come out about the vaccines” when he asked me if I regretted getting it yet…
You’re not going to satisfy unmet emotional needs with logical arguments.
So often these things are purely emotional, and forcing them into a logical framework will make them do the work for you.
This is a good point. While I was recruiting, they used to say that people make decisions based on emotion and then later go back and try to use logic to explain why they did it.
I have been also suggesting to these people I meet in the real world that it’s probably the micro-plastics that are causing the rise in deaths/autism/whatever bullshit they say. I’m trying to get them to focus on more environmental stuff and blaming companies.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
One of the reasons i don’t make policy decisions: my solution yo the antivax problem is to develop a bioweapon and a corresponding vaccine. Secretly add the new vaccine into all other vaccines for two years. Warn people that the coming flu season is going to be bad and that a new dangerous strain of covid is spreading to increase vaccination rates. Then deploy the bioweapon. No more antivaxxers.
It’s been three years, where are all the bodies? Where are the people crying out for their lost loved ones?
Oh that’s right, the ones who died, died of disease and you can talk to their families online and learn about what happened.
I’ve had about 9 boosters at this point, and my nuts are so swollen from spike proteins that when I go to Walmart, they accuse me of trying to steal basketballs.
Agree with them. Tell them that yes indeed there is a deep state that wants to kill as many people as possible by spreading disinformation causing morons not to take the vaccines so more stupid people die. It’s eugenics really and very, very heinous. Wait wasn’t that what they meant?
You can’t logic someone out of something they didn’t logic themselves into, and they definitely got emotionally attached to antivax before they found “statistics” to back shit up.
This is the answer.
You can’t reason someone out of an unreasonable position.
The only response is to ask them what evidence they would require to change their position.
They’ll inevitably reveal that their assertions are merely beliefs because it’s not practically possible to prove nor disprove them.
I heard You’ll die in six months at Thanksgiving one year.
“Really? Holy fuck, I’m immortal! Call the press! Wait, no, I don’t want to be locked in a room and tested for 40 years, maybe we all just keep this our little secret.”
I love this popular and ass-backwards depiction of medical research because in reality it’s boring af sitting around in some clinic, they probably draw some blood and you’re free to go after an hour with a stipend.
I had this problem.
I stopped talking to them.
You stop speaking to them.
They’ll either come to realize that there are real world consequences for being a dumb asshole, like their friends and family abandoning them…or they won’t. Either way, you win.
Are people still talking about Covid vaccines? Aren’t there new conspiracies to move onto. How about Biden being a robot?
You could agree, that there are those internationally trying to kill members of the general public. Not with vaccinations, but with misinformation. Anyone they can convince, has a chance to die. Tell them to not be a stupid lemming.
I knew several people who died from COVID and one died from health complications later. I know my reality, but I guess others may need to face death directly to learn the hard lesson.
Just ask them to pass the potato salad.
