It was a relief to receive my second vaccination. For a start, my arm wasn’t sore the second time around. The process was simple – I received a call from my doctor’s surgery asking when I was free for my second jab.
A date was agreed and I went first thing on a Saturday morning to Halsey Hall, Cheshunt, queued for a few minutes, had my temperature checked, was booked in and then jabbed. Job done. What a joy it was to see our local masonic centre at the heart of the community, vaccinating thousands of people each week, something that will be carrying on until at least June.
But a phrase from the person who gave me the jab got me deeply worried – “some people aren’t coming back for their second jabs.” Why aren’t people returning? Is it a worry about the minute possibility of a severe side effect, something which happens with all medical procedures in one form or another? Or do some believe that Bill Gates really is injecting microchips so they can be tracked? Is it that you could turn into a monkey or a bat? Or that your DNA will be altered or that Russia really does want to spy on you.
Could it be all of the above? (In that case I’m looking forward to my text message from President Putin asking how I’m doing!) These are just a few of the conspiracy theories circulating about the COVID-19 vaccine. Governments are not only battling against the virus but with misinformation too.
What if there’s a brother who wants to attend the next meeting but has refused one or both of the vaccines? Only 9% of people have no intention of getting a vaccine, and that number seems to be on the decline after the recent rise of the Indian variant. Whilst some of course won’t change their minds (even after they get the text message from Vladimir Putin), 27% are classed as ‘vaccine hesitant’.
According to Mark Lorch, Professor of Science Communication and Chemistry at the University of Hull, there are a number of ways to gently engage it in conservations.
The advice is to find common ground, and with our brethren we have plenty of that: “Have you learned the whole Ceremony of Raising yet …” or “If my wife finds out about the steak and kidney pie at the Festive Board …”
Don’t launch into a myth-debunking monologue and don’t repeat untruths – that can serve to reinforce them. Focus on the positives of the vaccinations, such as being able to have meetings again.
State the facts in an easy to understand and concise way – as if you were writing a headline, such as: “Covid is spread in droplets generated when people exhale, particularly when they cough, sneeze, or shout.”
Point out any misinformation and be clear that it is a myth. For example, to respond to the claims that 5G was responsible for Covid, you could say: “A mobile network is basically a series of radio transmitters, and viruses can’t travel by radio waves.”
Explain why the myth is wrong, and consider using science to refute the myth, and call out the flaws in the argument: “Covid has spread throughout countries without 5G such as Iran.”
Try and restate the facts too.
Another method is to use storytelling, which can be much more effective. For example, you may want to share news about a relative whose life was saved by a vaccine at a time when it wasn’t available to everyone (such as my wife, who got the vaccine early because she was undergoing chemotherapy during the first lockdown).
Or use the stories of brethren who have had the jab, or others who are well-known, such as the UK’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, who encouraged your own mother to take the vaccine.
The sooner we’re all vaccinated, the sooner we can restart our meetings and then work to help our many deserving causes. www.hull.ac.uk
Andy Jackson
Provincial Communications Team
