Hesitancy to get vaccinated, what are the reasons?
Although Denmark has one of the highest vaccination rates against Covid-19 in the world, certain people remain hesitant on receiving a jab. Three testimonies offer insights on why they don´t do it. Here are their arguments.
By Luis Orlando León Carpio
Back in February 2020, four days after being notified that her breast cancer had gone, Tilde saw in the News that a disease was starting to hit Denmark. “So many weird things happened that I started to question all what I was experiencing at that time. I'm still thinking that it is crazy so, today, I don´t believe in the pandemic nor in the vaccines," she says, while making it clear that she is choosing a nickname to be part of this story.
“I know this is something unpleasant to hear for many of you, but I think I am an anti-vaxxer. I’ve never received a vaccine other than the ones I got when I was a child." She sips a cup of coffee and lets her round-in-shape body rest in her chair, with comfort.
“Beating breast cancer left me very weak. People were freaking out and used to force me to wear masks, stay at home and now to have a jab. All are nonsense. Here I am, strong and healthy because I never prevented myself from having a life."
We are sitting together on the rooftop of Salling, in Aarhus centrum, where the 37-year-old woman works. It is one of the sunniest and coldest days in this autumn so Tilde feels the need to smile all the time. She sounds fiercely convinced about her opinions and my curiosity is directly proportional to her arguments. Why do people like Tilde do not believe in vaccines?
“To start with," she says, "the vaccines have not been tested enough. In less than a year we´ve had many vaccines for everybody. What if there is something wrong? We don’t know how the bodies will react in five years." They had to do it fast because the pandemic was spreading fast but, like many others, they are being carefully tested, I said. She looked at me in a hesitant way.
“I think our bodies need the germs to survive, to train the immune system. When the first outbreak happened my immune system wasn't even working well and the media was portraying Covid-19 as a deadly illness in which people died on the streets. And here I am, I haven't got Covid. Do you know what I think? It is all about money and control. All the governments were saying the same thing at the same time. It just doesn’t make sense to me."
She does not label herself as a conspiracy theorist but strongly believes that authorities are not being clear at all with us. Tilde is not alone. In Fact, she is part of the 16,41 % of the Danish Population who are unvaccinated and were not willing to do it by 15 of September 2021, five days after the Government lifted the remaining restrictions.
Moreover, the number of daily doses administered has dropped considerably since August 17. Though the country has one of the highest rates of vaccination in the world, to achieve the goal of 90% of a fully vaccinated population by November might be a challenge. Another surge of cases is still a possibility because the immunity tends to decrease with time.
Still, more people join the list of hesitancy.
A chemical in my body
Since Yaniel Felizola arrived in Copenhagen 5 years ago, he learnt how to take care of his body much more. To him, Danes are more aware of their physical potentials and weaknesses, something he feels that he lacked in Cuba, where he comes from. “The vaccines are chemicals which you inject in your body. If I don't feel the need to do it, then I won't do it," he tells me, firmly, via phone call.
When it comes to that decision, his wife is not happy at all. She thinks in an opposite way and usually tries to convince him. She does it because she wants to protect their 2-year-old son. “We constantly argue about that, because she got her jab a few weeks ago. Anyway, both of us are very aware of our child's health so I respect her decision as long as she respects mine."
“This is something personal. I don't follow any movement or conspiracy theory. But since the pandemic started I felt so much control over me. Like the Government and the society were trying to make me act against my will. For example, going on a bus and people looking at me as a freak because I did not want to wear a mask. Why do people just accept that the masks are useful? Lots of studies actually say the opposite'."
I felt tempted to respond, but I let him finish. Instead, I asked about which sources he usually consumes. The right information leads to the right decision, I said.
“I wouldn’t know to tell you —he answered. —The news, social media? The internet in general. That's the way we get informed nowadays. And that's a problem for me. There is so much information about the pros and cons of the vaccines that I get very confused. As I see it, there is not a clear consensus on the equation benefits/risks so I decided to take a step aside."
And then he gives me the common argument: that he feels strong and healthy. “I am not afraid of Covid. I think my body will respond to the virus accordingly."
—Would you be vaccinated otherwise?
— “Just if it turns out to be extremely necessary. For instance, If I wanna travel… I mean, if I wanna have a normal life. But I wouldn't be happy with that decision because I don't like that substance in my blood. At least not this one that is new and I feel kind of forced to get it."
It is my choice!
In a room of the Aarhus University dorm Børglumvej, Amyl Jacobson receives me in a friendly way. He thinks that money might explain why the world has gone so far with the pandemic. “Private companies produce the vaccines and the State buy them, then they all make profits from that. I really don’t want to be a part of that. I´m not trying to boycott the process but I don’t feel comfortable in it."
“A Dane who doesn't trust?”, I joked.
He laughed.
The 25-year-old boy sits in a chair and lays his hands on his piano. I can see his messy room, a signl of a person who spends little time indoors. The place, nonetheless, looks cozy.
“I do trust the authorities and I think they are doing their best but sometimes it looks like they are rushing it. I´ll be okay if I get corona. The worst thing that could happen to me would be to lose the sense of taste while cooking," he tells me with evident concern. He is a passionate student of Gastronomy, so, to him, that would be a catastrophe.
Once again, being young and healthy makes people have a sense of recklessness. It is true that chances of survival are higher if young. By 13 October, 2,676 have died of Covid-19 in Denmark and many statistics show that the elderly and people with comorbidities are particularly hit hard by the virus, but it certainly does not mean that they were the only ones affected. Experts highlight that the body can react differently depending on every person´s health.
But Amyl simply doesn´t see the need. “The Government wants to press you to do it. It is a bit scary watching all those advertisements about getting vaccinated. They do it in a very weird way, probably to brand Denmark like: oh, we have a lot of people vaccinated, it’s so cool!"
A historical issue
For the three of them, getting vaccinated is a matter of choice, which is clearly a principle. Vaccination is, however, a matter of social duty as well.
“If Denmark is getting back to normal is in part due to the benefits of the high vaccination rate which leads to the reopening and so to social life” states Niels Brimers, an expert in Vaccine Skepticism in the Department of Culture and Society at Aarhus University. Even though vaccines are not 100% effective and people can get infected anyway, they help to prevent severe cases and death. Recent studies have also found that people are less likely to be infected of Covid and to transmit the disease. So Tilde, Yaniel and Amyl have a lot to thank to those who are already vaccinated.
Brimmnes highlights that this is an expected reaction in certain people because historically the relation between the population and the vaccines goes in that direction. He mentions three groups of hesitant people: 1- The ones who don´t know the biology of the vaccines. Normally are young and healthy individuals who are afraid of being injected with an unknown substance. 2- The ones who don´t trust the system; 3- Those who follow conspiracy theories. The first two, he says, are more likely to change their minds.
In general, these hesitant people gave me vague answers about their sources of information. I understand that it can be a mess to recognize the right source and the right information. How can they learn to make quick and accurate research? How can they recover their trust in science? But these are questions very unlikely to be answered for now.
By Luis Orlando León Carpio
Back in February 2020, four days after being notified that her breast cancer had gone, Tilde saw in the News that a disease was starting to hit Denmark. “So many weird things happened that I started to question all what I was experiencing at that time. I'm still thinking that it is crazy so, today, I don´t believe in the pandemic nor in the vaccines," she says, while making it clear that she is choosing a nickname to be part of this story.
“I know this is something unpleasant to hear for many of you, but I think I am an anti-vaxxer. I’ve never received a vaccine other than the ones I got when I was a child." She sips a cup of coffee and lets her round-in-shape body rest in her chair, with comfort.
“Beating breast cancer left me very weak. People were freaking out and used to force me to wear masks, stay at home and now to have a jab. All are nonsense. Here I am, strong and healthy because I never prevented myself from having a life."
We are sitting together on the rooftop of Salling, in Aarhus centrum, where the 37-year-old woman works. It is one of the sunniest and coldest days in this autumn so Tilde feels the need to smile all the time. She sounds fiercely convinced about her opinions and my curiosity is directly proportional to her arguments. Why do people like Tilde do not believe in vaccines?
“To start with," she says, "the vaccines have not been tested enough. In less than a year we´ve had many vaccines for everybody. What if there is something wrong? We don’t know how the bodies will react in five years." They had to do it fast because the pandemic was spreading fast but, like many others, they are being carefully tested, I said. She looked at me in a hesitant way.
“I think our bodies need the germs to survive, to train the immune system. When the first outbreak happened my immune system wasn't even working well and the media was portraying Covid-19 as a deadly illness in which people died on the streets. And here I am, I haven't got Covid. Do you know what I think? It is all about money and control. All the governments were saying the same thing at the same time. It just doesn’t make sense to me."
She does not label herself as a conspiracy theorist but strongly believes that authorities are not being clear at all with us. Tilde is not alone. In Fact, she is part of the 16,41 % of the Danish Population who are unvaccinated and were not willing to do it by 15 of September 2021, five days after the Government lifted the remaining restrictions.
Moreover, the number of daily doses administered has dropped considerably since August 17. Though the country has one of the highest rates of vaccination in the world, to achieve the goal of 90% of a fully vaccinated population by November might be a challenge. Another surge of cases is still a possibility because the immunity tends to decrease with time.
Still, more people join the list of hesitancy.
A chemical in my body
Since Yaniel Felizola arrived in Copenhagen 5 years ago, he learnt how to take care of his body much more. To him, Danes are more aware of their physical potentials and weaknesses, something he feels that he lacked in Cuba, where he comes from. “The vaccines are chemicals which you inject in your body. If I don't feel the need to do it, then I won't do it," he tells me, firmly, via phone call.
When it comes to that decision, his wife is not happy at all. She thinks in an opposite way and usually tries to convince him. She does it because she wants to protect their 2-year-old son. “We constantly argue about that, because she got her jab a few weeks ago. Anyway, both of us are very aware of our child's health so I respect her decision as long as she respects mine."
“This is something personal. I don't follow any movement or conspiracy theory. But since the pandemic started I felt so much control over me. Like the Government and the society were trying to make me act against my will. For example, going on a bus and people looking at me as a freak because I did not want to wear a mask. Why do people just accept that the masks are useful? Lots of studies actually say the opposite'."
I felt tempted to respond, but I let him finish. Instead, I asked about which sources he usually consumes. The right information leads to the right decision, I said.
“I wouldn’t know to tell you —he answered. —The news, social media? The internet in general. That's the way we get informed nowadays. And that's a problem for me. There is so much information about the pros and cons of the vaccines that I get very confused. As I see it, there is not a clear consensus on the equation benefits/risks so I decided to take a step aside."
And then he gives me the common argument: that he feels strong and healthy. “I am not afraid of Covid. I think my body will respond to the virus accordingly."
—Would you be vaccinated otherwise?
— “Just if it turns out to be extremely necessary. For instance, If I wanna travel… I mean, if I wanna have a normal life. But I wouldn't be happy with that decision because I don't like that substance in my blood. At least not this one that is new and I feel kind of forced to get it."
It is my choice!
In a room of the Aarhus University dorm Børglumvej, Amyl Jacobson receives me in a friendly way. He thinks that money might explain why the world has gone so far with the pandemic. “Private companies produce the vaccines and the State buy them, then they all make profits from that. I really don’t want to be a part of that. I´m not trying to boycott the process but I don’t feel comfortable in it."
“A Dane who doesn't trust?”, I joked.
He laughed.
The 25-year-old boy sits in a chair and lays his hands on his piano. I can see his messy room, a signl of a person who spends little time indoors. The place, nonetheless, looks cozy.
“I do trust the authorities and I think they are doing their best but sometimes it looks like they are rushing it. I´ll be okay if I get corona. The worst thing that could happen to me would be to lose the sense of taste while cooking," he tells me with evident concern. He is a passionate student of Gastronomy, so, to him, that would be a catastrophe.
Once again, being young and healthy makes people have a sense of recklessness. It is true that chances of survival are higher if young. By 13 October, 2,676 have died of Covid-19 in Denmark and many statistics show that the elderly and people with comorbidities are particularly hit hard by the virus, but it certainly does not mean that they were the only ones affected. Experts highlight that the body can react differently depending on every person´s health.
But Amyl simply doesn´t see the need. “The Government wants to press you to do it. It is a bit scary watching all those advertisements about getting vaccinated. They do it in a very weird way, probably to brand Denmark like: oh, we have a lot of people vaccinated, it’s so cool!"
A historical issue
For the three of them, getting vaccinated is a matter of choice, which is clearly a principle. Vaccination is, however, a matter of social duty as well.
“If Denmark is getting back to normal is in part due to the benefits of the high vaccination rate which leads to the reopening and so to social life” states Niels Brimers, an expert in Vaccine Skepticism in the Department of Culture and Society at Aarhus University. Even though vaccines are not 100% effective and people can get infected anyway, they help to prevent severe cases and death. Recent studies have also found that people are less likely to be infected of Covid and to transmit the disease. So Tilde, Yaniel and Amyl have a lot to thank to those who are already vaccinated.
Brimmnes highlights that this is an expected reaction in certain people because historically the relation between the population and the vaccines goes in that direction. He mentions three groups of hesitant people: 1- The ones who don´t know the biology of the vaccines. Normally are young and healthy individuals who are afraid of being injected with an unknown substance. 2- The ones who don´t trust the system; 3- Those who follow conspiracy theories. The first two, he says, are more likely to change their minds.
In general, these hesitant people gave me vague answers about their sources of information. I understand that it can be a mess to recognize the right source and the right information. How can they learn to make quick and accurate research? How can they recover their trust in science? But these are questions very unlikely to be answered for now.
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