Polarization over Covid vaccine prompts some Americans to be shot in secret | Missouri

Growing polarization and misinformation around the Covid-19 vaccine has led some people to attempt to “disguise their appearance” and get vaccinated in secret, according to a Missouri doctor.

Dr Priscilla Frase, hospitalist and medical information manager at Ozarks Healthcare in West Plains, said doctors have met a number of people who have asked to be secretly given the vaccine to avoid conflict with family, friends and colleagues who are skeptical of the vaccine.

In a video produced by Ozarks Healthcare, Frase said that a pharmacist reported that several people: “Even went so far as to say, ‘Please, please, please, don’t let nobody know that I received this vaccine. “

Some 41% of Missouri residents are fully immunized. Nationally, 49.8% of Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Last week, the White House said Missouri, Florida and Texas accounted for 40% of new coronavirus cases in the United States.

In the United States, the reluctance to vaccinate has been fueled by misinformation from social media and right-wing media figures, who have repeatedly questioned the effectiveness and even the safety of the vaccine.

A report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate revealed in March that the vast majority of Covid-19 vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories came from just 12 people, who total 59 million people across multiple social media platforms. The dozen include Robert F Kennedy Jr, the nephew of John F Kennedy who linked autism vaccines and 5G broadband cellular networks to the coronavirus pandemic.

Frase told CNN that the hospital is working to accommodate people who ask for secrecy while receiving the vaccine.

“Anything we can do to make people comfortable receiving the vaccine,” she said.

“It’s not a large number, but every person that we can reach who wants to be vaccinated and that we can provide to them is a victory. And we take every victory we can get.

The desire for privacy comes from fear of people’s reaction, Frase said. People who have changed their minds and decided to get the vaccine may have “an experience that kind of changed their mind from the perspective of family, friends or work,” he said. she declared.

“They did their own research on it, and they talked to people and made the decisions themselves,” Frase added.

“But even if they were able to make that decision on their own, they didn’t want to have to deal with peer pressure or other people’s outbursts about them, I quote: ‘Give in to everything. “”