Readiness to be vaccinated and political persuasion

As is the case with any and all calamities that afflict humankind – be it war or for that matter a plague – people sooner or later grow accustomed to the new normal and shed off the initial fear even if the fear is being fuelled. Human psyche has this mechanism of adaptation. We can observe it also nowadays having in mind the covid pandemic. The polls conducted at the beginning of it showed that the vast majority of individuals expressed their oftentimes unconditional readiness to be vaccinated once the vaccine was available. Gradually this readiness has shrunk – at times and places significantly – which was only to be expected.

A more interesting observation concerns the political persuasion of those who want or do not want to be vaccinated. Across the world it transpires that individuals who are right-leaning are much less enthusiastic about vaccination than their left-leaning colleagues. In Poland it is 5% (five!) against 82% (eighty-two), when two extreme political wings are compared.¹⁾Koronawirus. Sondaż: Wielu Polaków sceptycznych wobec szczepionki na COVID, Rzeczpospolita. Much the same is observable in Germany,²⁾Covid-19: Mehrheit der Deutschen würde sich freiwillig impfen lassen, die Hälfte ist für eine Impfpflicht, DIW Berlin. Austria³⁾Impfen ist auch eine Frage der politischen Einstellung, Arztekammer Steiermark. or the United States.⁴⁾Why A Big Bloc of Americans Is Wary Of The COVID-19 Vaccine — Even As Experts Hope To See Widespread Immunization, FiveThirtyEight, The Influence of the Anti-Vaccine Movement, The New Yorker. How do we explain it?

What other features distinguish the two political camps? The right-leaning citizens are mostly religious and patriotic, they uphold tradition and are opposed to big government. Which of these features makes them remain sceptical about vaccination?

Religiosity may play a role. Religious people put trust in Providence and generally do not attach utmost importance to the mundane matters. Left-leaning individuals have no choice: the only life that they have on earth must be protected cost it what it may.

Patriotism may play a role. Since the pandemic and vaccination are global in their reach and are globally handled, it is only natural to expect patriots to be on their guard against any international or – better put – supranational measures which are being pushed by moderate or extreme globalists.

Right-leaning people tend to accept struggle rather than rely on security, social or otherwise. The political right does not hold the reins of power anywhere nowadays (the parties that are referred to as right-wing are in fact left-wing parties with a right-wing veneer that manifests itself in more patriotic or traditional jargon) and so are naturally opposed to the protective measures – such as lockdown and vaccination – taken by their political rivals. They also tend to suspect that the measures are enforced with a purpose other than the avowed one.

Be it as it may, it is a thought-provoking fact to know that there is a relationship between an individual’s political persuasion and his stance on vaccination.