About a third of American parents harbor some degree of “vaccine hesitancy” that leads them to resist getting recommended vaccines. It’s also true that nearly a third of Americans think the evidence supporting climate change is shaky.
Both these beliefs can be very dangerous. And those of us who make and purvey science need to better understand why people distrust and reject scientific authority in this country if we’re to combat it. The Disneyland measles outbreak has now spread to 14 states, and physicians have not been able to raise their voices high enough above the misinformed din to head off the suffering, disability and death that could result.
There’s not much we can do about the small core of people who oppose vaccines based on ideology: They have been with us since Edward Jenner first introduced his smallpox vaccine in 1798. But we have a better shot with the larger and more rational border zone of the vaccine hesitant who may base their concerns on genuine cases of vaccine harm, such as the very small but accepted link between influenza vaccination and a temporary paralysis called Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
–
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion.
