YESTERDAY, a batchmate sent us a bunch of photos that showed the arrival of vaccines from China and the ceremonial program surrounding it. My initial reaction that at last, things were finally looking up for everyone in the country, hit a pause when my newsfeed also began showing opposite reactions to the arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines. This time from some people whom I know.
Of course, I have been aware that these adverse views regarding the subject of vaccines had been around for a long time. However, I have never really paid them any mind.
Once, I checked the veracity of a particular anti-vaxx post going around, to discover that it had come from a totally disgruntled Trumpite, so I left the matter as it was from then on. I said, no politics for me if I could avoid it, and just focus on something else.
During another instance, in a group chat with former classmates, a brief rumor went around that there were already smuggled vaccines for some people. True or not, it didn’t mean anything really. What piqued me more had been the reaction from a fil-am when he heard that: only in the Philippines.
However, in the case of those whom I know are actively against the immediate administering of the vaccine, I have only three things to say:
First, always provide irrefutable proof (not hearsay) of what you are trying to put across the table. As an example, if you want to proclaim on social media that there are more deaths being caused by the vaccines than by the covid virus itself, prove it and show credible numbers and sources.
Simple enough, if you likewise insist that there is a conspiracy, prove it. As with everything else, anything that cannot be proven is therefore confined to either hypothesis, assumptions, or worst, lies.
Second, while it is true that everyone is entitled to their own opinions, crying wolf can never be an exercise of one’s freedom of expression. The fact that it fails to take into consideration its impact on other people, makes you irresponsible.
In reality, that may be what you are actually announcing to the world out there. Deepest still, what could be the hidden reason behind your shoutouts then, attention? This brings me to the third and last point. Who benefits from all these? Are you trying to be an “influencer”, that novel assignment that has become popular in social media these days? For the big stars of this new job title, I hear it’s quite a money magnet.
In a nutshell, try to start everything by being doubly sure that you can back whatever you wish to say with solid PROOF. Start your week however you want, but thing is, be mindful of opinions that may significantly impact others.
So, be responsible. More important, never ever start your week with a lie, or by specifically spreading lies, because if that were a virus, any truth vaccine for that matter, may be very difficult to make. A lie can mutate faster than anything, covid included.
