Pakistan vows to 'resist' unvaccinated
Pakistan interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar Tuesday vowed to “resist” those who refuse vaccines.
During a ceremony in Islamabad to honor World Polio Day, the prime minister addressed attendees, who included representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Kakar railed against the unvaccinated and said those who refuse the polio vaccine are partnering with the “forces of darkness.”
“It is not possible, we will resist it, we will take lead, we will contribute toward the [elimination of polio],” he said, according to Arab News. “Eliminating polio along with all other ills faced by this society is our wholesome approach.
“How on God’s earth is it possible that you in [religion’s] name inadvertently, consciously, unconsciously, willingly, unwillingly partner with the forces of darkness.”
Many Pakistanis have been skeptical of vaccines, and only became more cautious after the CIA created a fake hepatitis vaccination program in 2011 to gather intelligence on Osama Bin Laden. But Kakar, who has found tolerance even for Islamic groups like Hamas and the Taliban — which has been backing the WHO’s polio vaccination drive — has none for the unvaccinated.
According to Danish researchers, this is because the unvaccinated are the most hated group in the world. A study last year from Denmark’s Aarhus University sought to determine the level of prejudice against people who did not get the COVID-19 shot. This was measured by asking participants how they would feel about someone not vaccinated against COVID-19 marrying a member of their family.
Among 10,740 respondents across 21 countries, people who are vaccinated would not want an unvaccinated person marrying a close relative, which the study classifies as “antipathy.” In fact, respondents had 2.5 times more antipathy towards the unvaccinated than towards Middle Eastern migrants, “a group battling high levels of discrimination globally.”
Notably, the unvaccinated were not found to have antipathy towards the vaccinated.
“[W]e find that discriminatory attitudes towards the unvaccinated is as high or higher than discriminatory attitudes directed towards other common and diverse targets of prejudice including immigrants, drug-addicts and ex-convicts,” concluded the researchers. “At the same time, the results demonstrate that prejudice is mostly one-sided.”
Along with antipathy, respondents supported stripping the unvaccinated of their political rights and subjecting them to familial exclusion.
According to criminal justice and social policy expert Dr. Josh Guetzkow, this is nothing new. In fact, this mindset has been around for decades.
“The fact is that ‘anti-vaxxers’ are one of the only groups that people are now allowed, even encouraged, to hate openly,” wrote Guetzkow in a Substack article. “This was true before COVID and has only worsened in the last year, as politicians, gov't officials and journalists ramped up incitement against ‘anti-vaxxers’.”
“Perhaps the most amazing thing about these statements is that people felt that it was OK to express these opinions ‘out loud’ in public on-line settings and were often encouraged and congratulated by others,” continued Guetzkow. “This is in contrast to other forms of prejudice that people have become more reluctant to express openly as such views are seen as illegitimate or not acceptable in polite society. But here they felt no shame.”
