soundquiteconvincing,sowedoworryabout[them].”It’stothis
endthatsocialmediaplatformsarecrackingdownonanti-vaccine
messagingonline.InstagramannouncedinMaythatit willuse
machine-learning technology to block anti-vaccination hashtag
searchresults,Pinteresthasblockedvaccine-relatedsearches,and
Facebookannouncedin Marchthatit is “workingto tacklevaccine
misinformationonFacebookbyreducingitsdistribution.”
ProfessorLeaskcautionsbranding allvaccine-hesitantparents
withthesameironas theanti-vaxxeractivists.“[Non-vaccinating]
parentshavebeenpaintedas quiteunidimensional—they’vebeen
oversimplified. Yes, we doget really angry whentheseparents
seemto putothersat riskbynotvaccinatingtheirchild,butthey’re
a smallgroup—roughlytwopercentofparentsactivelyreject
someorallvaccinesinAustraliatoday—andtheyhavelotsof
differentreasonsforrejectingvaccination.Therearenon-vaccinat-
ingparentsallaroundAustralia,manyofthemlivingquietlyin
theinnerurbanneighbourhoods,nottalkingabouttheirdecision
becausethey’reafraidofthesocialconsequences.”
Katharina,a nutritioncoachandmotheroftwowholivesona
farmdeepin theByronhinterlandin NewSouthWales,saysvacci-
nations“alwaysfeltunnatural”to herandherhusband.Shelistsher
concernsas thefrequencyandearlytargetageofthefirstvaccines,
as wellas their“toxicity”.“Beforewehadkids,wegotinterestedin
thetopic,watcheddocumentariesandlistenedto a lotof talks,”she
explains.“Wehavea veryholisticapproach,sowejustknewthat
we wouldrathermake sure thatour kids’ immunesystems are
strong.WedovitaminC andprobiotics,andwehavea lotof bone
broth.It reallyboostsandstrengthensyourimmunesystem.
“I thinkwhereweliveis thenumberoneplacewherepeopledon’t
vaccinatetheirkids,”shecontinues.(She’sright.Accordingtothe
NorthernNSWLocalHealthDistrict,74.9percentoffive-year-
oldsintheByronareawerefullyvaccinatedfor2018,thelowest
ratein thestate;nationally,it was94.78percent.)“Thisareaattracts
peoplewhothinkalternatively,”sheoffers.“[They’re]open-minded
andeverybodylikestohavea healthylifestyleandeverybodydoes
theirownresearch.Peoplearereallyintohealtharoundhere.”
This‘healthylifestyle’mindsetis somethingDrAyeshaKapoor
at Sydney’sRoyalNorthShore Hospitalencountersin herarea
(immunisationrateshereare93.3percent,thethirdlowestinthe
state,followedbySydneyandSouthEasternSydneyhealthdis-
tricts,whichareeachat 92.7percent).“Thegeneraldemographic
of thenorthshoreis a well-educatedcommunityonthehigher
endoftheeconomicspectrum,soI don’tbelieveaccesstohealth-
careorlackof educationcanbeclaimedas contributingfactors[to
lowerrates],”shesays.“Ifeelthereis a wellnessmovementwitha
focusonallthingsnatural,whichcanbepositive,butonthemost
dangerousendofthisspectrumis wheremodernmedicaltreat-
mentis rejectedinfavourofnaturopathicremedies.”
CatherineHughes’son,Riley,wasjust 32 daysoldwhenhedied
fromwhoopingcoughandpneumoniacomplicationsin 2015 (he
was too young to be vaccinated and the 28-week pregnancy
booster shot wasnot yet available in WesternAustralia, where
Hugheslived).Sincethen,shehasbeentravellingthecountryto
shareherfamily’sstoryandengagewithparentsat allpointsonthe
vaccinespectrum.She saysshecomesacrossa fewparentswith
this kind of ‘alternative health’ mentality. “It seems that being
naturalis somethingworthstrivingfor[tothepointwherethere’s]
almostthisfearofanythingmanmade:fearofchemicals,fearof
medicine,andthisis whereweseethevaccinerejectionstart,”she
explains.“Iunderstandthatwewanttoprotectourchildren.We
allwanttodoourbest.Sometimesit’shardtodecidewhatis the
rightthingtodowithourchildren.Overwhelmingly,mostpeople
supportimmunisation,butsomeparentshavebeenfooledbythe
well-fundedmovementoftheprofessionalanti-vaxactivistswho
profitfrompubliclydenigratingvaccines,sellticketstoworkshops
orsellalternativeremediesorhealthtreatments.”
“It’sdifficultnotto befrustratedwiththepeoplewhodonot
vaccinate,particularlyinthecontextofa well-educated,affluent
individualwithampleaccesstomedicalcare,”DrKapoorsays.“I
feelthisis thehighestformof privilege.However,fortheseso-called
activiststogooutoftheirwaytomisinformpeopleinthepublic
realm,particularlyonanissuethatgreatlyimpactsthehealthof not
onlytheindividualbutalsothewidercommunity,is reprehensible.”
TheNorthernRiversregionhasa reputationforattractingalter-
nativehealthenthusiasts,but it’stheseclustersof unvaccinated
communitiesthatconcernmedicalprofessionals.Inareaswithlow
vaccinecoverage,immuno-compromised adults [suchascancer
patients]andbabieslikeRileywhoaretooyoungtobevaccinated
aremore vulnerableduring outbreaks.DrCatherineBateman-
Steelis thedeputydirectorof SouthEasternSydney’sLocalHealth
Districtpublichealthunit.Hersis thedepartmentwhereallnoti-
fiablediseasesarereported.Sheexplainsthatthe“problemwith
measlesis thatit’ssoinfectiousthatif youwerenotvaccinatedand
youwalkedpastsomebodyinthesameairspacewithmeasles,you
wouldlikelygetmeasles.Wehavetohaveveryhighratesofvacci-
nationtostopit circulatinginthecommunity.”
“There’sa greatsenseofanxietyforpeoplewhocan’tbevacci-
nated,whodorelyonthecommunityimmunityaroundthem,”
ProfessorLeasksays.Hughesechoesthis.“Herdimmunityis really,
reallyimportantforprotectinglittlebabieslikeRiley,butI don’t
thinkit’sa motivatingfactorforpeoplewhobelievethatvaccines
causedamagetotheirchildren—they’renotgoingtothinkabout
otherpeople’schildrenwhenthey’reworriedabouttheirown.”
Katharinadisregardsthissentiment,but,unliketheanti-vaxxer
activists,shedoesn’tsoundvindictive.“Tobehonest,I don’treally
think[herdimmunity]is anargument[tovaccinate],”shesays.
“I’mnotgoingtogivesomethingthatis potentiallytoxictomy
kidtopotentiallyavoidsomeoneelsegettingsick.It wouldn’tcon-cernmeif someoneelsewasa carrier... If oneof mykidsweresick,
I wouldprobablyjuststayat home.Everybodyshouldbeableto
choosewhattheythinkis bestfortheirkids,”shecontinues.“If
someonebelieves that vaccinations are thebest thing, I’m not
goingtogointheirwayandsay‘Don’tdoit.’I’mtryingtodothe
bestthatI cantokeepmychildrenhealthyandstrong.”
ProfessorLeasksaysthatif wereallywanttoprotectthevulner-
able,insteadofexpendingourenergyragingagainsttheanti-vac-
cinationmovementonsocialmedia,weneedtofirsttakea lookat
ourselves.“Ithinkwe[asa society]arequiteobsessedwithactive
refusers,”shesays.“We’resofocusedonblaming[them]thatwe
overlookthefactthatweshouldallbeaskingourselvesif we’reup
todatewithourvaccinations.Youcouldtransmitmeaslesif you
haven’t had two shots in the past. We all have a responsibility.”“Therearenon-vaccinatingparentsallaroundAustralia,manyofthemliving
quietly ininnerurbanneighbourhoods,nottalkingabouttheirdecisionbecausethey’re afraid of the social consequences.”–Professor Julie Leask
61 HARPERSBAZAAR.COM.AU September 2019
VIEWpoint