Why Global Citizens Should Care

Vaccines are essential for securing the health and well-being of individuals and communities. The United Nations' Global Goal 3 is to achieve good health and well-being for all. You can join us in taking action on this and related issues here

Some members of the anti-vaccine movement, known as anti-vaxxers, have been reconsidering their beliefs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CNN.

A Florida resident, Haley Searcy, told CNN that she had been "fully anti-vax" in 2019, but that research into COVID-19 and past pandemics made her reconsider her views.

"I've learned just how rigorous vaccine trials are before they're made available to the public," Searcy told CNN. "I wasn't actively looking for vaccine information, but the more I learned, the more I realized it would help, and the easier it became to recognize the lack of science in anti-vax arguments."

Vaccines has saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented hundreds of millions of cases of dangerous diseases, and can play a role in ending poverty.

They also contribute to community immunity, which helps protect individuals who are unable to get vaccinated, such as those with compromised immune systems.

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"This is an important time to reflect on the value of vaccines," Heidi Larson, director of the Vaccine Confidence Project, told CNN.

"If we had had a vaccine for this, we wouldn't be locked up in a room, the economies wouldn't be crumbling, we would have been a whole different world,” she added. "The question I would ask is, do we have to wait for something to be this bad?"

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However, not all anti-vaxxers are convinced. Tennis star Novak Djokovic recently said that he is opposed to vaccines, according to the Guardian, and one anti-vaxxer named Lynette Marie Baron, who runs an anti-vaccine group called Tough Love, was adamant when speaking to CNN that she had not changed her beliefs, telling the outlet that she believes there is "fearmongering" about the severity of the virus.

The anti-vaccine movement represents a serious public health threat. Because of it, rates of vaccination in children have declined in many US states, and there has been a resurgence of measles in Europe, as well as outbreaks of measles and whooping cough in New York and California.