How to shutdown anti-vaxxers who ‘tell the most outrageous lies’

If ridiculous claims spouted by anti-vaccination activists are enough to make your blood boil, here’s how to shut them down.

If you’ve ever engaged with an anti-vaxxer, you’ve probably quickly found there is no reasoning with them, despite just how much evidence you present that proves them wrong.

Fortunately they represent a small portion of the Australian population, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t difficult conversations that can arise at the dinner table or in the workplace if you have family members, friends or colleague who fall into that group.

Their voices have only become louder amid a worldwide pandemic and a rushed but lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Vaccinating against COVID-19 is the easiest way for Australians to get their normal lives back, but millions are hesitant to get the jab.

News.com.au’s Our Best Shot campaign answers your questions about the COVID-19 vaccine roll out.

We’ll debunk myths about vaccines, answer your concerns about the jab and tell you when you can get the COVID-19 vaccine.

One big issue to unpack is a lot of the myths coming from anti-vaxxers.

If your tactic isn’t to retreat from the table or water cooler, delete or block said person from Facebook (sorry, uncle Bob) and make up excuses why your kids can’t play (conjunctivitis works a treat), there are ways you can soundly approach the topic.

Of course, that’s depending who you speak to.

“The trouble is these are beliefs people have like religion,” Professor Adrian Esterman, epidemiologist at the University of South Australia, says.

“Proof is irrelevant because it’s their belief. They truly believe it. There’s nothing you can do about it really. I can show people papers that say vaccines are safe but it’s irrelevant because they simply won’t believe it.”

Heated debates and pleas to vaccinate are happening everywhere from social media to the doctor’s office and they’ve been amplified since the coronavirus pandemic hit.

RELATED: Pete Evans has gone from beloved celebrity chef to full time conspiracist

Experts say there is no use reasoning with conspiracy theorists such as Pete Evans. Picture: Instagram

The simple fact is vaccination has been repeatedly demonstrated to be one of the most effective interventions to prevent disease worldwide.

Still, that’s not enough for uncle Bob who is the kind who embarrassingly shares “plandemic” posts from celebrity chef turned conspiracy theorist Pete Evans or that documentary that did the viral rounds, as well as videos from anti-mask Karens with lines like “we must fight for our freedom”, as if they’re starring in their own weird version of Braveheart.

If you haven’t given up hope yet, here are some of the ways you can approach an anti-vaxxer – if you dare! (Wishing you the best of luck).

HOW TO RESPOND TO ARGUMENTS AGAINST VACCINATION

Dr Tom Aechtner, senior lecturer at The University of Queensland and member of the Australian Vaccine Response Alliance, says one piece of advice is to make pro-science messaging simple, easy to read, and understandable to non-specialists.

“This is something that I personally struggle with, but it’s advice that I always need to be thinking about,” he says.

“The goal should be to make pro-vaccine messages easier to grasp, read, and listen to.”

A 2013 Australian Government guide on “responding to arguments against vaccination” says if people raise arguments against vaccination, the best approach is to listen to the person’s concerns, explore their reasoning and then tailor appropriate information to the person’s individual circumstances and education levels.

People should avoid downplaying concerns or offering overtly personal opinions, respect differences of opinion and consider the personal, cultural and religious background that may influence a person’s decisions about vaccination.

Instead of getting bogged down in studies and references, it’s best to keep it simple and refer them to resources provided by the Department of Health.

THE MOST RIDICULOUS THINGS ANTI-VAXXERS SAY

If you’re unfortunate enough to know someone tied up in the Australian Vaccination-risks Network (better known as the AVN), the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission in 2014 warned the “AVN does not provide reliable information in relation to certain vaccines and vaccination more generally”.

“The Commission considers that AVN’s dissemination of misleading, misrepresented and incorrect information about vaccination engenders fear and alarm and is likely to detrimentally affect the clinical management or care of its readers,” they said.

Of course that hasn’t stopped the network and its president Meryl Dorey, who have been further fuelled during the pandemic.

A recent video posted from Ms Dorey encourages followers to join her for a “fully-referenced update of the information YOU need to know about the harm and death being caused by the new warp-speed COVID vaccines and the threats from social media censorship and No Jab No Job”.

Ken McLeod, who has been running the Stop the AVN group for over a decade, says the most ridiculous thing anti-vaxxers have said is that the COVID-19 pandemic a hoax, “that the virus doesn't exist and so on which is just rubbish”.

“The more dangerous myths they spread that vaccines cause autism, that vaccines kill people,” he says. “The other one we see occasionally is the vaccines contain tissue from aborted foetuses – that’s not true.”

RELATED: ‘Totally crazy’ anti-vax myths busted

Mr McLeod says it’s important to distinguish between ordinary worried people and anti-vaxxers “who tell the most outrageous lies”.

“It’s a bit like talking to flat earthers and quite often the two memberships overlap,” he says.

“It’s almost impossible to get them to see reason – you can present all the science in the world and they will still believe the earth is flat.”

Mr McLeod says his group tends not to worry about anti-vaxxers as much anymore because it’s those who are sitting on the fence or have genuine concerns that are the ones who need convincing.

“Social media, Facebook in particular, have a lot to answer for,” he concludes.

Another anti-vax campaigner that promotes conspiracy theories is Judy Wilyman, who was actually issued a doctorate from the University of Wollongong in 2016.

In a recent newsletter she claimed positive coronavirus tests could just be the common cold virus that’s being detected.

“It is not a ‘medical pandemic’ and there is no justification for emergency powers,” she continued.

One video she shared claims “this is not a vaccine” and “it is not a pandemic” but rather “all a facade to hide the economic reset that is occurring”.

As we know, Evans has been busy peddling anti-COVID vaxx info on social media through the pandemic.

Just last week he wrote, “The big question to ask … Will I allow the govt and big pharma to experiment on me when they have the belief of a ‘one size fits all approach’ even though we are all so divinely unique?”

In another post he wrote: “Please don’t ever let the govt put an untested Poison in your body, where the side effects include death and other life changing illnesses!

“From my perspective, I would say this is a complete clown show, however it is much more sinister than that and people’s lives and wellbeing are being risked here!

“The truth is coming out. Fear is being dismantled.”

In a piece for The Conversation, UK psychology researchers wrote tackling COVID-19 anti-vaccine narratives is paramount, pointing to a study focused on increasing digital media literacy as a route to reduce the widespread belief of misinformation.

“This involved giving people tips on spotting false news, which made it less likely to believe inaccurate headlines,” they wrote.

“Other research has shown that uncovering the rhetorical techniques typically found can reduce susceptibility to science denialism.

“Another solution is inoculation. Research has found that if people read factual, scientific information before anti-vaccine conspiratorial narratives, they can be more resistant to conspiracy theories.”

According to The Debunking Handbook, debunking will be more effective if you structure it in the following way:

1. Fact

2. Warn about the myth

3. Explain fallacy

4. Fact

Dr Aechtner highlights one of the recommendations from the book is that the most effective way to debunk misinformation is ensure that you provide a plausible, easily understood alternative to the myth that you are attempting to disprove.

“This is because: ‘When you debunk a myth, you create a gap in the person’s mind. To be effective, your debunking must fill that gap’,” he says.

“It isn’t quite enough to invalidate misinformation with facts. You also need to replace the debunked myth with a credible substitute narrative.

“Alternatively, you can fill the gap by providing a possible explanation as to why someone is spreading such misinformation, while exposing the persuasive techniques that are behind the debunked myth itself.”

Have you tried to reason with someone against the COVID-19 vaccine? Share your thoughts and experiences below.