David Attenborough has called anti-vax thought “an ignorance of medical fact”.
Speaking on Channel 4 News, the broadcaster said “If you don’t understand it, it is very easy to mistrust it”.
Channel Four News presenter Jon Snow asked the Environmentalist what he would say to those who are “terrified” or “politically opposed” to the jabs, to which Sir Attenborough replied with:
“if you don’t understand what a vaccination actually does and to some degree how it does it then you say ‘keep off me’.
“If there are people who say that and then get the upper hand in trying to persuade people and frightening people who don’t understand then you’re in a serious situation.”
But on a positive note, he added: “It seems to me more and more people understand what it is, and more and more people understand that it is a great triumph of medicine”.
Recent YouGov data shows 1 in 5 are unlikely to get the vaccine, with just over 1 in 10 saying they’re unsure, whilst 67 percent are intending to get the jab.
Even before the pandemic, the World Health Organisation regarded anti-vaccine philosophies as one of ten major threats to global health.
Clear and understandable information from trustworthy sources is recommended to quell the disinformation that underpins the antivax movement.
Despite admitting to a slight aversion to needles, Sir Attenborough told The Telegraph newspaper that “I’m sufficient of a scientist still, I hope, to realise [recieiving the vaccine is] the thing to do.”
The 94 year old much-loved natural historian recieved his dose of the vaccine in January.
Speaking on a BBC broadcast on New Years Day, Sir Attenborough said 2021 “could be a year for positive change, for ourselves, for our planet and for the wonderful creatures with which we share it.”
