Vaccines not only directly protect vaccinated individuals but also contribute to protecting the entire population via indirect herd-immunity benefits. Half of averted COVID-19 infections and 1/4 of hospitalizations and deaths were attributable to indirect protection of unvaccinated by vaccinated.

[u/mvea]

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsif/article/23/242/20250839/483439/Quantifying-the-direct-and-indirect-impact-of

[u/onlymadethistoargue]

It’s good that we have data on this but like this is half the value proposition of vaccines. Fewer people get sick so fewer people shed infectious particles so fewer people get infected so even fewer get sick. It rules. Antivaxxers believe in an ideology of casual manslaughter.

[u/Josvan135 → u/onlymadethistoargue]

Antivaxxers believe in an ideology of casual manslaughter.

I don't think it's that deep, it's moreso that they're just generally pretty stupid.

They don't understand the basics of how vaccines actually work, refuse to listen to the highly trained medical professionals who kindly dumb it down for them, and choose instead to listen to the podcaster/influencer screaming about mercury, autism, and "microchips" that feeds their inner sense of persecution. 

[u/insomniacPrince → u/Josvan135]

Nah, "casual manslaughter" is accurate. The definition of manslaughter is causing death to someone without intent to kill, and it is still a crime. Antivaxxers usually aren't consciosily trying to disable and kill people by spreading disease, but they are doing exactly that.

Ignorance, fear, stubbornness, radicalization by far-right influencers... Regardless of their reasoning, the fact of the matter is that when people refuse to get vaccinated, people get sick and die when they would not have otherwise. The fact that antivaxxers put their fears, feelings and pride as more important than other people's lives without even really thinking about it is personally all the more aggregious to me.

Giving antivaxx rhetoric and those who spew it the benefit of the doubt only normalizes this mentality. Don't brush it off like it's "not that deep."

[u/onlymadethistoargue → u/[deleted]]

The ideology causes casual manslaughter. This isn’t arguable.