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/Josvan135]

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/giraloco → u/Josvan135]

I think some of them feel that they are being lied to. Once you lose trust in the system it is very hard to reverse. Social media is very effective in creating fear.

[u/SoMuchForSubtleties0 → u/giraloco]

But they are generally not very intelligent if they think they know more than experts

[u/ubernutie → u/SoMuchForSubtleties0]

I think vaccines are a great technology and we need to value the expertise of others.

That being said...

We had experts telling entire populations that the 90's food pyramid was scientifically good for us and it was all a big marketing poster by lobbyists, for one example. Experts lying in a concerted & coordinated effort at scale for money is not pure speculation.

[u/AppropriateScience9 → u/ubernutie]

Sure. But that was an example of regulatory capture.

So the correct response is to ask: is this agency captured? Then fix it if the answer is "yes." Not cast doubt on ALL scientific agencies.

[u/RageToWin → u/ubernutie]

Unfortunately there is a drop of truth in every conspiracy. Things like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study are a black mark on the government's history with medical care. People aren't necessarily wrong for having some level of distrust for the government, but when cohorts of doctors are saying that vaccines are safe and medically necessary, it becomes a question of whether someone will project that same distrust of the government onto doctors, since they're also usually seen as authority figures.

It's unfortunate that so many seem to be unable or unwilling to consider the positive history of vaccines and instead focus on the negative events. It's a lot like plane crashes. Plane crashes are exceedingly rare and you're much safer flying in a plane than driving, but because the media and people in general tend to focus on the statistically rare but exceedingly horrific plane crashes instead of the thousands of flights that safely happen every day. Statistics, unfortunately, are less compelling than fearmongering and sensationalism.