What should you do if unvaccinated people start quoting information that you know has no scientific basis?
While Western Australia's vaccination rate is now among the best in the country, there remains a small minority of people in the community who range from feeling hesitant about the vaccine to being staunchly anti-vax.
As vaccine researcher Associate Professor Katie Attwell from The University of Western Australia's School of Social Sciences knows from firsthand experience, many aren't afraid to voice their opinions, which can lead to potentially heated conversations among friends and family.
And that can be hard to swallow if the person you're arguing with is quoting information that you know has no scientific basis, she says. So what should you do about it?
"I call it factoid tennis. They lob a factoid and think if I let the factoid just go past and don't try and hit it back, that they've won the point. So, ask yourself before you engage, what is the purpose of you having this conversation?"
Associate Professor Katie Attwell
"It's really hard because what vaccine refusers are doing is deciding that they don't trust the experts who are constructing the health advice we are all following and they are setting themselves up as an alternative form of expertise," Associate Professor Attwell said.
"These people who have decided that all of the experts are wrong, and that they are right, don't care if they're the only ones that think that, because that's part of their identity. They relish being the ones who are 'awake' while the rest of us are asleep."
Associate Professor Attwell says people engaging in these arguments aren't wanting us to change their minds and will read everything quoted back at them through their own particular lens, making the conversations 'unwinnable'.
"I call it factoid tennis," she said. "They lob a factoid and think if I let the factoid just go past and don't try and hit it back, that they've won the point. So, ask yourself before you engage, what is the purpose of you having this conversation?
"Usually if you're talking to someone about COVID vaccinations, it will either be because they're inundating you with unsolicited factoids, or it might be that you care about them and you're worried that their non-vaccinated status is putting them at health or social risk and so you are the one who starts the chat.
"If they're giving you unsolicited factoids and you go back to them with your guns blazing, you're not going to achieve the outcome you're looking for.
"They will always be able to position you in a way that you are resentful of by indicating that they know more than you or that you are not informed. This can make you feel angry, and it's important to acknowledge those feelings, but then try to move past them.
"Simply say: my expertise is in recognising that I don't have expertise! It doesn't make me a sheep; it makes me somebody who is behaving rationally in a situation by following the scientific advice. I don't agree with you, but I'm not interested in playing factoid tennis, so let's agree to disagree and not talk about this anymore."
Associate Professor Attwell said if someone's unvaccinated status leaves you worried about their health, or your own, respectfully state your position and establish some boundaries.
"Say this this is really hard, because I care about you, but I feel that you remaining unvaccinated is putting me and the people around me at risk, and so until things change in the future we won't be able to see each other physically, but I still value you and want you in my life," she said.
If the physical or social wellbeing of someone close to you becomes a major concern, more of an interventionist approach is needed, which requires careful planning.
"For example, if their decision not to vaccinate themselves or their kids is putting their whole family through the lived experience of being social pariahs and you're worried about the impact on their kids because they're being excluded, you might initiate a conversation about that," she said.
"You may also be worried that their decision not to vaccinate their children against COVID-19 is putting the child at risk of undue suffering and perhaps serious illness.
"If it was me, I would be saying, what I really want is for you to go and seek some independent advice. So perhaps find a trusted health professional they can talk to.
"Say, I'm concerned about you. If you're sure that everybody's wrong and you're right, what's the harm in going and having a conversation with somebody? Use a very chilled and non-judgemental demeanour – if they know you are genuinely concerned about them, it may help to get your message across."
