Let's not deny vaccine discussion
YOU don’t often get thanked in journalism. But one issue that we were thanked for covering – fairly profusely too – was Dr Dean Patterson’s concerns about Covid vaccines.
Was this a volte face from the Guernsey Press? Some readers, but more likely, letter writers, would remember that in the depths of Covid vaccination times, we brooked no argument over vaccines. It felt irresponsible at that time to do so.
But as Covid and Covid vaccines have become less of an issue for us all – it’s become a cause worthy of opening up to wider coverage.
Not because the Guernsey Press wants people to turn their backs on vaccines. But public concern about the Covid vaccine in particular, and people’s lived experience, deserves to be reflected in print. These are still issues that excite some in our community. But vaccine supporters, vaccine sceptics, and even vaccine deniers can contribute to a balanced and measured debate.
The health authorities say today they are ‘disappointed’ to see public confidence in vaccine safety being ‘undermined’. We don’t intend for those messages to be undermined. We don’t dispute the clear and overwhelming support of doctors and the research that backs them up.
But if people want to tell us their stories and their views, we and our readers want to hear them, so to be better informed and able to make up our own minds on our own health.