CARROT AND STICK

Die-Hard Anti-Vaxxers Are Finally Caving to the COVID Shot

Creating inconveniences for the unvaccinated seems to be working to convince some holdouts to get the jab.

While the most virulent corners of the anti-vaxxer internet are pledging to drop out of society and live off the land rather than get the COVID-19 jab, a lot of resisters are just whining and finally giving in. In the face of mounting calls for private businesses and governments to impose inconveniences and annoying restrictions on the unvaccinated, anti-vaxx forums are mulling what life might soon look like for them. And, as reported on The Daily Beast’s Fever Dreams podcast, many are quietly resigning themselves to the shot. “What we’re seeing is a little shove goes a long way in terms of getting people vaccinated,” co-host and reporter Will Sommer noted. “What struck me as interesting is that for most of them—not all of them, but for most of them, and we’re already talking about a pretty hardcore group of the unvaccinated...it’s pretty much like, as soon as there’s any inconvenience, they’re like: ‘Ah, well, you know, I put up a good fight—time to go get my jab.’”

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