An interesting article in yesterday’s Washington Post talks about three US surveys published this month asking Americans about their intentions to get vaccinated. Surprisingly, all three, the Pew Research, the National Geographic Survey and the Gallup poll concluded women were less likely than men to get the vaccine. In a fourth poll, the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 35% of women said they were not very or not at all interested in getting vaccinated. The NatGeo survey had the largest gender gap (men 69% likely vs women 51% likely). All four surveys were American, but the reasons could be universal.
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Cary Funk, the author of the Pew research talks about
unrelated past studies. In them, men were generally very enthusiastic about new
genetic technologies. Women adopted a wait-and-watch approach. It is possible, Cary
Funk says, the doubting women may get vaccinated eventually, but not now.
Most trials exclude pregnant and breastfeeding women. Young
women who are or want to be pregnant think about their babies as much as about
themselves. In most societies, women don’t get credit for conception, but are
blamed for miscarriages. This is one possible reason why many young women would
stay away from the unproven vaccines.
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Ruth Faden, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins, describes
women as the guardians of the family. It is the mother, rarely the father, who
makes sure the child takes the right vaccines on time. Mothers are particular
about visits to the pediatrician. Their maternal instinct makes them read up on
new research, and discuss it with other mothers.
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Nancy Tomes, a history professor offers a history
perspective. Like Ruth Faden, she confirms women were historically responsible
for protecting their families against microbe threats. Women, more than men,
wear masks to protect others. But they are discerning when it comes to drugs
and vaccines because most medical experience comes from a “male perspective”,
medicines created by men, for men. Tomes gives the example of the early birth
control pills (invented by men) that had much higher hormonal doses than
needed. Women on pills complained of nausea, headaches, dizziness for which men
called them hysterical.
Women were excluded from HIV drug trials. Only as late
as in 1993 did the US congress pass a law, making women’s inclusion in clinical
research mandatory. Light female bodies may react differently to vaccines and drugs
than heavy male bodies. Women have had many reasons to distrust medical science.
I earlier wrote about the syphilis experiment conducted on black men. Gynecological
procedures were forced on enslaved black women.
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The incredible speed with which 95% effective vaccines
have appeared has not helped. Since no long-term effects are known, I believe
some women may want to wait long enough to monitor the safety record.
The Pew research also found a correlation between the
possibility of covid-related hospitalization and vaccination intent. People
worried about landing in hospital (and then who knows what) showed greater
willingness to get the vaccine. It is well known that in this pandemic men are getting
hospitalized and dying in far greater numbers than women. This could be a
reason why women are less willing. The risk-benefit analysis in their mind
makes the vaccine not worth the risk yet.
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The two most effective vaccines so far, Pfizer and
Moderna, are based on mRNA, a new technology. The credit for its creation goes
to Katalin Kariko, an American woman of Hungarian origin. The technology of another
vaccine, Novavax, is invented by a team of all-women scientists. The leader of
that team is Nita Patel, an Indian who emigrated to the USA. Women like them can be invited to campaign for
creating more trust in the vaccines. Vaccines are no longer made by men, for
men.
Ravi
Fascinating. and disappointing findings
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