IN the beginning was the odd, pretty solitary nutter.
Someone like David Icke, who morphed before our very eyes from a respected sports broadcaster to someone who spawned any number of conspiracy theories, each one more doolally than the last.
We might pity rather than condemn, but for the fact that he has become a poster boy for the anti vaccination lobby.
This week brought the welcome – and frankly rather touching – sight of an elderly lady in Coventry and an elderly couple in Newcastle being among the first to benefit from one of the vaccines which may liberate us from the restrictions of a truly depressing year.
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They were a living, breathing tribute to the scientists and lab staff and, not least, the volunteers, who put their lives on hold to try and compress years-long processes into a few months – and have apparently triumphed over considerable odds. We should salute them all.
Yet the Icke-inclined brigade are now out in force, busy sowing doubt about the vaccine, promoting all kinds of crazy theories about what is actually being inserted into our bodies.
We’ve been down this road before, when a rogue doctor, Andrew Wakefield, spread doubt in the late 1990s about the effects of the MMR triple jab to prevent dangerous childhood ailments.
And despite his “research” being comprehensively debunked, he left enough of a trail of doubt for illnesses like measles, which had been all but eradicated, to make a comeback.
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We absolutely mustn’t let the forces of unhinged darkness snatch defeat from the jaws of vaccine victory. All our governments need to embark on a massive campaign of information, allaying needless fears, answering common questions, dispensing as much detail as they have about what to expect after you have reached the front of the queue.
This is a good news story, and we can’t let it turn bad at the behest of those with a slender grasp on reality.
There’s too much at stake here, not just for those whom the vaccine will protect, but for the future of the nation’s wellbeing - both medical and economical.
Me? I’ll be down at the surgery with the sleeve rolled up as soon as I get the call.
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