Immunity as relativity: German vaccination campaigns and debates in times of covid-19
Historical Social Research
; 46(4):316-338, 2021.
Article
in English
| Scopus | ID: covidwho-1575751
ABSTRACT
»Immunität als Relativitätstheorie Deutsche Impfkampagnen und Debatten während der Coronapandemie«. COVID-19 was a shock. The shutdown of entire societies was considered a historic turning point already in 2020. Vaccinations promised a way out of the crisis. Even before the vaccination campaigns began, they were seen as a weapon that would decide the war against the pandemic, even as a promise of salvation. These hopes were dashed in 2021. Vaccinations offered a relatively high level of, but not absolute, protection. Vaccinated people were still contagious and thus a risk to others. My article traces the history of this disappointment and the attempts to solve it. I focus on German debates about prioritising vaccine distribution, dealing with side effects, and debates about compulsory vaccination and increasing social pressure on the unvaccinated. Vaccination campaigns thus serve as a probe with which to examine social orders and social distortions. At the same time, I place the current developments in a historical perspective. I ask both about the historical roots of today’s debates and about new developments since 2020 that only become visible in a historical perspective. © 2021, GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. All rights reserved.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
Databases of international organizations
Database:
Scopus
Topics:
Vaccines
Language:
English
Journal:
Historical Social Research
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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