观点/评论：疫苗积极态度是华裔文化传统得天独厚的优势

在有关新冠疫苗的谣言和阴谋论迅速传播的情况下，我上周打了疫苗的加强针。尽管我打前两针后都出现了从发烧和恶心到出汗和发冷等副作用，我想都没想，二话没说就报了名。我坚信疫苗是新冠的克星，可以挽救生命并带领世界走出疫情的阴影。任何蛊惑人心的虚假宣传，以及对不可避免的疫苗副作用的担心都不能动摇我接种加强针的信念。

I took the booster shot last week amid rapidly spreading rumors and conspiracies over Covid-19 vaccines. Despite the side effects from my previous jabs -- from fever and nauseous to sweats and chills, getting the vaccine seemed a no-brainer for me. I firmly believe that the vaccine can save lives and lead the world out of the pandemic crisis. The disinformation campaign trying to undermine vaccine’s confidence and the anticipation of another onslaught of side effects’ attacks could not hinder my resolve.  




作为一名华裔，我并非来自于一个对疫苗怀有根深蒂固的怨恨或怀疑的传统和文化背景。 疫苗接种实践早在 1500 年代就始于中国，即是让未被感染的人士吸入一种由天花结痂制成的粉末，以保护他们免受天花的侵害。再被传入欧洲和世界许多地方之前，在这种传统的接种方式已在中国广泛使用了几个世纪。

As an ethnic Chinese, I am not from a culture or tradition with a deep-seated resentment or skepticism against vaccines. Inoculation practice started in China as early as the 1500s, which had healthy people inhale a powder made from the crusts of smallpox scabs to protect them from the disease. The practice had seen widespread use in the country for centuries before it made its way to Europe and many parts of the world.

在一位英国医生将牛痘脓包注射到一个小男孩的手臂上后，接种实践变成了一种医疗程序，并于 19 世纪传入中国。 从那时起，中国历代政府针对多种传染病——包括霍乱、斑疹伤寒、痢疾、鼠疫和狂犬病等开展了疫苗接种运动。



After an English physician injected cowpox pustule into the arm of a young boy, the inoculation practice turned into a medical procedure, which came to China in the 19th century. Since then, various government-led vaccination campaigns in China have targeted many infectious diseases -- including cholera, typhus fever, dysentery, plague, rabies, and polio.

但历史创伤导致一些今天的族裔社区和有色人种对医疗和公共卫生系统的怀疑和不信任，助长了他们在当今的疫苗拒绝心态。 从历史上看，美国医疗机构虐待黑人社区，使他们饱受医疗系统虐待、盘剥并沦为试验品。 最令人震惊的医学实验是 1932 年的塔斯基吉梅毒研究。 美国公共卫生服务局招募了 400 名贫困、未受过教育，患有梅毒的美国黑人，并在找到了治愈梅毒医疗手段的情况下活活的看着他们死去。 这项臭名昭著的研究给美国黑人造成了挥之不去的心理创伤，使他们对医疗机构和疫苗接种运动产生了深刻的怀疑和不信任。

But historical trauma has led some racial communities and people of color to grow suspicion and mistrust over medical and public health intervention, fueling their vaccine hesitancy in present times. Historically, the American medical institution has mistreated the black community, leaving them subject to medical abuse, exploitation, and experiment. The most shocking medical experimentation was the 1932 Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The US Public Health Service recruited 400 poor, uneducated African American men with syphilis and ruthlessly watched them die avoidable deaths, even after they found the cure for the disease. The infamous study inflicted a lingering psychological wound on black Americans and brewed mistrust against the medical establishment and vaccination campaigns.



与此同时，要求人权自主和医疗自由的呼声下， 19 世纪白人领导的反疫苗运动死灰复燃，当时的反疫苗运动谴责疫苗接种是巫医进行的肮脏、无效甚至危险的防疫措施。 《疫苗接种之恐怖》一书声称该疫苗是毒剂，是美国军队中脑膜炎和肺炎死亡率飙升的罪魁。 今天，主要由白人组成的反疫苗联盟把与 Covid-19 疫苗抗衡作为行为宗旨，大肆开展疫苗抹黑运动。 随着白人至上主义在美国再度泛滥，美国的疫苗接种率一直低至 64%。

Meanwhile, the argument for medical freedom and human rights liberty has reignited the white people-led anti-vaccine movement in the 19th century, which denounced the vaccine procedure as a filthy, useless and dangerous rite performed by the medicine man. The book “Horror of Vaccination” claimed the vaccine was poisonous and caused a spike in the death rate from meningitis and pneumonia. Today, the anti-vaccine leagues formed by predominately white people have embarked on a cause to undermine Covid-19 vaccine efforts and discredit the vaccine campaigns. The vaccination rate has remained as low as 64% in the US as white supremacy increasingly returns.

英国伦敦政治经济学院的一项调查发现，华人是对 Covid 19 疫苗持积极态度的英国族裔群体之一。 与此同时，包括非裔在内的其他少数族裔表现出对疫苗的严重犹豫。 加拿大统计局 数据显示，近 80% 的加拿大华裔表示非常或愿意接受 Covid-19 疫苗，而这一比例在加拿大总体人口中为 76.9%，白人为 77.7%，黑人为 56.4%。



An LSE survey has found that Chinese was among the ethnic groups in Britain that had a positive attitude towards the Covid 19 vaccine. At the same time, other minorities – including African descendants showed significant levels of vaccine hesitancy. The StatsCan data showed almost 80% of Chinese Canadians expressed very or somewhat willing to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, compared to 76.9% of Canadian total, 77.7% white, and 56.4% blacks.

对疫苗的积极态度是华裔文化传统得天独厚的优势，身为华裔我感到非常幸运。 接受 Covid-19 疫苗使我们能够最大限度地享受代医学提供的保护和益处。

I feel blessed that the positive sentiment towards vaccines is a natural fit for Chinese descendants. Embracing the Covid-19 vaccine allows us to enjoy the best protection and the maximum benefits vaccines and modern medicine offer.