Give vaccine holdouts space to reconsider with dignity

It is very easy to make assumptions around why a minority of our citizens resist vaccination against Covid-19.

Firstly, there’s a preponderance of ‘‘reports’’ on the serious and bizarre sideeffects. The important thing to note here is that these reports emanate from the darkest recesses of the web.

Further to this is the entrenched belief that we do not know how or from what they are made. Consuming a pharmacopeia of substances is endemic to us as human beings. I remember reading in the Reader’s Digest in the mid-1960s that the average US citizen unknowingly ingested the equivalent of 26 aspirin-sized tablets of chemical additives a week in their diet. What would that figure be now?

This leaves us with perhaps only two other reasons for refusing the vaccine. Firstly, fear of needles and secondly, religious beliefs. What church or faith would actively encourage its flock to do something that imperils the wider community?

One of the hardest and indeed bravest things a person can do is muster the humility to acknowledge they’ve had a change of mind. Human nature being what it is, when people are confronted in an adversarial manner they will push back with at least equal force. Time we all counted to 10 on this.

We can call it ‘‘bloody mindedness’’ if we like but we will not shift this intransigence unless we allow people the room to re-think their stance with dignity. Terry Hannan, Oamaru

No doubt there is Covid fatigue and irritation around the country, especially in Auckland. Is it really necessary for firefighters and teachers to be fired if they unvaccinated? Getting to 100 per cent vaccination is not going to be possible. At some stage we need to welcome back all of the team of five million.

I belong to the vast majority of vaccinated as I believe it is a good preventative idea. Demonising a small minority and leaving them out in the desert can result in long-lasting scars. Show charity for all and malice towards none.

Frank Olsson, Auckland

Tracy Watkins made some valid points in her editorial ‘‘The pathway of hate is dangerous’’ (November 11).

She’s correct in writing that ‘‘ratcheting up the stakes with silly and divisive rhetoric is not the path we should be taking’’, and ‘‘ridiculous claims are driving a wedge’’. Unfortunately however, much of this rhetoric and wedge-driving comes from the media themselves.

The prime minister has been relentlessly accused of scare tactics for political gain, ignoring advice, shooting from the hip, ad hoc policy, stumbling, floundering, and being misinformed and out of touch.

The comments made by flagship radio hosts are most certainly ‘‘divisive rhetoric’’. Social unity in a national crisis is a distant second to branding, personalities and ratings. Balance and accuracy are ignored. They’re driving wedges and proud of it.

Ian Findlay, Napier

Trans rights and law

Congratulations to the Sunday Star-Times for being the first mainstream media outlet to publish alternative perspectives to the current trans rights narrative of ‘‘any questioning is transphobic and hateful’’.

The November 7 explainer of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Bill attempted to clarify the issues involved and last week’s opinion piece by Jill Abigail and Jan Rivers gives your readers further information that most were probably not aware of.

It is heartening to read a straightforward explanation of the potential ramifications of the bill, the replacement of sex with gender identity that has already been introduced without consultation into public policy and the dangers of puberty blockers.

Margaret Curnow, Wellington

I was frustrated to see Rivers and Abigail given a platform in the Sunday Star-Times to spread misinformation about trans people during Transgender Awareness Week. Their assertion that ‘‘equal pay is determined by gender identity, not sex’’ is contradicted by statistics which highlight the trans-cis pay gap.

Continually seeing anti-trans media content is proven to damage trans people’s mental health. Moreover, it keeps the debate on trans issues at basement level.

We need to move beyond the current back and forth of ‘‘are trans women women and do they deserve rights or not’’ to more productive discussions about what trans liberation looks like. Anne Russell, Wellington

Water powers

Andrea Vance’s column on Three Waters (Sunday Politics, November 14) failed to refer to how well-maintained and future-proofed some councils’ water infrastructure really is.

In Taupo¯ where the infrastructure has been rather well-managed and substantially

upgraded, ratepayers would become totally dependent on how Wellington officials would like to see the system fashioned, to a liking that may not suit their specific needs.

Another great example is Westport, where barely 5000 ratepayers have tried to do their best to upgrade their own water supply. If, for example, Westport residents were to prefer nonfluoridation in the future, the proposed blanket Government mandate would not allow them to act as they wish.

In short, it reeks more of dictatorship than democracy and it would be lovely if there would be some form of dialogue to weigh up ideas for the long-term greater good.

Rene´ Blezer, Taupo

Reform taxation

Why has the present government not made any meaningful changes to our distorted and unfair tax regime?

We have one of the lowest top tax rates in the OECD, no comprehensive capital gains tax, and we tax milk and bread etc.

We are witnessing the longterm dismantling of an equitable society and the continuation of trickle-up wealth as started under Roger Douglas.

Robert Souch, Nelson