Unvaxxed is a nuanced, timely look at vaccine hesitancy and how uncertainty and misinformation have influenced the Australian experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. Written by award-winning science journalist Dyani Lewis, this is the second book in The Crikey Read series by Crikey and Hardie Grant Books.
Anti-vax protests, the 'scamdemic', disproven home remedies: how did we get here? The realities of lockdowns and the erosion of trust in government and authority have fed into a small but significant history of anti-vaxxing in Australia that has found unlikely bedfellows in the QAnon conspiracy cult, white supremacy movements and the wellness community. The genie is out of the bottle – what do we do now? Do vaccine mandates work, or do they simply hasten the erosion of trust and the spread of different kinds of ‘truth’ on the subject of vaccines? And what is the actual first-hand human fallout from vaccine refusal for families split over the issue?
Interweaving personal experience and first-hand narratives from those on the frontlines alongside smart, perceptive and compassionate commentary on the scientific and sociocultural effects of vaccine misinformation, Unvaxxed plots a sorely needed way forward for Australia in 2022.
From Crikey and Hardie Grant Books, The Crikey Read is a series that brings an unflinching and truly independent eye to the issues of the day in Australia and the world.
About the Author
Dyani Lewis is an award-winning science journalist based in Melbourne, Australia who has reported extensively on COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. She is a regular contributor to Nature and Cosmos Magazine and in 2021 she won the Finkel Foundation Eureka Prize for Long-Form Science Journalism.
