It sounds like the start of a joke: what do you get if you put seven unvaccinated cynics in a house together during a Covid wave?
There’s no punchline, though – this was the premise for new BBC2 documentary, Unvaccinated, which aired on Thursday night.
It’s a touchy subject, to say the least, and the views are strong from the start.
Mathematician and presenter Hannah Fry worked on the models used by the Government during the first lockdown and feels personally invested in the vaccine programme.
She has been shocked by the response from anti-vaxxers online since the jab was launched, and wants to understand their concerns. If possible, she’d also like to change their minds, but concedes it will be a tough job.
So Hannah brings together her Sceptical Seven for frank conversations and fierce debate. Props to the casting department on this documentary – they’ve covered almost every vaccine objection you’ll have heard of, from a Facebook-loving conspiracy theorist who believes the jab contains a microchip activated by 5G, to a woman who is simply unsettled by false rumours about a link to infertility.
The group ranges from staunch protesters who devote their lives to opposing the vaccine, to a care worker who just wants people to have free choice about what to put in their bodies.
Perhaps you also have concerns. Perhaps you’re furious that four million unvaccinated people are standing in the way of progress.
I’ve certainly heard this show described as both “infuriating” and “patronising”. Either way, surely grown-up conversation is the only way out, whatever your views? As you’d expect, there are a couple of defensive participants who just won’t listen to the science to the point where their fellow anti-vaxxers plead with them to shut up. But the rest are there to engage with the process.
Generally, this was a refreshing antidote to the toxic echo chamber of social media. Hannah takes the group to discuss side-effects with GPs, to talk to experts who helped develop the vaccine and to get answers to their specific questions in a calm and non-confrontational way.
Incidentally, I have no idea why they have to be in a house together. This isn’t Big Brother, although a Diary Room might have been useful.
At the end of the show, Hannah asks each of the group if they would reconsider their objections and take the jab. Zero out of seven say yes. A demoralising exercise for her, perhaps, but an interesting watch if you have the patience.
