What's the best way to respond to a family member who says the COVID vaccines are being used to depopulate?
What's the best way to respond to a family member who says the COVID vaccines are being used to depopulate?
They are citing ONS figures of excess deaths as proof the vaccines are killing people. I tried to explain that not being able to get a doctor's appointment, staying home and getting fat, etc explain the figures (official sources have said it too) but they said it's "gaslighting" and then said their family doctor wouldn't get the vaccine.
Tell them the vaccine for not being whalloped with your baseball bat is to shut up about that stupid anti-vaxxer shit and you highly recommend they take that vaccine.
"If you think the world's top scientists are trying to kill you, then why would you listen to any expert about anything? They'll save you from yourself when you're wrong anyway. Would you do the same for them? That's why they're trustworthy, and you and your sources are not."
Seriously. Take your car to a baker next time you have trouble.
"Bye."
Then leave and stay gone.
Not everything requires a response and at some point you have to pick your battles. They have revealed to you that they are an idiot. It is not your job to fix them.
Seriously, I've had multiple conversations with my BIL where he comes over to me and says something insane, and my response is just "huh okayyy...." and I walk away without saying anything else. I don't care to be polite anymore.
Sometimes the best response is no response at all. Silence can be deafening.
You can't logic someone out of something they didn't logic themselves into, and they definitely got emotionally attached to antivax before they found "statistics" to back shit up.
This is the answer.
You can't reason someone out of an unreasonable position.
The only response is to ask them what evidence they would require to change their position.
They'll inevitably reveal that their assertions are merely beliefs because it's not practically possible to prove nor disprove them.
Tell them that you're a sheeple, and got the safe dose of the vaccine, since they want to keep the compliant people around. Tell them it's too bad they're on "the list" of bad people.
I generally reframe it from a perspective even they think they understand: Money.
Governments want their money. Less Population = Less Taxes for them to take, ergo, no government is trying to lower their population. And do they, the audience, think that the government is willing to have less money?
I don't think so!
Maybe not the answer you’re looking for, but I have an uncle like that.
I suggest going no contact if you can.
Reason being, they don’t care about facts, nothing you say will convince them.
"How to speak to a vaccine sceptic: research reveals what works Hesitancy about vaccinations is on the rise, but studies show there are specific ways to address people's questions."
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01771-z
Optimistic, but a start maybe.
In summary of the nature article:
Listen and be interested in why they hold those opinions, use motivational interviewing techniques (I explain this as Inception, trying to get the patient to have the ideas) and provide solid evidence, be realistic about data and certainty, ie the MMR vaccine is safe (and doesn't cause autism) the COVID vaccine has less data as it's newer, but it is still safer for the vast majority of people than COVID.
A lot of people are saying cut them off, but I have a family member who was into the anti-vax conspiracy theories and kinda still is, but it's much less of a focus now and is pretty obviously just being carried forward by cognitive dissonance at this point. There will never be total victory, but there can be a reasonable truce.
What I'd suggest is the most counter-intuitive strategy - show genuine interest. Say "Ok, I want to know more, but I need you to be specific. Tell me what your theory is and what the evidence is, I'll take my time looking at it, and respond in detail."
Keep in mind, they probably won't pay attention to whatever your respond with. That's ok. The response isn't the point, pinning them down on what they think is. So often these things are purely emotional, and forcing them into a logical framework will make them do the work for you. As for the response, odds are it's some combination of cherry-picked data and spurious correlations, if not outright made up facts. Think of alternate explanations for what they're showing you that are more plausible than a vaccine killing people. And remember that if the vaccine really was killing people, it would be really obvious, not something we need look deep into the matrix to find.
My sister once tried to come at me with the 5g antenna vaccine thing.
"Do you have a source? That sounds like fox news."
She spent almost an hour on her phone trying to find something credible and then never brought it up again.
I’ve been waiting for over a year now for my dad to send me his source for “the new information that’s come out about the vaccines” when he asked me if I regretted getting it yet…
Wow, wasn't expecting a reasonable and emotionally grounded response as one of the top comments.
Keep up the good work my dude.
So often these things are purely emotional, and forcing them into a logical framework will make them do the work for you.
This is a good point. While I was recruiting, they used to say that people make decisions based on emotion and then later go back and try to use logic to explain why they did it.
I have been also suggesting to these people I meet in the real world that it's probably the micro-plastics that are causing the rise in deaths/autism/whatever bullshit they say. I'm trying to get them to focus on more environmental stuff and blaming companies.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Tell them that's completely true, and that if they keeps spreading the truth the black vans will come for them, they know too much.
The birds have already heard the rumors, and the clock is ticking. They better do something and shut up before they end up in "the facility".
You just stop talking to them entirely. Sorry.
If you think they’d be open to it, try Bayes’ theorem. Ask them to give percent likelihoods for the following:
A. The odds that the government (or whoever) is trying to kill everyone, before taking the evidence of excess deaths into account
B. The odds of seeing excess deaths for any possible reason, not just their conspiracy hypothesis
C. The odds of seeing excess deaths if the conspiracy hypothesis were true.Then logically, the odds of the conspiracy being real given the excess deaths should be A*C/B. If you disagree with them on the outcome, you must disagree on one or more of the assumptions (probably A—if it’s B, you can find the objective odds by checking historical data).
If you still disagree on the prior assumption (A), you can set aside the excess deaths argument and ask what other evidence led them to form that prior assumption. Then you can repeat the process until you either reach agreement or they’re left with an assumption they have no evidence for.
...You are asking people who.. willfully choose to be idiots to... do science?
I mean, you do you, but at the point someone is willing to believe "the top scientists in the world are trying to get you killed" you might as well consider them lost, as they are ignoring elementary-level statistics.
You can't use logic to talk someone out of a position they didn't use logic to get into in the first place
Disengage and choose your family
Don't bother. Anything bad you say will be dismissed as a 'smear' campaign against that person because 'they' (big pharma, the millions of scientists who are all in on "it") don't want you to know and they'll just shut off against you. Just take a step back from the dolt.
They don't need a vaccine to depopulate when heart disease(695k/y), car accidents(40k/y), overdoses(82k/y), abortion(1m/y), and suicide(49k/y) kill far more people than the vaccine could possibly be linked to the COVID vaccines(8k in total).
Don't at me for including abortion, I support abortion access and want it to be a free service, but we are talking about depopulation means and abortion is a means to depopulate.
A pregnancy is not a person to count. That's anti-abortion rhetoric.
The question is: does it make sense for the government to ban abortions, just to kill ppl with vaccines on the other hand?
"If that were true, I'd be trying even harder to make you take it."
What's the best way to respond to a family member who says the COVID vaccines are being used to depopulate?
"You are a fucking idiot" usually does the job.
"That is a fucking idiotic idea."
Attacks the idea, not the person. Probably will be the same result, because they probably were a fucking idiot to believe that stuff, and they are very attached to stupid ideas.
Attacks the idea, not the person
Well anti-vax are idiots so there is that.
Probably will be the same result
Precisely. If someone is an idiot, they won't understand the difference anyway.
You stop speaking to them.
They'll either come to realize that there are real world consequences for being a dumb asshole, like their friends and family abandoning them....or they won't. Either way, you win.
Every time he lies about vaccines you break one of his fingers and tell him lying is bad for his health.
Jokes aside, ask him who his doctor is, call up his doctor on speaker and ask the doctor if they'd recommend vaccines. He is almost certainly lying to you because he thinks "you believe doctors, ergo I will lie and say a doctor supports my position in an attempt to manipulate you".
Ask for the comparison in excess deaths comparison of vaccinated versus unvaccinated.
This is an easy one:
Ask them to point to the depopulation occurring.
On the graph the fuzzy dot is on June 2021 which was around the time that vaccines were in full availability. According to their logic we should see a decline occurring from the "depopulation" occurring from COVID vaccines. Where is that decline?
The growth rate is a better chart for that, because you can see the population growth drastically diminishing (because more deaths = less grow) until vaccines where made available and then it immediately goes back to normal. If someone wanted to depopulate all they had to do was prevent the vaccines from reaching people or have people not take the vaccine.
My mom said basically the same thing, putting a date of 2 years on anyone who got the vaccine. Here we are way past that mark.
She's still a lunatic, and I've been low contact with her for months now.
Oh my god I met a few of those people. Every single person that died they'd say it was the vaccine. Every time a headline about a celebrity that dies "yeah they SAY it was cancer, but they took the vaccine only 6 months ago, know what im saying? Open your eyes!"
Like mate, people aren't just going to stop dying.
Agree with them. Tell them that yes indeed there is a deep state that wants to kill as many people as possible by spreading disinformation causing morons not to take the vaccines so more stupid people die. It's eugenics really and very, very heinous. Wait wasn't that what they meant?
IIRC there was a study where people with strong opinions talked to an Al and the process changed their minds.
Edit:
Durably reducing conspiracy beliefs through dialogues with AI https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adq1814
I told their grandmother how silly they are.
Straightened them right out. (Happened with my close friends family)
I had this problem.
I stopped talking to them.
Just mock them.
"Yeah, sure. It's all apart of Elvis's plan to return as the antichrist."I’ve had about 9 boosters at this point, and my nuts are so swollen from spike proteins that when I go to Walmart, they accuse me of trying to steal basketballs.
"It couldn't hurt to get a second opinion, at least, right?"
You are allowed, and sometimes encouraged, to not say anything.
COVID is being used to depopulate and the vaccine is for those who want to survive
Their bullshit causes a risk that someone else hesitate or pass on vaccination. You did an attempt at convincing. The responsible alternative is to make them feel uncomfortable bringing up the subject.
Well I guess we agree that we should respect body autonomy.
But please be cognizant of the social consequences of not having herd immunity to protect the vulnerable and the perfectly reasonable judgement that your actions will result in the death of children, potentially including your own.
Yes they are. Those who don't take them help depopulate the planet
Arceus, if it only worked faster...
You could agree, that there are those internationally trying to kill members of the general public. Not with vaccinations, but with misinformation. Anyone they can convince, has a chance to die. Tell them to not be a stupid lemming.
I knew several people who died from COVID and one died from health complications later. I know my reality, but I guess others may need to face death directly to learn the hard lesson.
Ask them questions. Have them explain how, why. When you find contradictions or confusion, ask how they resolve them.
Remind them abortion is illegal in many places, that women are to be awarded certificates for having a "litter", and show them the article about the brain dead woman kept on life support for months to deliver a child slightly over one pound that now needs months in the NIC unit to survive.
Not deliver. They autopsied the woman to collect the baby. They had to collect it because the lady's body was decomposing. Because she was dead. Not brain dead. Dead.
Oh damn, I didn't know the baby's health was so, so bad. All that extra time of forcing "life" to still create a bad situation.
And the mother's family in beaucoup medical debt, as the cherry on top of this nightmare sundae.
People who believe in these types of theories usually want to feel part of a club or may just be gullible. Pulling up charts and figures likely will not help as they often dismiss it or change the theory. Listening to them and asking them why they feel that way and where they got the information can cause them to critically think about it and start to form the cracks in the theory. If you think you're getting somewhere, maybe ask why vaccines and not another, more accessible form of medicine.
In this case, it sounds like the family doctor may be the source. Clarify exactly what this doctor said and what they would prescribe instead of a vaccine. It may be something homeopathic or a scam, or something else indicating the doctor is spreading a vaccine lie for their own gain.
If you're getting nowhere, consider if this family member has a history of mental illness. Some disorders make people prone to skepticism and a general mistrust of the world, or cause magical thinking. Schizophrenia, bipolar (manic episodes), and OCD can sometimes be hard to spot.
Unfortunately, it could also be something ego-centered, and being "in" on a theory forms a core part of their identity, separating them from the "sheep". They could be unempathetic to the idea of their actions spreading disease, or annoyed at the idea they have to take action to protect themselves. Based on the number of emotional responses in this thread and the general advice to block them or call them names, this is, sadly, a very likely cause. In this case, the best thing you can do is protect yourself by getting the vaccine that they won't and limit physical contact. It's a very sad reality that this line of selfish thinking has become extremely prevalent since COVID. I also had a vaccine skeptic family member who only gave it up once they caught COVID. They were lucky; take a look at r/DarwinAward to see the damage vaccine denialism causes.
Stay safe OP. I hope there is light for your family member.
Are people still talking about Covid vaccines? Aren’t there new conspiracies to move onto. How about Biden being a robot?
“I’ll pay for yours if it means you can’t reproduce.”
I’m on the ONS site and there’s mountains of publications and data on Covid. Which publication did they read?
One of the reasons i don't make policy decisions: my solution yo the antivax problem is to develop a bioweapon and a corresponding vaccine. Secretly add the new vaccine into all other vaccines for two years. Warn people that the coming flu season is going to be bad and that a new dangerous strain of covid is spreading to increase vaccination rates. Then deploy the bioweapon. No more antivaxxers.
Not even gonna fact check myself I'm just gonna bet excess deaths fell off dramatically when the vaccine became widespread. Literally the opposite of what you'd expect if the vax was killing people.
"More vaccines for me"
