CHECK Nord #2
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PUBLIC HEALTH<br />
VACCINATIONS: FORCED,<br />
VOLUNTARY OR OUT OF DUTY?<br />
ENGLISH<br />
After more than a year of pandemic, we are now so far advanced that there is a<br />
vaccine against COVID-19. It should protect us from a serious disease in the event of<br />
an infection. However, many people don’t want to be vaccinated at all. Uncertainty,<br />
lack of understanding, or simple rejection of authority certainly also play a role.<br />
How can our language help us find a sensible solution together so that we can<br />
finally go back to normal life?<br />
STATE ORDER OR MORAL<br />
IMPERATIVE?<br />
Nobody needs to be vaccinated, at least not<br />
according to the current legal situation. But<br />
why are terms such as mandatory or compulsory<br />
vaccination used? Language gives us<br />
the freedom and ability to combine both the<br />
possible and impossible. Take ‘forced vaccination’<br />
as an example. The word vaccination<br />
means the administration of a vaccine to<br />
someone. The word forced, however, describes<br />
that someone has to do something by<br />
order of authority. So, a term with a negative<br />
connotation is thus combined with a word<br />
that actually has a positive connotation. As<br />
a result, the phrase is then devalued.<br />
If, on the other hand, one speaks<br />
of duty, the concept of vaccination<br />
is linked to a moral level.<br />
RECOGNIZE<br />
”UNWORDS“ AND<br />
PAY ATTENTION TO<br />
LANGUAGE<br />
The phrase “Corona-<br />
Diktatur” (Corona Dictatorship)<br />
was chosen by<br />
German linguists as the<br />
unword of the year 2020.<br />
This kind of word<br />
manipulation has been<br />
cropping up again and<br />
again over the years. For<br />
example, there was a compulsory vaccination<br />
at the time when an emperor was still ruling in<br />
Germany. While two large outbreaks of smallpox<br />
killed hundreds of thousands of people at<br />
the time, publications such as ”Der Impfzwang”<br />
(Forced Vaccination) and the magazine<br />
“Der Impfgegner” (Opponent of Vaccinations)<br />
appeared. Freedom of speech and expression<br />
should at all times be encouraged. But a poor<br />
choice of language may negatively impact the<br />
way people make informed decisions about<br />
their health.<br />
IT‘S HARD TO KNOW WHAT<br />
OR WHO TO TRUST<br />
“I give you my word: there will be no compulsory<br />
vaccination in this pandemic,” said German<br />
Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn. Chancellor<br />
Angela Merkel and many other German government<br />
representatives speak specifically of<br />
“vaccination offers” to dispel thoughts of duty.<br />
At the same time, it has been pointed out that<br />
there may be certain things you cannot do if you<br />
are not vaccinated.<br />
The decision to get vaccinated, however, remains<br />
a voluntary one. And that should continue to be<br />
the basis for public discussion. Paying attention<br />
to such details may not end the pandemic, but<br />
it’ll help us all to navigate through the crisis with<br />
less worry, stress and fear. (ts,mb)<br />
Source: Udo Stiehl, WDR<br />
(www1.wdr.de/nachrichten/corona-impfungenkampfbegriffe-aus-alten-zeiten-100.html)<br />
Foto: Jacob Lund_stock.adobe.com<br />
<strong>CHECK</strong> NORD <strong>#2</strong><br />
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