The Unvaccinated: The new marginalized to co-design with?

The photo is from a London demonstration in May. Source: https://newseu.cgtn.com/news/2021-05-30/Thousands-in-London-protest-against-the-use-of-COVID-19-vaccines-10Fse7trwBO/index.html

I am with a friend in Athens, we are having dinner at a terrace. He is cold, but we cannot get inside because of me. My EU Covid certificate, which I obtained as I recovered from Covid back in April, has just recently expired. Just a week ago, in Riga, where it was surely too cold to sit outside, I was in the opposite situation. With my certificate still valid, working from a cosy café, a good friend of mine, an excellent massage therapist and healer who takes care of herself -and others- in her own way, wanted to join me for a quick break, and she sneaked unnoticed through the barrier to reach me and say hello. These are the everyday situations that manifest how the unvaccinated and vaccinated navigate the world in our newly forming social fabric. It is true that when someone does a Covid test, the EU certificate goes green for a while, but then the financial factor comes into play. I guess it is just easier to make plans exclusively with vaccinated friends? These policies are not nearly as problematic as those which jeopardize peoples’ jobs and incomes, however. Some countries are already adopting such measures, claiming them as necessary to protect citizens. But are they? Mass trauma, such as the Pandemic, has very serious consequences for the societal ecosystem that forms in its immediacy. It is not good news; we can look back at other cases throughout history. Peoples fear, and painful memories of what they have just gone through, provide the perfect grounds to cross boundaries which were taken for granted before, such as ones rights for health-related privacy when applying for a job. ‘The individual must remain sovereign over their own body…’ begins the description of the UK signature petition to outlaw discrimination against those unvaccinated. On the other hand, life must be protected, social healthcare must be a priority, and measures must be put in place to keep us all safe. This is a wicked problem; it is for us!

I am very much aware of the complexity of this new reality and the continuous threat posed by this virus, tremendously glad that vaccines exist and are protecting us every day, yet I am dubious about the ‘one solution -the vaccine- fits all, and fixes all’ approach, and certainly against the moral blaming of those who prefer not to get them, for health, religious, or whichever reasons. People who are advocating for the right to choose, or simply trying to challenge discrimination -many vaccinated themselves, are often portrayed as selfish, antivax conspiracy theorists, once again silencing all those who have all sorts of concerns, but certainly do not belief that vaccines have chips on them. When something goes right, it was our collective responsibility. When something goes wrong, individuals are to blame. I have special sympathy for healthcare workers who were heroes last year, risking their lives for the common good, and are now villains who risk the life of others because they were not first in line to get the shot. A close friend of mine, a nurse, among them. It is unfair to think that people who give their energy and time to the service of others must also give the right over their own bodies or be socially shamed otherwise. On the other hand, it is true that measures must continue to be in place to avoid transmission in health settings and everywhere else.  The solution is not clear, and we cannot simply go on as if nothing happened. I say let’s think about designs’ role in this conundrum.

My work in the last ten years have focused on co-design within mental health. As such, I am very familiar with compulsory treatments (e.g., under section) and the way policies which are designed to protect citizens (e.g. prevent harm to oneself or others) are often misused and have unintended consequences. Now I am just thinking, what are we going to do about this? Can we co-design to prevent further fragmentation and discrimination, whilst taking the necessary measures to confront the health crisis effectively? My post today is a provocation, and it intends to stir imagination on the kinds of co-design projects that would take place with the unvaccinated, a new marginalized collective after all.