DOES THE ARGUMENT GENERALIZE?

Why should public health bureaucrats be different from any other bureaucrats?  "Unvaccinated Americans have been called 'arrogant,' 'selfish' 'stupid,' 'idiots' and worse for refusing to get the jab." Is it churlish of me to note that people who objected back in the day to intact busing of classes, or to critical studies in third grade today, get called "racist," or that sport shooters who object to totally ineffective "common sense gun control" get called "NRA dupes."

Yeah, that's whataboutism.  Deal with it.  Then, dear self-styled Intellectual Betters, take an education from some of the people whose job it is to persuade people who have not yet gotten their Trump shots to schedule an appointment.

"If you’re going to call me an idiot … that isn’t encouragement,” Stephanie McClure, an assistant professor of biocultural medical anthropology at the University of Alabama, told USA TODAY.  “You usually don’t get anywhere by attacking people.”

Shaming and insulting people is "not a very effective way to promote adoption of a behavior,” said McClure, who leads the Tuscaloosa, Alabama, team for CommuniVax, a national alliance advocating for historically underserved Black, Indigenous and Latino populations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

That "basket of deplorables" or that "47% dependent on government" didn't work so well for a few recent presidential hopefuls, did it? The same thing is true for convincing people that the shots are safe.

[Behavioral scientist Gleb] Tsipursky said all major demographics of unvaccinated people don't respond well to authorities telling them what to do.

Blame and insults are particularly counterproductive when dealing with people who may see the vaccine as a political issue, he said. That tone creates a defensive response in which they are likely “lash out against authority” – even if it puts them at a greater risk.

Tsipursky said he prefers positive language: Vaccinated people are doing their civic duty; they're patriots; they're protecting their families.

A little humility on the part of the Credentialed Experts would also help.