Some people online try to use disability woke-washing to claim we have to listen to everybody who has some theory about how people got long covid that are brought over from anti-vax circles or from odd influencers. If someone is citing VAERS as evidence of anything, please know that is a big red flag, because VAERS is not somewhere you go for settled science of any type, it’s merely raw unverified data, and citing it to make false claims about vaccines being unsafe is part of a well-known dishonest right-wing anti-vax disinformation campaign.
No, we don’t have to entertain everyone’s unfounded warnings or bizarre unproven theories. Being pro-vax is disability justice. You don’t have to repeat anti-vax talking points and campaign against vaccines in order to support the rare cases of people with adverse reactions to a vaccination. People who, for medical reasons are unable to get a vaccine, and are not anti-vax, typically want to encourage as many other people as possible to get vaccinated. It’s not typical for someone who’s had a serious rare reaction to a medication to then demand the drug be taken off the market, no matter how many lives it’s already saved. It’s not a reasonable demand. All medications come with some risk, and that’s why we need medical science expertise to determine whether the benefits outweigh those risks. With approved and recommended vaccines, that has been determined for the general public – the benefits far outweigh the risks. If you have specific concerns, you should be discussing it with your own doctor who has a legal responsibility to give you beneficial and not harmful individualized medical advice.