Don’t call it a comeback

Comebacks are in vogue.

Oasis led the way, but they’re not alone. Australian indie darlings Cloud Control are in the midst of a reunion tour and Pulp have dropped their first album in 24 years. Skier Lindsey Vonn recently made a comeback with a titanium knee after five years away from the sport.

These stories engender a heady mix of nostalgia, excitement, and in Vonn’s case, against-all-odds astoundment. 

But not every comeback is so eagerly anticipated.

The Trump administration has recently moved to restrict Covid vaccines for healthy younger adults and children. Meanwhile, measles vaccination rates are plummeting across the country. The terrifying prospect of smallpox returning is occupying more column inches.

It’s not just the US. In Australia, childhood immunisation rates continue to fall, with the Chief Medical Officer issuing a stark warning earlier this year about the impacts of misinformation. 

Social media platforms are often blamed for the spread of medical mumbo jumbo. Just this week, a Guardian investigation found more than half of top trending videos offering mental health advice on TikTok contain misinformation.

But bogus claims and fearmongering are centuries old. Rather than target the channel, it may be preferable to consider the cause. 

Declining trust in institutions has led to a surfeit of doubt, and the seeking out of alternative sources and information. 

A combination of repairing trust in government and utilising bodies that have maintained public faith could reverse this worrying trend. 

After all, no one wants a comeback of deadly diseases, especially if it stops us seeing Oasis in the spring.