Last summer’s trend was social media virtue signaling by vaxinistas – persons who’ve had both jabs and broadcast their vaccine selfies on Facebook and Instagram with their immunization cards while wearing vaccine merchandise. They can be found at the mall and in restaurants and are not difficult to spot.
The word Vaxinista is a combination of fashionista and vaccine. The Urban Dictionary defines vaxinista as “a person who gets the vaccine and flaunts it with high end shopping, trips, and parties.
– Once Lisa got the vax she turned into such a vaxinista” (M. Wolly).
An article entitled “Got the jab, bought the T-shirt: ‘vaxinistas’ and the rise of pandemic merchandise” appeared in the 15 June 2021 digital issue of The Guardian and explains the collecting and wearing of pharmaceutical merchandise:
“The pandemic has sent us into a frenzy of collecting, but not for obvious reasons,” says Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos, a consumer and business psychologist at UCL. “People think these items might be valuable in 10 years’ time – but they’re also buying them as a way of taking control of – or even marking – what has been a very difficult situation.”
Merchandise, and in particular slogan tees and pins, has been an expression of its wearers’ values for years. Vaccine merch serves a very particular purpose: at a time of wearing your political values on your sleeve, it gives physical form to a historic moment that would otherwise be forgotten, perhaps save your vaccine sticker. Like punters buying band merchandise after a concert, it’s a way of saying I was there, says Tsivrikos. “People are trying to be a part of the conversation. Wearing something is not just about fashion; it’s a reflection of the situation and, in this instance, even taking a pro-vaccination position.”
The April 15, 2021 edition of the South Florida Sun Sentinel said that vaxinistas “[take] COVID seriously but treat the achievement of immunity as just another high-status consumer item to be thrown in the face of their friends, or ‘friends,’ like a new BMW X3 or the admission of their offspring into a competitive college” (Fleshler).
Relaks radio presenter, Sarah, produced a video called “Rise of the Vaxinista” which was uploaded to YouTube on 8 July 2021. She talks about the latest trend of vaxinistas broadcasting their vaccine status using pharmaceutical merchandise such as T-shirts featuring the logos of companies that produce Covid-19 vaccines such as Pfizer and Astra Zeneca. Some of this merchandise is selling for hundreds of pounds on sites such as eBay.
Vaccine merchandise proliferated during 2021 as people proudly showed off their vaccinated status by wearing T-shirts, bracelets and caps. The photo below is a Vaxinista T-shirt available from Amazon.
Social Media Trends as of June 12, 2022
Facebook #vaxinista: people are posting about this
Instagram #vaxinista: 30 posts
TikTok #vaxinista: 732 views
Google Trends: vaxinista first appeared during the week of April 11, 2021 which probably coincided around the time that vaccines first became widely available. Many people were posting pictures of themselves getting the first and second vaccine shots and some posted pictures of their Covid-19 immunization cards.
Sources:
Ferrier, Morwenna. “Got the jab, bought the T-shirt: ‘vaxinistas’ and the rise of pandemic merchandise.” The Guardian. 15 June 2021. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/jun/15/got-the-jab-bought-the-t-shirt-vaxinistas-and-the-rise-of-pandemic-merchandise.
Fleshler, David. “Meet the latest COVID annoyance: The vaxinista.” South Florida Sun Sentinel. April 15, 2021. URL: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/coronavirus/vaccines/fl-ne-covid-vaxinista-ss-prem-20210415-dtihyumhvvg2pd7tf2ey27sxey-story.html.
M. Wolly. “Vaxinista.” Urban Dictionary. March 23, 2021. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=vaxinista.
Relaks Radio. “The rise of the Vaxinista!” YouTube. July 8, 2021. URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZZLxLKH5x4.
Vaxinista Tag. “Vaxinista – Vaxxed Vaccinated 2021 Rainbow T-Shirt” image. Amazon.com. URL: https://www.amazon.com/Vaxinista-Vaxxed-Vaccinated-Rainbow-T-Shirt/dp/B0963K7RJ8.