People have been pointing out that it’s not accurate to call it a “vaccine”, since it doesn’t fit the definition of a vaccine aside from how it is administered, via a needle.

And yet everyone keeps calling it a “vaccine” out of ease of communication.

But what about “injection”?

I think “jab” has worked a little bit, but it’s still too cutesy. The “shot” is too neutral.

But calling it “the injection”? That seems to work better to me. You aren’t being cute, you aren’t being colloquial. It’s not slang like “vax”. But it takes the emphasis off the medical value of the “vaccine” and puts it onto the action of injection the state is attempting to take. This makes it sound creepier and more aggressive. It’s much easier, I think, to persuade people against “mandatory injections” than it is “mandatory vaccines”. We want to convey that impression of what a violation of bodily autonomy it is to hold someone down and inject a needle into their veins against their will.