Anti-vaxxers
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| “ | It has now also been shown that use of the MMR vaccine (which is taken to include live attenuated measles vaccine virus, measles virus, mumps vaccine virus and rubella vaccine virus, and wild strains of the aforementioned viruses) results in ileal lymphoid nodular hyperplasia, chronic colitis and pervasive developmental disorder including autism (RBD), in some infants. | „ |
| ~ Andrew Wakefield |
Vaccine hesitance is a term used to describe people who oppose vaccination for various reasons. The well-known term Anti-vaxxers refer to the people who oppose vaccinations or spread misinformation regarding vaccines. Although opposition to vaccination has existed since the first vaccine was created in 1798, it gained a surge in popularity in 1998 when disgraced former doctor Andrew Wakefield falsely linked the MMR vaccine to autism. The practice of anti-vaccination has led to previously near eradicated diseases being revived in many countries and even spreading to other countries. On some occasions anti-vaccination beliefs have even lead to murder, such as in the case of Karen McCarron, who "mercy-killed" her autistic daughter Katie under the belief that she was responsible for giving her autism by having her vaccinated. Although there are no real boundaries for anti-vaxxers or anti-vaccination groups, they are most commonly found on the far-right or even far-right groups such as QAnon.
A sub-group of anti-vaxxers is COVID vaccine deniers, who claim that the COVID-19 vaccine either does not work or has dangerous side-effects which has been proven false.
Notable Anti-vaxxers edit
- Alex Jones
- Allen West
- Andrew Wakefield
- Chris Sky
- Cristián Contreras Radovic
- David DePape
- John Magufuli
- Karen McCarron
- Kate Shemirani
- Lauren Boebert
- Nick Fuentes
- Pat King
- Polly Tommey
- Tucker Carlson
- Vernon Coleman