Tag: anti-vaccine movement

Published by: STAT
Published on: June 26, 2025
By Jen Brull, Susan J. Kressly, Jason Goldman, Steven J. Fleischman, Tina Q. Tan

The authors are the presidents of American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Let us introduce ourselves. We are the doctors you trust with your health and the health of your family across every stage of life, from the first checkups in infancy and childhood, to health care during pregnancy and adulthood, through management of chronic illness and aging. We are family physicians, pediatricians, internal medicine physicians, OB-GYNs, and infectious disease experts. Our commitment is not to politics, but to the absolute well-being of our patients and populations, and to providing them with best evidence-based health care.

We have an urgent, united message: Immunizations work, they are very effective and safe, and they save lives. Vaccines are among the most rigorously studied and effective tools in public health. Through widespread immunization, we have eradicated debilitating and fatal diseases that once caused serious illness, hospitalization, and death for millions of people.

But today, that legacy is at serious risk.

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British Columbia

B.C.’s premier says measles spikes across Canada a result [of] anti-vax ‘recklessness’

Published June 25, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on: June 25, 2025
By Chuck Chiang

VANCOUVER – British Columbia Premier David Eby says the growing spread of measles across Canada is “the sadly predictable outcome” of the “recklessness” of anti-vaccination politicians.

Eby says the disease is “no joke,” given the potentially serious impact on those infected, and it’s preventable with two vaccine shots.

He told a Vancouver news conference that the focus for provincial public health authorities now is to make sure that people who are not protected receive full vaccination.

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kakistocracy

‘I Think He Is About to Destroy Vaccines in This Country’

Published June 18, 2025

Published by: The New York Times
Published on: June 18, 2025
By David Wallace-Wells

I think we are on the verge of losing vaccines for this country, from this country. And the reason is that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will hold up a paper, in the next four or five months, that says it’s aluminum in vaccines that are causing a whole swath of problems, including autism. I think he is about to destroy vaccines in this country. I do.

— Paul Offit

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Alberta

UCP’s COVID vaccine cuts put children at serious risk

Published June 16, 2025

Published by: Edmonton Journal
Published on: June 16, 2025
By Blake Murdoch

On May 27, the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics published a patient information page about Long COVID in children. It states “Long COVID is common, affecting up to 10 per cent to 20 per cent of children with a history of COVID-19. With almost six million U.S. children potentially affected, this is higher than the number of children with asthma, the most common chronic health problem in children.”

Two weeks later on June 13, Danielle Smith’s UCP, famously fans of the anti-science Trump government, highlighted horrifically unscientific new FDA guidance suggesting healthy children and pregnant women are not recommended for COVID vaccination, while announcing a new policy where most Albertans have to pay for immunization.

Beyond the obvious inequities and loss of access that payment for prophylaxis presents, the UCP introduced a new four-phase rollout plan whereby those under age 65 without qualifying conditions cannot be vaccinated until the final phase. This means kids will likely head back to schools months before they are eligible for vaccination, ensuring they are exposed to the latest COVID strains before becoming eligible for updated vaccination. It also leaves the UCP an opening to not buy pediatric vaccines at all and claim “low demand.”

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pandemic response

Canada’s top doctor Theresa Tam leaving position when term ends June 20

Published June 13, 2025

Published by: The Canadian Press
Published on: June 13, 2025
By Nicole Ireland

TORONTO – As Dr. Theresa Tam prepares to leave her position next week, Canada’s top doctor says it’s more important than ever for Canada to stand up for science and combat disinformation.

She’s held the role of chief public health officer for eight years, but became a household name in the last five years as she led the country’s public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her term ends June 20 and she doesn’t have another job lined up, Tam said in a wide-ranging interview Friday that touched on her desire to be remembered for more than COVID, her passion for health equity and the musical side of her the public hasn’t seen.

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vaccines

RFK Jr. names new members of CDC’s vaccine advisory panel

Published June 11, 2025

Published by: STAT
Published on: June 11, 2025
By Chelsea Cirruzzo, Isabella Cueto, Andrew Joseph, Helen Branswell

WASHINGTON — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday unveiled the names of the eight new members who will sit on the panel of experts that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on vaccine policy, and said they would review the current vaccine schedule, as well as evaluate new shots.

The new members include several well-known critics of vaccines.

“The slate includes highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America’s most accomplished physicians,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X.

The appointment comes just days after Kennedy dismissed every member of the committee, calling for a “clean slate” with new members. The committee is scheduled to hold a meeting later this month.

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anti-vaxxers

Health secretary RFK Jr. declares certain vaccines have ‘never worked,’ flummoxing scientists

Published April 10, 2025

Published by: STAT
Published on: April 10, 2025
By Helen Branswell

Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has expressed another unorthodox view on vaccines, with the long-time vaccine critic declaring that vaccines for respiratory bugs that target a sole part of the pathogen they are meant to protect against do not work.

The claim was dismissed as erroneous by vaccine experts, who were befuddled by the secretary’s theory, espoused during an interview with CBS News.

Kennedy made the claim in explaining a controversial recent decision by political appointees at the Food and Drug Administration to delay granting a full license to Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine, which is still given under an emergency use authorization or EUA.

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Texas

A Texas child who was not vaccinated has died of measles, a first for the US in a decade

Published February 26, 2025

Published by: The Associated Press
Published on: February 26, 2025
By Devi Shastri, Amanda Seitz

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — A child who wasn’t vaccinated died in a measles outbreak in rural West Texas, state officials said Wednesday, the first U.S. death from the highly contagious — but preventable — respiratory disease since 2015.

The school-aged child had been hospitalized and died Tuesday night amid the widespread outbreak, Texas’ largest in nearly 30 years. Since it began last month, a rash of 124 cases has erupted across nine counties.

The Texas Department of State Health Services and Lubbock health officials confirmed the death to The Associated Press. The child wasn’t identified but was treated at Covenant Children’s Hospital in Lubbock, though the facility noted the patient didn’t live in Lubbock County.

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Trump regime

F.D.A. Cancels Meeting of Vaccine Experts Scheduled to Advise on Flu Shots

Published February 26, 2025

Published by: The New York Times
Published on: February 26, 2025
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Christina Jewett

A panel of scientific experts that advises the Food and Drug Administration on vaccine policy — and that has been the target of criticism from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — learned on Wednesday that its upcoming meeting to discuss next year’s flu vaccines had been canceled.

The F.D.A. sent an email to members of the panel, the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, on Monday afternoon informing them of the cancellation, according to a senior official familiar with the decision. There was no reason given. The panel was to meet on March 13.

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kakistocracy

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as Trump’s health secretary after a close Senate vote

Published February 13, 2025

Published by: The Associated Press
Published on: February 13, 2025
By Amanda Seitz

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Donald Trump’s health secretary, putting the prominent vaccine skeptic in control of $1.7 trillion in federal spending, vaccine recommendations and food safety as well as health insurance programs for roughly half the country.

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Alberta

A Canadian Province Released a COVID Report Full of Pseudoscience. Who Wrote It, and Why?

Published February 1, 2025

Published by: Important Context
Published on: February 1, 2025
By Nick Tsergas

Last week the province of Alberta published a report on its pandemic-response calling for COVID vaccines to be restricted to “high-risk groups” and to stop “their use in healthy children and teenagers.” A mix of vaccine skeptics, fringe academics, and a Trump-appointee were behind it.

The report also recommends regulators, namely the province’s medical licensing body, be stripped of powers to discipline doctors who promote risky and ineffective off-label treatments.

The report has garnered nationwide criticism from the scientific and medical communities, with dozens of experts calling on the government to officially dismiss the report in an open letter. Dr. Joss Reimer, president of the Canadian Medical Association, said the report was “an unfortunate use of public dollars” that funneled CAD$2,000,000 into furthering misinformation. She said it will cause harm globally, as it will be referenced in jurisdictions outside of Canada.

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Trump regime

RFK Jr. kept asking to see the science that vaccines were safe. After he saw it, he dismissed it

Published January 31, 2025

Published by: The Associated Press
Published on: January 31, 2025
By Lauran Neergaard, Mike Stobbe

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man who hopes to be President Donald Trump’s health secretary repeatedly asked to see “data” or “science” showing vaccines are safe – but when an influential Republican senator showed him evidence, he dismissed it.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent two days this week insisting to senators that he’s not anti-vaccine. He said that he instead supports vaccinations and will follow the science in overseeing the $1.7 trillion Department of Health and Human Services, which, among other duties, oversees vaccine research, approval and recommendations.

But Kennedy repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus that childhood vaccines don’t cause autism and that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives, and he falsely asserted the government has no good vaccine safety monitoring. While appearing to ignore mainstream science, he cited flawed or tangential research to make his points, such as suggesting Black people may need different vaccines than whites.

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Trump regime

Kennedy faces tough questioning on vaccine views at HHS confirmation hearing

Published January 29, 2025

Published by: CIDRAP
Published on: January 29, 2025
By Chris Dall

RFK Jr. has a well-documented history of spreading dangerous disinformation on vaccines and public health interventions, leaving vulnerable communities unprotected and placing millions of lives at risk. His appointment is a direct threat to the safety of our patients and the public at large.

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Alberta

‘Bad science’: Academics tear apart Alberta’s $2-million report on COVID

Published January 29, 2025

Published by: Edmonton Journal
Published on: January 29, 2025
By Jackie Carmichael

False narratives in a new $2-million report on COVID 19 in Alberta send Albertans the wrong signals, said a former chief medical officer of health for the province.

An adjunct professor at the University of Alberta’s School of Public Health, Dr. James Talbot said the 269-page report released late last Friday cherry-picks information and includes unproven ideas, including that the vaccine is ineffective and potentially harmful.

“We’ve given literally billions of doses of this vaccine around the world with the best surveillance we’ve ever had. This is one of the safest, most effective vaccines that we’ve ever had,” he said.

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Trump regime

Video | Caroline Kennedy accuses cousin RFK Jr. of being a ‘predator’

Published January 28, 2025

Published by: CNN
Published on: January 28, 2025

CNN’s Arlette Saenz reports on video shared by Caroline Kennedy warning senators to reject her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be Health and Human Services secretary ahead of confirmation hearings on Wednesday.

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Alberta

Alberta doctors push back on provincial COVID-19 task force report

Published January 27, 2025

Published by: CBC News
Published on: January 27, 2025
By Jennifer Lee

I think it was a waste of time. It was a waste of money. And under no circumstances should the recommendations be implemented until there’s been a full and expert public discussion of the report.

— Dr. James Talbot, former chief medical officer of health for Alberta

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Alberta

Alberta task force recommends halt of COVID-19 vaccines in new report

Published January 24, 2025

Published by: The Globe and Mail
Published on: January 24, 2025
By Alanna Smith, Carrie Tait

An Alberta government task force has recommended that the use of COVID-19 vaccines be halted unless more information is provided about risk, in a report rife with suggestions that run counter to mainstream scientific consensus.

The $2-million task force’s final report, released Friday, touched on several points common with disinformation campaigns such as the effectiveness of public health restrictions and masking, while also recommending some government authority over media.

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Trump regime

As Polio Survivors Watch Kennedy Confirmation, All Eyes Are on McConnell

Published January 18, 2025

Published by: The New York Times
Published on: January 18, 2025
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

Their numbers are dwindling now, the faded yellow newspaper clippings reporting their childhood trips to the hospital tucked away in family scrapbooks. Iron lungs, the coffin-like cabinet respirators that kept many of them alive, are a thing of the past, relegated to history books and museums. Some feel the world has forgotten them.

Now the nation’s polio survivors are reliving their painful memories as they watch events in Washington, where the Senate will soon consider the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a fierce critic of vaccines, to be the nation’s next health secretary. And they are keeping a close eye on one of their own: Senator Mitch McConnell, the former Republican leader.

It has been nearly 70 years since Dr. Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was pronounced “80 to 90 percent effective” against the paralytic form of the disease. Although the government does not keep official numbers, advocacy groups say there are an estimated 300,000 survivors in the United States. Mr. Kennedy’s nomination has prompted some to speak out.

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