Between now and Inauguration Day, President-elect Donald Trump and his allies will have the Herculean task of appointing 4,000 people to staff his administration. Trump campaign surrogate and “Make America Healthy Again” flagbearer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seems positioned to exert broad influence on who will run the nation’s health-related agencies. He’s already begun soliciting nominees — albeit in an unconventional way.
Comments closedTag: science denial
Topic: anti-vaxxersView all posts for the topic: anti-vaxxers
Trump indicates he would consider a ban on vaccines if elected
Donald Trump has suggested vaccines could be banned if he becomes president, in the clearest sign yet of a radical shake-up in public health policy should he put his ally Robert F Kennedy Jr in charge of it.
Trump on Sunday told NBC that Kennedy, the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and former independent candidate who dropped out and endorsed Trump, would have a “big role in the administration” if wins Tuesday’s presidential election. Trump said he would talk to Kennedy about vaccinations.
Comments closedTopic: science denialView all posts for the topic: science denial
An Idaho health department isn’t allowed to give COVID-19 vaccines anymore. Experts say it’s a first
A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer providing COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties after a narrow decision by its board.
Southwest District Health appears to be the first in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations are an essential function of a public health department.
Comments closedTopic: science denialView all posts for the topic: science denial
RFK Jr. wants federal health data so he can show vaccines are unsafe, Trump transition co-chair says
A co-chair of Donald Trump’s transition team said Trump supporter Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wants access to federal health data so he can show vaccines are unsafe and lead to them being pulled from the market in a second Trump administration.
Howard Lutnick echoed a number of Kennedy’s debunked anti-vaccine talking points in a CNN interview Wednesday, including falsehoods about the vaccine schedule and the disproven theory that vaccines cause autism. Trump has talked often about how Kennedy, who suspended his own presidential bid and endorsed him in August, will have a big role to play if the former president returns to the White House.
Comments closedTopic: science denialView all posts for the topic: science denial
Trump transition team co-chair endorses Kennedy anti-vax theories and says he would be able to access health data
The co-chair of the Trump-Vance transition team on Wednesday night endorsed vaccine conspiracy theories pushed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and suggested the activist and Trump ally would be given federal data in order to check vaccines’ safety if former President Donald Trump is elected.
Comments closedTopic: British ColumbiaView all posts for the topic: British Columbia
BC Conservative Leader John Rustad Suggests Province Would Participate in ‘Nuremberg’-Style COVID-19 Trials
BC Conservative leader John Rustad assured anti-vaccine activists British Columbia would be open to joining other jurisdictions in legal proceedings inspired by the Nuremberg Trials that would be aimed at prosecuting those deemed responsible for COVID-19 public health measures and vaccines.
“Nuremberg 2.0,” an idea popular among COVID-19 conspiracy theorists and the online far-right, is simultaneously inspired by the Nuremberg Code, a set of ethical principles on human experimentation, as well as the Nuremberg Trials that prosecuted Nazi leaders after the Second World War.
Nuremberg 2.0 advocates typically call for those who created, justified or enforced public health measures — including politicians, doctors, academics, journalists and police — to be jailed and even executed for “crimes against humanity.”
Comments closedTopic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta
Alberta premier’s support for town hall questioning COVID vaccines worries experts
Comments closedThe issue is not that there is a difference of opinion here. It’s that there is a huge amount of science that shows that these vaccines save lives and they are overwhelmingly safe so to claim otherwise becomes a statement of misinformation.
Topic: FloridaView all posts for the topic: Florida
Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science
Shortly before Joseph Ladapo was sworn in as Florida’s surgeon general in 2022, the New Yorker ran a short column welcoming the vaccine-skeptic doctor to his new role, and highlighting his advocacy for the use of leeches in public health.
It was satire of course, a teasing of the Harvard-educated physician for his unorthodox medical views, which include a steadfast belief that life-saving Covid shots are the work of the devil, and that opening a window is the preferred treatment for the inhalation of toxic fumes from gas stoves.
But now, with an entirely preventable outbreak of measles spreading across Florida, medical experts are questioning if quackery really has become official health policy in the nation’s third most-populous state.
Comments closedTopic: conspiracy theoriesView all posts for the topic: conspiracy theories
Conspiracy theories are popular in Canada, especially among conservatives: poll
The Earth is flat. We have been secretly contacted by intelligent beings from other planets. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin did not land on the moon in 1969. They may sound like bizarre statements, but a new poll suggests a sizable number of Canadians believe in these and other conspiracy theories.
Comments closedTopic: disinformationView all posts for the topic: disinformation
Fact Check: Iceland has not banned COVID vaccines
A headline shared online falsely claims that Iceland has banned COVID-19 vaccines and cites sudden deaths for which there is no evidence, according to the Icelandic national health authority.
Iceland has not banned COVID vaccines and “there are no soaring sudden deaths,” Guðrún Aspelund, chief epidemiologist at the Icelandic Directorate of Health, told Reuters in a Nov. 29 email.
Comments closedTopic: AlbertaView all posts for the topic: Alberta
Preston Manning’s Prescription for a Pandemic Disaster
The right-wing godfather’s Alberta government report promotes politicians over scientists and doctors.
Comments closedTopic: the death of public healthView all posts for the topic: the death of public health
‘Endemic’ SARS-CoV-2 and the death of public health
SARS-CoV-2 is now circulating out of control worldwide. The only major limitation on transmission is the immune environment the virus faces. The disease it causes, COVID‑19, is now a risk faced by most people as part of daily life.
Comments closedTopic: science denialView all posts for the topic: science denial
COVID-19 et climat : Contrer les mécanismes du déni par un vaccin démocratique
Whether it’s about COVID or the climate, conspiracy theories are the sign of a deep evil: the weakening of democracy.
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