Anti-Vaxxers and Vaccine Misinformation / Lies

[LFC]

The majority of vaccine misinformation (a.k.a. lies) has been traced back to only 12 people. Behold the power of large groups of stupid, gullible people on the interwebs.

Researchers have found just 12 people are responsible for the bulk of the misleading claims and outright lies about COVID-19 vaccines that proliferate on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

"The 'Disinformation Dozen' produce 65% of the shares of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms," said Imran Ahmed, chief executive officer of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, which identified the accounts.

Now the vaccine rollout is reaching a critical stage in which most adults who want the vaccine have gotten it, but many others are holding out, these 12 influential social media users stand to have an outsize impact on the outcome.

After this story published on Thursday, Facebook said it had taken down more of the accounts run by these 12 individuals.

These figures are well-known to both researchers and the social networks. They include anti-vaccine activists, alternative health entrepreneurs and physicians. Some of them run multiple accounts across the different platforms. They often promote "natural health." Some even sell supplements and books.

Many of the messages about the COVID-19 vaccines being widely spread online mirror what's been said in the past about other vaccines by peddlers of health misinformation.

"It's almost like conspiracy theory Mad Libs. They just inserted the new claims," said John Gregory, deputy health editor at NewsGuard, which rates the credibility of news sites and has done its own tracking of COVID-19 and vaccine misinformation "superspreaders."

The claims from the "Disinformation Dozen" range from "denying that COVID exists, claiming that false cures are in fact the way to solve COVID and not vaccination, decrying vaccines and decrying doctors as being in some way venal or motivated by other factors when they recommend vaccines," Ahmed said.

Many of the 12, he said, have been spreading scientifically disproven medical claims and conspiracies for years.

[Deleted]

There must be good money to be made in this business.

[LFC]

Now the anti-vax utter nutters claim they're endangered by vaccinated people. The willful ignorance and staggering stupidity just boggle the mind.

Myths around infertility, pregnancy and miscarriages have run rampant in anti-vaccine circles for years — and in the universe of their conspiracy theories, vaccines are often to blame. While variations of such false claims have been part of misinformation campaigns around the COVID-19 vaccines, there has recently been a shift from demonizing the vaccine itself to villainizing those who are vaccinated.

It's a peculiar repositioning for the anti-vaccination conspiracy movement — and as the false claim evolves into more extreme iterations, it has caught the attention of people who study and advocate against vaccine misinformation

"I think it is particularly interesting that people are saying that those who are those who are vaccinated are a risk to those who aren't," said David Broniatowski, who's the associate director for the Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics at George Washington University. "It's like taking the common vaccine conventional wisdom and flipping it on its head where people will say, 'if you have not been vaccinated, you're a risk to those who are more vulnerable and vaccinated.'"

Broniatowski said he's never seen this before in the history of anti-vaccine rhetoric.

"This is the first time," Broniatowski said.

The conspiracy centers on one particular myth that people who are vaccinated can emit contagious particles of the coronavirus's Spike protein and can infect others, a process referred to as "vaccine shedding." Vaccine shedding is a very rare possibility with live-attenuated vaccines that use a diluted version of a disease to stimulate an immune response. In the rare case there's enough germ to spread, the shedding usually happens via feces— for example, with the polio vaccine or the measles vaccine.

"For the measles vaccine, later in life — and again this is super rare — it's possible that the live virus could revert to a condition called Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE)," said Dr. Monica Gandhi, infectious disease doctor and professor of medicine at the University of California–San Francisco. "But in no way can you shed it and give it to someone."

[Deleted]

Feces bombing anti-vaxers? What a terrible idea!

Don't they realize they've smeared themselves enough with worse shit?

[LFC]

Aaaaaaand it's political because of course it is. Republicans really do just feel the need to lash out mindlessly at everything good in this country.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s “Vax-a-Million” program began Wednesday, running the first of five $1-million weekly lottery drawings open to residents who have been vaccinated. The effort is one of many incentive programs across the country aimed at getting vaccine-hesitant groups to roll up their sleeves, get vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus, and help end the pandemic.

But, while the lottery has already been hailed as a success in boosting vaccination numbers, conservative lawmakers in the Buckeye State appear to be diligently working toward reversing that trend.

Lawmakers are working on legislation to call off the lottery immediately. They’re also trying to head off any plans for “vaccine passports.” And last month, they introduced a sweeping anti-vaccination bill that would essentially demolish public health and vaccination requirements in the state—and not just requirements for COVID-19 vaccines—requirements for any vaccine.

House Bill 248, introduced last month by Rep. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester), would allow anyone to decline any vaccine with a simple verbal declaration based on “reasons of conscience.”

The bill would let people off the hook for vaccine requirements set by virtually any entity. The bill lists them, naming: individuals, businesses (like day cares), corporations, trusts, business trusts, estates, associations, partnerships, cities, counties, townships, municipal corporations, school districts, health districts, a city’s health board, any public official, public offices, or any state agency (defined as any institution or organization that receives any support from the state).

If any of the above entities even tries to institute a vaccine requirement, it would be required under HB 248 to notify people that they are able to decline. The entities are not allowed to disclose who has declined. And they “shall not discriminate against, deny service or access to, segregate, require a facial covering or other vaccination status label for, or otherwise penalize an individual financially or socially for declining a vaccination.”

HB 248 also notes that the act should be referred to as the “Vaccine Choice and Anti-Discrimination Act.”

[goldenvalley]

May 28, 2021 14:58:06 GMT LFC said:

Aaaaaaand it's political because of course it is. Republicans really do just feel the need to lash out mindlessly at everything good in this country.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s “Vax-a-Million” program began Wednesday, running the first of five $1-million weekly lottery drawings open to residents who have been vaccinated. The effort is one of many incentive programs across the country aimed at getting vaccine-hesitant groups to roll up their sleeves, get vaccinated against the deadly coronavirus, and help end the pandemic.

But, while the lottery has already been hailed as a success in boosting vaccination numbers, conservative lawmakers in the Buckeye State appear to be diligently working toward reversing that trend.

Lawmakers are working on legislation to call off the lottery immediately. They’re also trying to head off any plans for “vaccine passports.” And last month, they introduced a sweeping anti-vaccination bill that would essentially demolish public health and vaccination requirements in the state—and not just requirements for COVID-19 vaccines—requirements for any vaccine.

House Bill 248, introduced last month by Rep. Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester), would allow anyone to decline any vaccine with a simple verbal declaration based on “reasons of conscience.”

The bill would let people off the hook for vaccine requirements set by virtually any entity. The bill lists them, naming: individuals, businesses (like day cares), corporations, trusts, business trusts, estates, associations, partnerships, cities, counties, townships, municipal corporations, school districts, health districts, a city’s health board, any public official, public offices, or any state agency (defined as any institution or organization that receives any support from the state).

If any of the above entities even tries to institute a vaccine requirement, it would be required under HB 248 to notify people that they are able to decline. The entities are not allowed to disclose who has declined. And they “shall not discriminate against, deny service or access to, segregate, require a facial covering or other vaccination status label for, or otherwise penalize an individual financially or socially for declining a vaccination.”

HB 248 also notes that the act should be referred to as the “Vaccine Choice and Anti-Discrimination Act.”

Dark Ages 2.0 here we come! Let all disease run rampant across society so that we are free! to die nasty deaths or live miserable lives!

[LFC]

May 28, 2021 18:03:17 GMT goldenvalley said:

Dark Ages 2.0 here we come! Let all disease run rampant across society so that we are free! to die nasty deaths or live miserable lives!

And be sure to take away the rights of others to protect themselves. Mask mandates? Vaccine passports? "TYRANNY! YOUR RIGHTS MEAN NOTHING COMPARED TO OUR RIGHTS!" I'm just waiting for the first bill outlawing some vaccine or another, probably starting with the vaccine for HPV that encourages our innocent young women to be sluts.

[LFC]

Once again it's become political with the Republicans, as ever, being the anti-science party. When called on his stupidity at least he claimed ignorance rather than going full blown Gaetz-Greene.

Minnesota Republican candidate for governor, Scott Jensen, has joined an effort to stop 12-16-year-olds from getting vaccinated for COVID-19, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reports.

Jensen, who is a family physician, is the first plaintiff named in a petition filed in federal court in Alabama by America's Frontline Doctors -- a group of doctors who gained attention during the outset of the pandemic for pushing unsubstantiated claims about the virus.

The petition calls the vaccines "dangerous biological agents that have the potential to cause greater harm than the COVID-19 disease itself."

The petition also pushed a conspiracy theory claiming that the national media is colluding to suppress information about the virus and the vaccine. But when confronted over the petition's contents, Jensen claimed he didn't read that far into it.

"When I submitted the affidavit, the petition wasn't done," he told the Pioneer Press on Thursday. "I never saw the full petition until a week ago. I have not read the entire 80 pages. I read the first 10 pages, I think."

Jensen, who has had COVID, said he won't get vaccinated and doesn't recommend vaccination for "about a third" of his patients who are young and healthy. He also said he had no idea that the leader of America's Frontline Doctors, Simone Gold, was among those who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6.

"I did not know Simone was in any hot water over Jan. 6," he said.

[LFC]

They're becoming violent. This is in eastern Tennessee sooooo...

On Wednesday, WSMV reported that a woman in eastern Tennessee was arrested after she drove recklessly through a drive-in COVID-19 vaccination site to protest the administration of the vaccine — nearly hitting several health workers in the process.

"Deputies arrested Virginia C. Brown, 36, of Greenback, TN, on Monday morning after she drove through a vaccination center set up at the Foothills Mall," reported Chuck Morris. "Deputies assigned to assist at the site saw a blue Chrysler SUV traveling at a high rate of speed through a closed cone course and through an enclosed tent with several Health Department and National Guard personnel working under the tent. The deputy observed the Chrysler SUV exit the tent and continue to drive recklessly through the cone course. A deputy was able to follow Brown after she drove through the site and arrest her. She was charged with seven counts of felony reckless endangerment."

According to the report, workers reported that she shouted something that sounded like "No vaccine!" as she blew past them, and after being apprehended, she denied driving recklessly.

"While sitting in the back of the deputy's car, she made several statements to deputies about wanting to protest the vaccine," said the report. "She said she was driving through the course and once she got to the tent, she told the personnel working she was not there for the vaccine. She told deputies she was only doing 5 miles per hour through the tent."

[LFC]

Darwin picks off another one.

A Colorado sheriff's deputy who was fond of sharing anti-vaccine content on Facebook has died of COVID-19, Newsweek reports.

Daniel "Duke" Trujillo, 33, served as a deputy sheriff for 7 years and had recently been appointed vice-president of the Denver Sheriff Latino Organization. He died this Wednesday from the virus, according to an announcement from Denver Sheriff Department.

Images and video shared to Twitter show posts from Trujillo that rejected the COVID-19 vaccine. A Facebook profile photo he posted in early May said, "I have an immune system," suggesting that he could fight off the virus naturally. In late April, he posted a profile picture that read, "I don't care if you've had your vaccine."

"You f***sticks are really out on social media going 'Of course I went and got my vaccine! I did my research, I know what's in it, you peasants,'" a man says in a TikTok video shared by Trujillo. "Oh buddy, you are the research."

[goldenvalley]

May 28, 2021 20:33:15 GMT LFC said:

Darwin picks off another one.

A Colorado sheriff's deputy who was fond of sharing anti-vaccine content on Facebook has died of COVID-19, Newsweek reports.

Daniel "Duke" Trujillo, 33, served as a deputy sheriff for 7 years and had recently been appointed vice-president of the Denver Sheriff Latino Organization. He died this Wednesday from the virus, according to an announcement from Denver Sheriff Department.

Images and video shared to Twitter show posts from Trujillo that rejected the COVID-19 vaccine. A Facebook profile photo he posted in early May said, "I have an immune system," suggesting that he could fight off the virus naturally. In late April, he posted a profile picture that read, "I don't care if you've had your vaccine."

"You f***sticks are really out on social media going 'Of course I went and got my vaccine! I did my research, I know what's in it, you peasants,'" a man says in a TikTok video shared by Trujillo. "Oh buddy, you are the research."

He gambled and he lost.  I wonder how many people were exposed to the virus and became sick because of his gambling.

[LFC]

Vile, disgusting "pastor" Rick Wiles went full anti-vaxxer stating that "The only good thing that will come out of this is a lot of stupid people will be killed off." How right your are, Dicky! He's now in the hospital and on oxygen.

Far-right Christian talk show host Rick Wiles has been hospitalized after contracting the novel coronavirus, less than a month after he said he would never get vaccinated.

Right Wing Watch reports that Wiles's TruNews website announced over the weekend that Wiles had come down with COVID-19 and was placed on oxygen while in the hospital.

Wiles last month told his audience that he was not getting vaccinated against the virus because he believed the vaccine was being used to commit a "genocide" that would wipe out hundreds of millions of people.

"I am not going to be vaccinated," Wiles said, according to Right Wing Watch. "I'm going to be one of the survivors. I'm going to survive the genocide... The only good thing that will come out of this is a lot of stupid people will be killed off. If the vaccine wipes out a lot of stupid people, well, we'll have a better world."

TruNews, perhaps sensing that news of Wiles's hospitalization would make his critics gleeful, warned of eternal damnation for anyone who is taking joy in his suffering.

"Already, the naysayers and mockers have started with their taunts," the website said. "Let them speak their foolish words and let them mock. It will only serve to be used to fuel their flames of torment in hell unless they repent."

He, TruNews. Want to know what I think about that? BWAHAHAHA! If your god is real then Dicky is the one headed for the eternal flames.

[LFC]

We all know that the anti-science, anti-reality, anti-decency anti-vaxxers aren't limited to just the U.S. Now Japan is having trouble with them sabotaging COVID vaccines.

All across Japan, it seems that some people may be pulling the plugs on refrigerators holding anti-COVID vaccines.

While some of the incidents may be accidents, it appears that many of these reported cases were deliberate. And with thousands of doses already lost and the apparent sabotage showing no signs of slowing down, Japanese police are beginning to investigate why this is happening.

Some are pointing fingers at anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists. In June, people began rallying around an abominable hashtag which translates to “pull the plug.” With COVID numbers rising rapidly in Tokyo before the Olympics—closing in on a thousand a day—and vaccine supplies running out, this interference may make the already troubled “pandemic games” an even bigger disaster.

[AnBr]

With the vaccines' effectiveness and the rise of the delta variant it really seems to becoming a Darwinian lottery. If we can get to the point that the vaccines can get deployed to the kids that might not be such a bad thing given the knuckle dragger/normal people divide.

[LFC]

How the hell do these liars and cranks get this kind of shit into actual journals? People need to be more vigilant when it comes to this kind of trash, especially those who should know better.

A study looking at the impacts of covid-19 vaccination—condemned by other scientists as seriously flawed and irresponsible—has now sparked a mutiny of sorts. This past week, several well-respected researchers have resigned from their involvement in the journal that published the paper, which argued that vaccines are killing almost as many people as they’re saving from the pandemic. Today, the paper was retracted.

The study, titled “The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations—We Should Rethink the Policy,” was published on June 24 in the journal Vaccines and was authored by Harald Walach, Rainer J. Klement, and Wouter Aukema. Citing several sources of data, the authors argued that covid-19 vaccination was more dangerous than commonly believed, and that the benefits of inoculation only barely outweighed the risks caused by covid-19. Most egregiously, they claimed that for every “three deaths prevented by vaccination, we have to accept two inflicted by vaccination.”

The paper was uncritically shared by some on social media at first, including members of the anti-vaccination movement. But it was quickly criticized by many other scientists for its faulty assumptions, bad math, and outright misinformation.

One of the main pieces of evidence the authors presented to support their claim that the covid-19 shots are deadly, for instance, came from the Netherlands’ adverse event reporting system for their vaccines. But as Gizmodo has discussed before, these systems are designed to record any health incident, including death, that occurs after a person receives a new drug or vaccine. They don’t demonstrate that the incident occurred due to the drug—after all, a person may die for any number of unrelated reasons after receiving a vaccine—but instead are meant to flag possible signals of undiscovered side effects that could be linked to a new drug or vaccine, signals that then have to be studied further before any judgment can be made.

It wasn’t long before scientists associated with the journal Vaccines began to protest the study’s publication. Within days, prominent scientists such as Katie Ewer, a member of the Oxford University team who helped create their now widely used covid-19 vaccine, resigned from the journal’s editorial board. A day after her resignation, the journal placed an expression of concern on the paper, meant to alert readers of the many criticisms it had received, and announced it would investigate the matter. The announcement didn’t seem to stop the bleeding, though; at last count, according to the publication Science, at least six scientists in total have resigned from positions as associate or section editors with the journal.

Finally, just today, Vaccines’ remaining editors came back with their verdict, announcing that the paper would be retracted. In their notice, they pointed to “several errors that fundamentally affect the interpretation of the findings,” including the misrepresentation of the Netherlands’ vaccine safety data. The editors also noted that the authors were asked to respond to the criticisms made of their paper, but “were not able to do so satisfactorily.” The paper was then retracted under their protest.

[Bact PhD]

Jul 2, 2021 20:29:59 GMT LFC said:

How the hell do these liars and cranks get this kind of shit into actual journals? People need to be more vigilant when it comes to this kind of trash, especially those who should know better.

A study looking at the impacts of covid-19 vaccination—condemned by other scientists as seriously flawed and irresponsible—has now sparked a mutiny of sorts. This past week, several well-respected researchers have resigned from their involvement in the journal that published the paper, which argued that vaccines are killing almost as many people as they’re saving from the pandemic. Today, the paper was retracted.

The study, titled “The Safety of COVID-19 Vaccinations—We Should Rethink the Policy,” was published on June 24 in the journal Vaccines and was authored by Harald Walach, Rainer J. Klement, and Wouter Aukema. Citing several sources of data, the authors argued that covid-19 vaccination was more dangerous than commonly believed, and that the benefits of inoculation only barely outweighed the risks caused by covid-19. Most egregiously, they claimed that for every “three deaths prevented by vaccination, we have to accept two inflicted by vaccination.”

The paper was uncritically shared by some on social media at first, including members of the anti-vaccination movement. But it was quickly criticized by many other scientists for its faulty assumptions, bad math, and outright misinformation.

One of the main pieces of evidence the authors presented to support their claim that the covid-19 shots are deadly, for instance, came from the Netherlands’ adverse event reporting system for their vaccines. But as Gizmodo has discussed before, these systems are designed to record any health incident, including death, that occurs after a person receives a new drug or vaccine. They don’t demonstrate that the incident occurred due to the drug—after all, a person may die for any number of unrelated reasons after receiving a vaccine—but instead are meant to flag possible signals of undiscovered side effects that could be linked to a new drug or vaccine, signals that then have to be studied further before any judgment can be made.

It wasn’t long before scientists associated with the journal Vaccines began to protest the study’s publication. Within days, prominent scientists such as Katie Ewer, a member of the Oxford University team who helped create their now widely used covid-19 vaccine, resigned from the journal’s editorial board. A day after her resignation, the journal placed an expression of concern on the paper, meant to alert readers of the many criticisms it had received, and announced it would investigate the matter. The announcement didn’t seem to stop the bleeding, though; at last count, according to the publication Science, at least six scientists in total have resigned from positions as associate or section editors with the journal.

Finally, just today, Vaccines’ remaining editors came back with their verdict, announcing that the paper would be retracted. In their notice, they pointed to “several errors that fundamentally affect the interpretation of the findings,” including the misrepresentation of the Netherlands’ vaccine safety data. The editors also noted that the authors were asked to respond to the criticisms made of their paper, but “were not able to do so satisfactorily.” The paper was then retracted under their protest.

(Bact PhD does multiple facepalms, takes ibuprofen for the resulting headache)

At first, I had to do a couple of double-takes when it came to the name of the journal; I am published in Vaccine. I thought it was a careless typo until I hit this passage in the Gizmodo article (bold mine):

“The paper was deeply, fundamentally flawed, comparing two numbers that were poorly conceived and incorrect in numerous ways. It should not have been published, but at least it is now retracted,” Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, an epidemiologist from the University of Wollongong in Australia who earlier wrote a detailed criticism of the paper, told Gizmodo.

Even with this decision, some scientists have questioned how the paper got through the peer-review process in the first place. Two of the three reviewers were anonymous, and none brought up any of the issues that resulted in the retraction. The current fiasco isn’t the only one to have involved MDPI, the publisher of Vaccines and many other open-access journals. In its past, some scientists have accused MDPI of being a predatory publisher, more eager about the quantity than the quality of the research it publishes—criticisms that were still being made this year before the latest retracted paper.

Nope, it's a different journal altogether.

Unfortunately, the much-vaunted peer-review process is not fool-proof. At submission, the corresponding author often recommends to the Editor a couple of potential reviewers, supposedly those qualified in the subject area of the manuscript. If the corresponding author suggests "like-minded" or agenda-driven individuals as potential reviewers, and the Editor fails to do any sort of due diligence, an utterly atrocious paper such as this will "pass" the process, and, of course, be rushed into print because of its potential impact on the field.

(Bact PhD goes back to facepalming)

[LFC]

Now they're panhandling to spread their lies. To make matters worse the first group consists of medical professionals who don't want the vaccine. I'm staggered at the level of ignorance and unfounded fear in our healthcare system.

Even as they weather crackdowns on mainstream social-media sites, purveyors of misinformation and conspiracies about the COVID-19 vaccine are still running rampant on GoFundMe, a top crowdfunding site in America, thanks to some creative messaging.

But these campaigns are not just raising money. They’re also using GoFundMe as a means of spreading lies about the life-saving drugs at a time when inoculation rates are slowing across the U.S. and the highly contagious Delta variant is circulating rapidly among unvaccinated Americans, advocates and experts say.

Take the GoFundMe page for the “Pennsylvania Informed Consent Advocates,” which was ostensibly founded by employees of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and is raising money for legal fees to fight a COVID-19 vaccine mandate there.

Fundraisers intended to pay for legal fees are allowed per GoFundMe policy. But those that spread misinformation about vaccines and support traditional anti-vaxx activism—which before COVID was focused on disputing the efficacy and safety of children’s vaccines—are not.

Some campaigns against COVID vaccine mandates appear to have maneuvered around this ban by raising money for legal action in support of “medical freedom” and “informed consent.” These appear to be little more than dog whistles to the larger anti-vaxxer movement.

Groups like Pennsylvania Informed Consent Advocates are trying to thread the needle.

A representative for the the group claims it “is not anti-vaxx,” yet spoke favorably of dubious COVID treatments, including hydroxychloroquine, and blasted “big tech and mainstream media” that have “buckled down on speech regarding several therapeutics to treat and prevent” COVID.

“Even the vaccine clinics, they’re not giving the full information on what the potential side effects are to people. It’s just the most bizarre thing in the world,” Becky Casey, a nurse who is acting as a spokesperson for the group, told The Daily Beast, misleadingly.

“We’re not saying nobody should take [the vaccine] who wants to take it,” she added. “It’s your choice to take it. That’s fine. We’re not going to blackball you and call you crazy.”

Still, the group’s GoFundMe page is rife with fearmongering about the use of fetal cell lines in the testing phase for the safe and effective Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and also alludes to the debunked claim that the vaccines can somehow alter human DNA.

The fundraiser has brought in $28,500 from 354 donors as of Thursday afternoon, and has been shared on other social-media and text-message channels more than 2,000 times.

[goldenvalley]

Jul 16, 2021 18:35:25 GMT LFC said:

Now they're panhandling to spread their lies. To make matters worse the first group consists of medical professionals who don't want the vaccine. I'm staggered at the level of ignorance and unfounded fear in our healthcare system.

Even as they weather crackdowns on mainstream social-media sites, purveyors of misinformation and conspiracies about the COVID-19 vaccine are still running rampant on GoFundMe, a top crowdfunding site in America, thanks to some creative messaging.

But these campaigns are not just raising money. They’re also using GoFundMe as a means of spreading lies about the life-saving drugs at a time when inoculation rates are slowing across the U.S. and the highly contagious Delta variant is circulating rapidly among unvaccinated Americans, advocates and experts say.

Take the GoFundMe page for the “Pennsylvania Informed Consent Advocates,” which was ostensibly founded by employees of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, and is raising money for legal fees to fight a COVID-19 vaccine mandate there.

Fundraisers intended to pay for legal fees are allowed per GoFundMe policy. But those that spread misinformation about vaccines and support traditional anti-vaxx activism—which before COVID was focused on disputing the efficacy and safety of children’s vaccines—are not.

Some campaigns against COVID vaccine mandates appear to have maneuvered around this ban by raising money for legal action in support of “medical freedom” and “informed consent.” These appear to be little more than dog whistles to the larger anti-vaxxer movement.

Groups like Pennsylvania Informed Consent Advocates are trying to thread the needle.

A representative for the the group claims it “is not anti-vaxx,” yet spoke favorably of dubious COVID treatments, including hydroxychloroquine, and blasted “big tech and mainstream media” that have “buckled down on speech regarding several therapeutics to treat and prevent” COVID.

“Even the vaccine clinics, they’re not giving the full information on what the potential side effects are to people. It’s just the most bizarre thing in the world,” Becky Casey, a nurse who is acting as a spokesperson for the group, told The Daily Beast, misleadingly.

“We’re not saying nobody should take [the vaccine] who wants to take it,” she added. “It’s your choice to take it. That’s fine. We’re not going to blackball you and call you crazy.”

Still, the group’s GoFundMe page is rife with fearmongering about the use of fetal cell lines in the testing phase for the safe and effective Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and also alludes to the debunked claim that the vaccines can somehow alter human DNA.

The fundraiser has brought in $28,500 from 354 donors as of Thursday afternoon, and has been shared on other social-media and text-message channels more than 2,000 times.

These folks are living on some other planet.  There have always been quacks in the medical world but now the quacks have access to social media to spread their other worldly ideas quickly and easily to a bunch of people who like to believe they are thinking critically.

[LFC]

All things non-political eventually seem to go political these days. Since the anti-vaxxer ranks swelled with MAGAts we are seeing any shred of decency fall away as they bask in their own self-righteousness. Unfortunately for the world it's not just in the U.S. Anything can be justified, including harassing children as they try to go to school. F*** these people. Make sure they're never allowed within a mile of a school again.

A group of anti-vaccine protesters gathered in front of a school in England on Monday and distributed pamphlets showing photos of dead and disfigured children to students, claiming the COVID jab is to blame.

“My 13-year-old daughter called me after she arrived at school saying a woman had tried to force her to take a vile leaflet… apparently it showed a colour picture of a young girl covered in blood and the woman told her the vaccine had killed her,” one parent told SWNS, a British news agency, which reported that police are now on the look-out for the anti-vaxxers involved.

The incident—which according to parents left children entering the school “in tears”—is the latest in a slew of anti-vaccine protests targeting students as more young people gain access to anti-COVID jabs. And they’re taking place at schools around the world.

In Canada, several anti-vaccine demonstrations at schools in British Columbia prompted lawmakers to introduce legislation that would see the creation of “bubble zones” to prohibit protesters from gathering within the vicinity of schools and hospitals. Politicians in other provinces including Ontario are pushing to follow suit.

The legislation came after anti-jab rioters physically entered a school in Salmon Arm, B.C., triggering a “hold and secure” lockdown on Sept. 17.

“This is just a complete and utter disgrace. The word ‘Covidiot’ doesn't even begin to describe how inappropriate the actions of these wack jobs are. It’s unacceptable in the extreme,” B.C.’s Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said about the incident.

The shocking Monday protest in England was preceded by yet another wave of protests at schools across more than half a dozen cities in England and Scotland, according to iNews. The uptick in demonstrations appears to coincide with the U.K. implementing its rollout of anti-COVID vaccines to all children over 12 years of age, which began in mid-September.

I'm sure that many of these people are the same who screech bloody murder if their children are taught something in school that they disagree with. But shoving shock pamphlets in the face of unsuspecting children is just fine ... as long as they're the ones doing the shoving.

[goldenvalley]

They're taking a page out of the anti-abortion book.

[Bact PhD]

Oct 7, 2021 0:52:04 GMT goldenvalley said:

They're taking a page out of the anti-abortion book.

Maybe even a few of the same players—?

[LFC]

And I repeat...

[LFC]

Another minor celebrity f***wit who pushes anti-vax garbage. That's just great.

f there’s one thing few people had on their 2021 bingo cards, it would be anti-vaxxers becoming enamored with British comedian Russell Brand for his conspiracy theory-laden YouTube channel.

The Forgetting Sarah Marshall actor has always presented himself as a contrarian—a “free-thinker” who isn’t afraid to challenge established views or spout off at the government (both U.K. and U.S.).

But recently, Brand, who always seemed to skew left in his political beliefs, has found a loyal fanbase in right-wing conservatives and anti-vaxxers who have flocked to his YouTube and Facebook accounts, hailing the 46-year-old as a so-called “voice of reason.”

He’s played heavy to this fanbase, interviewing right-wing trolls Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens, although he does disagree with them on certain points. In June, he asked his watchers if he should accept Fox News’ invitation to appear on the network; most agreed he should. “I would suggest Tucker; he’s very fair,” one fan commented.

The titles of his videos are often designed to delight or infuriate, depending on the viewer’s political stance, leaning heavily on incredulous clickbait titles such as: “Thought Biden Couldn’t Sink Any Lower?? THINK AGAIN!!,” “Did Liberals Use Feminism to Justify Afghan Cluster F*ck?,” “SHOCKING Wuhan Evidence: Did Fauci LIE?,” and “So...Trump was RIGHT About Clinton & Russia.”

But for the past few weeks, Brand has also taken issue with the vaccine, casting doubt on the trustworthiness of the FDA, asking if vaccine mandates are an assault on people’s bodily freedoms, calling the vaccine a “gold rush,” and pondering whether people could trust Bill Gates. Most recently, Brand declared that there was a “vaccine apartheid,” going after CNN anchor Don Lemon after he called out people who refused to get vaccinated.

And Brand has struck a viewership goldmine with his videos. His videos, which appear to be monetized, often rack up millions of views across YouTube and Facebook, and his comment sections have become hotbeds of misinformation.

Sheep to be sheared.

[LFC]

An utter nutter anti-vax mayor in Alaska loses it over fluoride in the drinking water.

Alaska Mayor Turned Off Fluoridation Of Water Supply
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson shut down the fluoridation of the city’s water supply for five hours on Oct. 1

• Bronson admitted to doing so in a statement on Tuesday. He claimed he had heard reports of the fluoride in the water treatment centers had become dangerous, so he paused the fluoridation to “further investigate these concerns.”

• Bronson is an anti-vaxxer, by the way.

[LFC]

They're getting violent. In today's wingnut world I guess it was only a matter of time.

Christopher Key, the leader of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine group “Vaccine Police,” said Wednesday he’s going to take the law into his own hands, pledging to conduct a citizen’s arrest of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards. “I am the vaccine police,” Key said on Clay Clark’s daily show. “We have shut down pharmacists. We have shut down boards of education. And we will be arresting the governor of Louisiana on February the 7th if he does not stand down and not vaccinate the children of Louisiana.” He continued that he would conduct the arrest “out of love” because “they are trying to start a civil war, Clay, and they are coming for our children.”

On his website, Key wrote: “I was recently fired from my job of six years for being a patriot.” In August, The Washington Post reported Key threatened pharmacists with the possibility of being “executed” if they kept administering the COVID-19 vaccine. The anti-vaxxer was one of the attendees who showed up at Clark’s early December event, who also initially believed there was an anthrax outbreak released through fog machines during the gathering. (Key didn’t return The Daily Beast’s request for comment on Thursday morning.)

It's hardly his first threat of violence. He needs to be imprisoned.

Christopher Key, an Alabama-based anti-vaccine influencer, traveled to Missouri this week to "put the fear of God in these pharmacists," often with several disciples in tow, The Washington Post reported Aug. 19.

Mr. King, who has dubbed himself the "Vaccine Police," travels to cities across the country to protest COVID-19 vaccines, and he has garnered a large audience by posting daily Facebook live streams of his efforts.

He came to Missouri after being invited to an Aug. 14 rally protesting Springfield-based Mercy Hospital's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

On Aug. 16, Mr. King and his half-dozen followers harassed pharmacists in a Springfield Walmart, repeatedly telling them they would be "executed" for their "crimes against humanity." Among his barrage of false rhetoric were repeated warnings that pharmacists were violating the Nuremberg Code by administering COVID-19 vaccines.

He captured the Walmart incident via a 33-minute Facebook live stream. Later that day, his Facebook shows he went to a nearby CVS and Walgreens.

The next day, Mr. King filmed himself confronting Steve Edwards, president and CEO of Springfield-based CoxHealth, in a parking structure. Mr. King served Mr. Edwards papers, which he said showed that Mr. Edwards had committed "crimes against humanity" by imposing a vaccine mandate at his health system.