Thread by @gorskon

Note the weasel wording/buzz words (“not opposed to #covidvaccines IN GENERAL”) that gives away the game. FLCCC is *clearly* antivax. It’s quite obvious from this statement. If this statement were the only thing I knew about FLCCC, I’d say, “Yep, they’re *definitely* antivax.” 1/

https://twitter.com/grahamwalker/status/1425544343947931650

So is this shtick about how “some of us are vaccinated.” Antivax mom groups used to say the same thing prepandemic. Antivax pediatricians would say, “Many of my patients are vaccinated.” 2/

https://twitter.com/grahamwalker/status/1425544347592794115

Indeed, taking a “neutral” stance on #CovidVaccine like this while spreading fear of the vaccine based on pseudoscience, bad science, and conspiracy theories is a CLASSIC antivax ploy. I am not fooled. No one should be fooled. 3/

https://twitter.com/grahamwalker/status/1425544348494532611

Before #COVID19 antivax doctors did the same sort of thing as @Covid19Critical when asked out as antivax, taking a similar studied “neutral” stance of “not recommending or discouraging vaccination,” all while demonizing vaccines elsewhere, which made their true views obvious. 4/

One pediatrician in particular I remember bragging in response to accusation of being antivax about how he vaccinated patients every day. Meanwhile, he had been quoted saying he would only vaccinate “reluctantly” but “respected parents’ wishes to vaccinate.” 5/

Then there’s Dr. Paul Thomas. He claimed to be “not antivax” and “neutral” regarding vaccines. When his medical license was finally suspended, it turned out that Dr. Thomas had been bullying parents into accepting his “alternative vaccination schedule.” 6/ respectfulinsolence.com/2020/12/14/pau…

I appreciate that Dr. Walker is bending over backwards to be fair and charitable, but I’ve been down this road too many times over the last 20 years. I am not in the least bit convinced that FLCCC is not antivax. In antivax world, “neutral” is NOT truly neutral. It’s antivax. 7/

I mean, their whole conspiracy theory is that science about #Ivermectin being such a “wonder drug” to treat #COVID19 is being “suppressed” in favor of #CovidVaccine. 8/

To believe @Covid19Critical’s “neutral” stance on #COVIDVaccination, you only have to forget about all the antivaccine misinformation about #covidvaccines that they’ve long been spreading and what its member doctors write and say almost every day. 9/9

Forgot to mention: Another obvious “tell” in @Covid19Critical’s statement is the conspicuous lack of a clear statement that current #covidvaccines are safe and effective. This sort of omission is also a classic page from the antivax playbook going way back. 10/10

Upon further thought, I’m starting to conclude that @Covid19Critical might not be strongly antivax, but it has at least some antivax leaders, and it knows its audience, which is definitely antivax. Pandering or antivax? I suspect now it’s a little of both. 11/11

Also, claiming that its science is being “suppressed” in favor of vaccines works so much better as a sales pitch and a conspiracy theory if the vaccines are *also* portrayed as ineffective/dangerous/etc. 12/12

When CALLED out as antivax.🤦🏻‍♂️

And here I thought I'd gotten through the thread without a single typo/autocorrect/predictive typing error.😬