If John had been paying attention to the antivaccine movement for two decades (or even just a few years) he wouldn’t ask questions like this. He would also understand that the politicization of vaccine mandates started years before the pandemic, starting with school mandates. 1/
Basically, when antivaxxers figured out several years ago that messages of “freedom,” “parental rights,” and resistance to government mandates resonated with right wing groups, the die was cast. 2/ respectfulinsolence.com/2017/07/07/vac…
The end result was an ever tighter alliance between right wing populist politics and the antivaccine movement, to the point that prepandemic @GOP had become in essence the antivax party. 4/ respectfulinsolence.com/2019/04/19/gop…
There was a particularly disturbing example of this development in the 2018 primaries, where @MIGOP hosted a blatantly antivax roundtable in my district. 5/ respectfulinsolence.com/2018/08/03/jef…
Given that background, why is anyone surprised that in the age of #COVID19 the Union between right wing populism, antivaxxers, and antimaskers has solidified. As @tarahaelle described, the pandemic is the moment antivaxxers have been waiting for. nytimes.com/2021/08/31/opi…
So, to answer John’s question, people do self-destructive things all the time in the name of ideology or religion, and that’s what we’re largely dealing with here. It’s been hiding in plain site for at least 6 years for anyone paying attention to see. 7/
As to that social media influencer doctors downplaying the severity of #COVID19 and the pandemic (saying the pandemic is over even), and even just those who aren’t ideologically opposed to vaccine mandates but just don’t see why they should be bothered have a reason to refuse.8/8

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More from @gorskon

11 Sep
It's so hard to believe for me that #September11 was 20 years ago. I was about 30 miles from Ground Zero, at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (now @RutgersCancer) at the time. It was VERY real to me. 1/
We normally had our breast cancer tumor board 8-9AM Tuesday morning, and #September11 was no different. near the end of the tumor board, then-director of CINJ Dr. Bill Hait poked his head into the conference room and said that a plane had hit the #WTC. 2/
It wasn't long before all non-emergency clinical activity at the cancer center and @RWJUH was halted, and all clinical staff were instructed not to leave, as we then expected mass casualties helicoptered and brought in. 3/
Read 8 tweets
10 Sep
When it comes to children and #COVID19, certain physicians seem strangely unwilling to acknowledge negative information about the virus and positive information about the vaccine. @JHowardBrainMD wonders why at @ScienceBasedMed. (I can speculate.) sciencebasedmedicine.org/what-does-it-m…
Let me just emphasize this part of @JHowardBrainMD's observations: If you are a physician and find yourself making arguments virtually indistinguishable from antivax talking points spread by @RobertKennedyJr, you *might* want to take some time and rethink your arguments.
Also, if your arguments about vaccinating children against #COVID19 are virtually indistinguishable from those of @RobertKennedyJr and other antivax activists, you should not be too surprised when people wonder whether or not you are also antivaccine. Just sayin'.
Read 4 tweets
24 Aug
Actually, thalidomide was not FDA-approved before these children were born. Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey, who had been assigned to review the application by the drug's manufacturer, wasn't convinced that the safety data were adequate and held the line. 1/
Executives from Merrell (the pharmaceutical company applying for FDA approval for thalidomide) pressured Dr. Kelsey's superiors relentlessly, but she held firm that safety data were inadequate and there existed studies suggesting danger. 2/
In 1962, President John F. Kennedy awarded Dr. Kelsey the Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, the nation’s highest federal civilian service award, saying she had “prevented a major tragedy of birth deformities, which she undoubtedly had. 3/ respectfulinsolence.com/2015/08/10/a-t…
Read 4 tweets
24 Aug
It never fails. Whenever I complain about @Jeopardy hiring @missmayim as a host and cite her history of antivaccine advocacy and, more recently, her abusing her PhD to shill for a "brain health" supplement, apologists come out of the woodwork. 1/
"She's not antivax anymore," they say. "She got #CovidVaccine." Never mind that in promoting the vaccine she couldn't resist including antivax talking points about vaccine ingredients designed to evoke disgust and conspiracies about big pharma. 2/
Then there's the "She's a scientist" gambit. Funny, though, but when it comes to her using her PhD, saying she's a neuroscientist, and saying "I checked the studies myself," they shrug their shoulders and say, "What's the harm?" 3/
Read 4 tweets
22 Aug
Tell me you don’t understand fascist metaphors without saying you don’t understand fascist metaphors.
Seriously, Nazis tried to portray Jews not as the *carriers* of diseases, but as the *disease* itself threatening the German/Aryan “volk” (people/nation). They metaphorically portrayed themselves as the physicians of the volk, with Jews as the invading germs or cancer.
Yes, when convenient, Nazis works sometimes portray Jews as dirty and carriers of disease, but that’s not what the Holocaust denier is talking about.
Read 4 tweets
12 Aug
This applies to *all* pundits regardless of topic or profession, actually.

An interesting (I hope) anecdote follows. 1/ mcgill.ca/science/outrea…
in 2010 I was invited by @joeschwarcz to speak about cancer quackery at the Trottier Symposium in Montreal, with @bengoldacre, @michaelshermer, and James Randi. It was a huge honor to me. 2/
The night before the symposium, there was a roundtable discussion with a lot more guests than just the main speakers. 3/
Read 12 tweets

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