<ul class="summary-list"><li>A recent poll found that a quarter of US parents say they won't vaccinate their children.</li><li>To fight against anti-vax parents, teens are sharing vaccination resources on the internet.</li><li>Teens are posting memes on <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> and writing threads on <keyword id="334157" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Reddit">Reddit</keyword>. </li></ul><p><a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/coronavirus-covid-19-update-fda-authorizes-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-emergency-use">The Food and Drug Administration</a> (FDA) authorized the <keyword id="8904563" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19-vaccine">COVID-19 vaccine</keyword> for anyone 12 and up in May, but there are rules in place that make it difficult for minors to get vaccinated.</p><p>45 states currently mandate that 12- to 15-year-olds have consent from a guardian to get the vaccine, according to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/14/health/covid-19-vaccines-teens-parental-consent-wellness/index.html">CNN</a>. For 16- to 18-year-olds, it varies by state. </p><p>With those rules, there are many parents nationwide who are not letting their children get the jab. In June, the Kaiser Family Foundation, a public-health non-profit organization, <a href="https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/poll-finding/kff-covid-19-vaccine-monitor-june-2021/">found through polling that</a> a quarter of American parents said they would "definitely not" vaccinate their children. </p><p>A 15-year-old named Marina who said her mother wouldn't let her get the vaccine told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/26/health/covid-vaccine-teens-consent.html">The New York Times</a> in a recent article, "It sucks that I can't get the shot."</p><p>But some kids are rebelling. There's been a surge of teens using the internet to defy their guardians and protect themselves against the virus. </p><p>When a fan commented on a now-deleted video by the TikTok user <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@__s_h_a_y__?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESMgowFFThwopz2eathEVGgj%2Fjqniq1qvN9nugrvNF1sAnIyUtuWWjaOp53aS5PtS%2FWVbAGgA%3D&amp;checksum=4d4ebd0facfbc20a17f1b2d316c24234ff40460b0c5194697813bb2035a4faa9&amp;language=en&amp;preview_pb=0&amp;sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAWRdNYvHqD1jJ9Jy-4TKsSfnha-rtvazkqI9c3Wrm0kwUxKg2_JIRjA5dQq-wuGtl&amp;share_app_id=1233&amp;share_item_id=6961851240095501574&amp;share_link_id=590839CC-08D4-43B2-8139-C24D39BF0571&amp;source=h5_m&amp;timestamp=1624906999&amp;tt_from=copy&amp;u_code=d6i61gl5m8djkl&amp;user_id=6701362712989877253&amp;utm_campaign=client_share&amp;utm_medium=ios&amp;utm_source=copy&amp;_r=1&amp;is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1ios&amp;utm_source=copy&amp;_r=1&amp;is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1">@__s_h_a_y__</a> asking if they were "the only one with anti-vax parents who won't let [them get the vaccine]," the creator responded with a full-length video. </p><p>"No, you're not … a lot of people have been saying [that] in the comment sections," she said, going on to correct vaccine misinformation and encouraging viewers to share the information with their parents.  </p><p>Another user, @sourandnasty, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@sourandnasty/video/6973062048943049989?lang=en&amp;is_copy_url=1&amp;is_from_webapp=v1ebapp=v1">said in a popular TikTok</a> that her parents thought the vaccine was "bogus," but that they decided to get the shot anyway. </p><p>"Make it make sense!" one viewer commented.</p><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@sourandnasty/video/6973062048943049989" data-video-id="6973062048943049989" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@sourandnasty" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@sourandnasty">@sourandnasty</a> <p>i mean…..at least they got it lmao <a title="covidvaccine" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/covidvaccine">##covidvaccine</a> <a title="pfizer" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/pfizer">##pfizer</a> <a title="vaccine" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vaccine">##vaccine</a> <a title="antivax" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/antivax">##antivax</a> <a title="vaccinated" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/vaccinated">##vaccinated</a> <a title="parents" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/parents">##parents</a></p> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - Sharon Amy Wu" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6973061877110803206">♬ original sound - Sharon Amy Wu</a> </section> </blockquote> <p>Meanwhile, some TikTokers <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@macaroni.wh0re/video/6960530600386120965?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESMgowWoKP6PZ6Sh7KmdJNPMebDMFT9q9yloMCP3LOLt43HNZ8Fj63tr83p9BtZ%2BzMK4leGgA%3D&amp;checksum=288e2c198ce1c96cdc3c75b0bc93eb31fe649d57ffadd58d9c264052d8b75c00&amp;language=en&amp;preview_pb=0&amp;sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAWRdNYvHqD1jJ9Jy-4TKsSfnha-rtvazkqI9c3Wrm0kwUxKg2_JIRjA5dQq-wuGtl&amp;share_app_id=1233&amp;share_item_id=6960530600386120965&amp;share_link_id=D8D403E4-D864-4F69-BA1F-EFBD999C0C63&amp;source=h5_m&amp;timestamp=1624907039&amp;tt_from=copy&amp;u_code=d6i61gl5m8djkl&amp;user_id=6701362712989877253&amp;utm_campaign=client_share&amp;utm_medium=ios&amp;utm_source=copy&amp;_r=1ign=client_share&amp;utm_medium=ios&amp;utm_source=copy&amp;_r=1">crafted memes</a> about what it's like to live with anti-vaccine parents, and how their parents scolded them for getting the vaccine. </p><blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@macaroni.wh0re/video/6960530600386120965" data-video-id="6960530600386120965" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;"> <section> <a target="_blank" title="@macaroni.wh0re" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@macaroni.wh0re">@macaroni.wh0re</a> <p>They are very kind people also I feel okay so far</p> <a target="_blank" title="♬ you need to leave - m&lt;333333" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/you-need-to-leave-6944509297590012677">♬ you need to leave - m&lt;333</a> </section> </blockquote> <h2>Redditors are giving each other advice </h2><p>Others are using Reddit to seek advice on how to get the COVID-19 vaccine without parental permission.</p><p>One user who said they have anti-vaxx parents and uses the handle "camel_in_a_can" posted a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/teenagers/comments/ny0yrr/my_parents_wont_let_me_get_the_vaccine/">question thread</a> on the subreddit for teenagers and received a couple of responses. </p><p>Reddit also helped 20-year-old <keyword id="11591890" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ethan-lindenberger">Ethan Lindenberger</keyword>, who in 2019 <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/9xm989/my_parents_are_kind_of_stupid_and_dont_believe_in/?st=JRTFJJR5&amp;sh=0b2c98a898a8">made a viral post</a> seeking support because he said his parents believed that vaccines were a nefarious government scheme. Commenters encouraged him to get vaccinated and advised him on how to schedule doctor's appointments without parental permission.</p><p>In May, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/faced-anti-vaccination-parents-teens-are-helping-each-other-get-n1268093">NBC News</a> interviewed Lindenberger, who urged teens to "please get your [COVID-19] shots as soon as possible" and said that many teens with anti-vax parents face the difficult task of having to choose between getting a potentially "lifesaving" vaccine and risking homelessness.</p><h2><strong style="background-color: #ffffff;"><keyword id="11591889" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="vaxteen">VaxTeen</keyword>.org is a hotspot for teen vax info</strong></h2><p>In addition to TikTok and Reddit, the website VaxTeen.org has become a central resource for teens looking to glean trustworthy COVID-19 vaccine information.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/26/health/covid-vaccine-teens-consent.html">The New York Times</a>, an 18-year-old named Kelly Danielpour launched the website two years before the pandemic. She created the site to help educate other teenagers and kids about laws regarding vaccination and consent.</p><p>"We automatically talk about parents but not about teens as having opinions on this issue," she told The Times. "I decided I needed to help ... I want teenagers to be able to say to pediatricians, 'Hey, I have this right.'"</p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/culture"><strong>To read more stories like this, check out Insider's digital culture coverage </strong><strong>here</strong><strong>.</strong></a></p>

How teens are using the internet to rebel against anti-vaxx parents and get the COVID-19 vaccine

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c7e9d01262898501c25074c-970/ethan lindenberger testimony.png" border="0" alt="Ethan Lindenberger testimony" data-mce-source="Senate Health, Education, Labor &amp; Pensions Committee" data-mce-caption="High school senior Ethan Lindenberger testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor &amp; Pensions Committee on March 5, 2019. He recently started vaccinating himself, against his mother's wishes." data-link="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/vaccines-save-lives-what-is-driving-preventable-disease-outbreaks" /><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/vaccines-save-lives-what-is-driving-preventable-disease-outbreaks">Senate Health, Education, Labor &amp; Pensions Committee</a></span></p><p class="caption">High-school senior Ethan Lindenberger testified before the Senate Health, <keyword id="6355445" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="education">Education</keyword>, Labor &amp; Pensions Committee on March 5, 2019. He recently started getting vaccines against his mother's wishes.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>High-school senior <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/ethan-lindenberger-reddit-anti-vaxxer-parents-advice-vaccines-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ethan Lindenberger</a>, who recently turned 18, has been vaccinating himself against his mother's wishes.</strong></li><li><strong>Lindenberger testified before a Senate committee on Tuesday, saying his mother's "love, affection, and care as a parent was used" by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/anti-vaxxers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-vaxxers</a> on online platforms, including Facebook. </strong></li><li><strong>He said there aren't two sides to an issue <a href="http://businessinsider.com/study-shows-no-link-between-vaccines-and-autism-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">like vaccines</a>: Study after study shows no link between vaccines and autism, despite misinformation online. </strong></li><li><strong>The measles is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warning-to-anti-vaccine-parents-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">making a comeback</a> in rich countries around the world, including the US, as more parents forgo vaccines for their kids. </strong></li></ul><p>There may be two teams on every high-school debate stage, but there are not two sides to every issue.</p><p>That's the lesson that Ethan Lindenberger said he learned after taking it upon himself to research vaccines. His findings led the 18-year-old to get vaccinated against his mother's wishes. </p><p>In a testimony before <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/vaccines-save-lives-what-is-driving-preventable-disease-outbreaks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Senate's</a> Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday morning, Lindenberger said, "my mother is an anti-vaxx advocate. I went my entire life without numerous vaccines." </p><p>But starting in December 2018, shortly after he turned 18, Lindenberger began "catching up on immunizations," as he put it, despite what his mother wanted. </p><p>"There seems to always be two sides to a discussion," he said. "This is not true in the vaccine debate."</p><p>Scientists have been saying the same thing for years, since <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/study-shows-no-link-between-vaccines-and-autism-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">studies of hundreds of thousands of children</a> show there is no link between autism and vaccines, as some people believe. Still, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lies-anti-vaxxers-spread-about-measles-vaccine-debunked-2019-1">misinformation continues to spread</a> on social media, and vaccination rates are falling in certain pockets of the country. That has led to measles outbreaks, the most notable of which is still ongoing in the Pacific Northwest.</p><p>The title of the <a href="https://www.help.senate.gov/hearings/vaccines-save-lives-what-is-driving-preventable-disease-outbreaks">Senate committee hearing</a> was "Vaccines Save Lives: What is driving preventable disease outbreaks?"</p><p>"Her love, affection and care as a parent was used," Lindenberger said of his mother. </p><p>He told the Senate committee members that when he tried to approach his mother with facts and information from reputable sources like the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and scientific studies, she did not believe the numbers and facts.</p><p>In one instance, Lindenberger said, "she responded with 'that's what they want you to think.'" </p><h2>Vaccine skepticism is surging, despite the facts </h2><p>Lindenberger said his mother often shared misinformation with others through her Facebook page, serving as a kind of maternal foot-soldier of false <keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">news</keyword>.</p><p>Such parents are increasingly opting out of shots for their kids. A<span> </span><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002578" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2018 report</a><span> listed potential "hotspots" for a disease outbreak because of the high rate of unvaccinated kids. The cities of Portland, Seattle, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Houston, and Detroit were all high on the list. R</span>eligious communities who avoid vaccines because of their beliefs - such as the <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1602295" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amish</a> and <a href="https://www.thisisinsider.com/what-is-measles-causes-symptoms-2018-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Orthodox Jews in New York</a> - are also at risk.</p><p>Today, 47 states allow vaccine exemptions for religious reasons, philosophical reasons, or both. Jonathan McCullers, pediatrician-in-chief at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, told Senators at the hearing that if those states continue to allow these types of exemptions, we can expect to see more dangerous outbreaks in the future. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c634773dde86776cc3ea4fe-2400/vaccine-exemptions-every-state-map.png" border="0" alt="vaccine exemptions every state map" style="color: #000000;" data-mce-source="Shayanne Gal/Business Insider" data-mce-caption="Only three states have medical-only exemptions: California, West Virginia, and Mississippi." /><p class="source"><span>Shayanne Gal/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The measles are already making a comeback in the US and other countries, including Japan, France, and the UK. Last year, the measles <a href="http://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2019/measles-in-europe-record-number-of-both-sick-and-immunized" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed 72 people</a> across Europe. </p><p>So far this year, over <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">200 people in the US</a> have contracted the measles, a rate that would have been unheard of in 2000, when the country declared measles was eradicated.</p><p>In the Pacific Northwest, which is battling biggest measles outbreak of the year so far, <a href="https://www.clark.wa.gov/public-health/measles-investigation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than 70 people</a> have been infected - most of them unvaccinated kids under 10 years old. One person had to be hospitalized with the potentially deadly condition, and the state has spent over $1 million so far battling the outbreak.</p><h2>Parents may not fully understand the risks of skipping vaccines</h2><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c7db0ac262898288871c344-652/child with measles cdc.jpg" border="0" alt="child with measles CDC" data-mce-source="Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" data-mce-caption="A child with measles" /><p class="source"><span>Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</span></p><p class="caption">A child with measles</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>An unvaccinated person doesn't just put themselves at risk; they're also a threat to people who can't get vaccines for medical reasons.</p><p>"My school viewed me as a health threat," Lindenberger said. </p><p>Babies who are too young for their shots are vulnerable if they spend time around unvaccinated people. Some individuals with weakened immune systems, like caner patients and those with HIV, also can't get vaccines. So these people rely on others to get their shots, because if enough people in a population do so, that keeps dangerous and communicable diseases from spreading within a community. This is called "herd immunity."  </p><p>The US has had strong herd immunity against diseases like measles for decades, but that has meant that many people don't see or fully understand how bad these viruses and communicable diseases can be.</p><p>Lindenberger said more needs to be done to share the scary stories of people suffering from preventable diseases to help convince parents that vaccinating their kids is the right thing to do. </p><p>"When you convince parents that - not that information is incorrect - but that their children are at risk," he said, "that's a much more substantial way to change their minds."</p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/study-shows-no-link-between-vaccines-and-autism-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Another huge study of over 650,000 kids shows absolutely no link between vaccines and autism. Doctors say it's proof we're living in a 'fact-resistant' world.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-removes-vaxxed-documentary-junk-science-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Amazon just took down a controversial documentary that links vaccines to autism. Doctors have known for years that it relies on sham science.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warning-to-anti-vaccine-parents-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Bill Gates' warning to anti-vaxxers: People in rich countries will die because they aren't getting measles shots</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/measles-outbreak-portland-not-vaccinated-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">The dangerous measles outbreak near Portland, Oregon, is what happens when people refuse to vaccinate their kids</a></li></ul>      <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-sachs-anti-vaccine-fatal-flaw-vaxxers-california-2015-6">Watch Jeff Sachs destroy the anti-vaccine movement in under two minutes</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/eWEeKYg9-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

A high-school senior who got vaccinated against his mother's wishes just testified before the Senate - and accused anti-vaxxers of weaponizing her love

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The phenomenon of anti-vaxx ideas dividing family and friends is - like the coronavirus pandemic - a global one.</li><li>In 2019, the<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019"> (WHO)</a> named vaccine <a href="https://www.insider.com/why-parents-and-grandparents-across-the-us-are-getting-vaccinated-2021-1">hesitancy</a> one of the top 10 threats to global <keyword id="6354750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="health">health</keyword>. </li><li>The endpoint of the new anti-vaxx narrative is to misappropriate the memory of Hitler's Nazi genocide.</li></ul><p>Paul, 37, a construction worker from Glasgow, Scotland, fell out with his family on Christmas Day over their anti-vaxx opinions.</p><p>Paul, who asked Insider not to publish his surname, said: "With the Christmas lockdown exemption in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boris-johnson-and-brexit-pushed-scotland-towards-independence-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">Scotland</a>, I was really excited to see my family again after what had been a very difficult year. We began discussing when we thought it would all be over and back to normal and I mentioned that I couldn't wait for the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oxford-scientists-test-mixing-astrazeneca-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccines-2021-2?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">COVID-19 vaccine</a> to become available to me.</p><p>"I began thinking about which I would choose out loud when my sister-in-law loudly proclaimed she wouldn't be having any of them. When I calmly asked her why, she angrily said that she wouldn't put something with so much mercury in her body," Paul continued. </p><p>"When I tried to explain the benefits of vaccines to her, she just got even more frustrated and basically put a damper on the whole day. I haven't spoken to her or my brother since, even though my wife and I have spent every <a href="https://www.insider.com/vanilla-ice-trump-mar-a-lago-new-years-eve-party-2021-1">New Year's</a> Day with them for the last ten years."</p><p>Paul's story of anti-vaxx ideas driving a wedge between family and friends is - like the coronavirus pandemic - a global one.</p><p>Azeza, a 22-year-old law student from Cape Town, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/south-africa-coronavirus-variant-more-contagious-us-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">South Africa,</a> who did not want to disclose her last name, told Insider that she lost two good friends in one heated debate.</p><p>She said: "The first [argument] was around November, and we were having a chat about COVID and vaccines. That's when they started saying they won't get one and that the vaccine was a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-vaccine-pfizer-moderna-doesnt-contain-a-microchip-2020-12?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">microchip</a>.</p><p>"They provided a conspiracy theory clip they got on YouTube and also said that it was discussed at their church. I started asking more questions about how they would insert a microchip if the vaccine is liquid, and they blocked me."</p><h2>'The devil's work'</h2><p>As the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out, coronavirus skeptics have taken to social media to share their anti-vaxx credo. </p><p>Having spent 2020 warning that the coronavirus was a '<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-youtube-remove-plandemic-video-with-unsubstantiated-coronavirus-claims-2020-5?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">plandemic</a>' conspiracy, the standard COVID-19 test, the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-test-rapid-antigen-test-lateral-flow-pcr-explained-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">PCR</a> gave <a href="https://fullfact.org/online/dominic-raab-93-percent/">93% false-negatives</a> and labeled those who disagreed 'sheeple,' the mass vaccination rollout has now become the focus.</p><p>Anti-vaccination opinions date back to the 18th century and the discovery of the first smallpox vaccine. In the US, religious leaders condemned them as 'the devil's work.'</p><p>The contemporary anti-vaxx movement was born in 1998 when a British study by Andrew Wakefield linked the MMR vaccine to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/controversial-research-program-boosts-unlicensed-treatments-say-critics-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">autism</a>.</p><p>Holly, a 42-year-old space engineer from Houston, <a href="https://www.insider.com/texas-family-with-covid-19-couldt-smell-that-house-fire-2021-1">Texas,</a> who also asked Insider not to publish her surname, fell out with her cousin and didn't speak to her for years after saying she was thinking of not getting her two-month-old son MMR vaccinated.</p><p>Her cousin said that friends on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-stops-military-gear-weapon-accessory-advertisements-until-january-22-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">Facebook</a> had stated that their kids started acting weird or different after getting vaccinated, "which sounded to me like confirmation bias," said Holly. </p><p>"I said that it also wasn't fair to her son if he got sick. She didn't seem to care or think it was an issue."</p><p>Although the Wakefield study has since been discredited and his medical license has been revoked, the anti-vaxx sentiment it energized is now feeding the opposition to the mass distribution of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jj-one-dose-covid-vaccine-late-stage-trial-results-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">COVID-19</a> shots.</p><div type="image" title="Andrew Wakefield" height="1992" width="2657" msid="80736178" hostid="261"></div><h2>'An extraordinary time'</h2><p>In 2019, the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019">World Health Organization (WHO)</a> predicted that vaccine <a href="https://www.insider.com/why-parents-and-grandparents-across-the-us-are-getting-vaccinated-2021-1">hesitancy</a> would become one of the top 10 global health threats alongside <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rabbit-disease-bunny-ebola-spreading-us-2020-6?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">Ebola</a>, HIV, and Dengue Fever. </p><p>Common misconceptions and vaccine anxieties include:</p><ul><li>Vaccines may cause severe side effects and illnesses</li><li>Experts and doctors cannot be trusted</li><li>A belief in widespread <a href="https://www.insider.com/china-conspiracy-theory-claims-us-created-coronavirus-2021-1">conspiracy theories</a></li><li>Concerns that it is against human rights</li><li>A fear of needles</li></ul><p>Over a quarter of those in the US say they definitely or probably will not get a <keyword id="8904563" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="covid-19-vaccine">COVID-19 vaccine</keyword>, according to the latest market research by <a href="https://www.kantar.com/inspiration/coronavirus/infographic-public-opinion-about-covid-19-vaccination">Kantar</a>, with over a third disagreeing that the vaccines are safe. The figure is nearly four in ten people in France.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/04/covid-vaccine-refuse-france-germany-us-quarter?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other"> Young people are the most vaccine-hesitant.</a> Only 32% of 18- to 24-year-olds across seven countries said they would definitely get vaccinated.</p><p>Dr. Douglas J. Opel, Director of Clinical Ethics at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/seattle-hospital-invited-donors-coronavirus-vaccine-slots-invite-only-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">Seattle</a> Children's Hospital, told Insider: "It's an extraordinary time with respect to vaccines because this is the first time one has been made available through emergency use authorization for the general public."</p><p>He added that the main concerns he had heard were that the development of COVID-19 vaccines had been too fast to be safe. There are also misconceptions about the seriousness of the virus. </p><p>"I do think there's some distinction to be made between reluctance to accept a COVID vaccine versus a hesitancy regarding general routine vaccinations. I think the overlap, though, is trust. Trust in the systems that develop, approve, and monitor vaccines as well as people who recommend and endorse them," Dr. Opel added. </p><p><strong><em>Read More: </em></strong><em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-coronavirus-vaccine-may-help-pharmacies-and-retailers-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">T</a></em><em><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-coronavirus-vaccine-may-help-pharmacies-and-retailers-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">he pandemic dented pharmacy chains like CVS and Walgreens, but the vaccine rollout could give them a boost</a></em></p><div type="image" title="Tuskegee experiment" height="1568" width="1782" msid="80736179" hostid="261"></div><h2>The Tuskegee experiment</h2><p>Anxiety about mass vaccination is the highest in the US Black community, whose historical memory is scarred by historical, unethical experiments, including the notorious <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/black-scientist-coronavirus-vaccine-is-nothing-like-tuskegee-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">Tuskegee</a> study.</p><p>The Tuskegee experiment began in 1932 when 600 Black men were promised free healthcare to participate in a study at what was then the Tuskegee Institute in Macon County, Alabama. </p><p>Run by the US Public Health Service (PHS), the participants were told that they were being treated for 'bad blood,' a term commonly used in the local area at the time to refer to a variety of ailments.</p><p>However, they were actually being monitored by health workers and the 399 with syphilis were not given penicillin despite it becoming the recommended treatment in 1945 while the study was ongoing.</p><p>On May 16, 1997, President Clinton formally apologized for the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.</p><p>Dr. Fauci said of communities of color: "They keep coming back and saying the history of Tuskegee. They don't, can't, and should not forget about it because it happened and it was shameful."</p><p>Anti-vaxxer activists are now looking to <a href="https://f4d9b9d3-3d32-4f3a-afa6-49f8bf05279a.usrfiles.com/ugd/f4d9b9_25e2a7b73e8c4236a53c1002db4017b4.pdf">exploit medical racism</a> casting it as the "new apartheid." </p><h2>'<keyword id="535763" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Misinformation">Misinformation</keyword> kills people'</h2><p>The endpoint of the new anti-vaxx narrative is to misappropriate the memory of Hitler's Nazi genocide.</p><p>On Thursday, Piers Corbyn, the elder brother of the UK's former Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was arrested for distributing leaflets comparing the COVID- 19 vaccine rollout to the transporting of Jews to Auschwitz. </p><p>The leaflets have a sketch of the death camp in Poland. The mocking slogan on its gates,  "Arbeit Macht Frei" or 'work sets you free' has been replaced by "Vaccines are safe path to freedom."</p><div type="image" title="Anti-Vaxx" height="427" width="640" msid="80736180" hostid="261"></div><p>Cllr Kieron Williams, Leader of Southwark Council, south London, where Corbyn was arrested, said on suspicion of malicious communications and public nuisance said he was playing into the fears of those most at risk from COVID-19, such as people from BAME backgrounds.</p><p>The gush of misinformation has increased the pressure on social media companies to act. </p><p>CCDH CEO, Imran Ahmed, told Insider: "The de-platforming of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/twitch-bans-trump-indefinitely-us-capitol-siege-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">Trump</a> shows they understand the real-world impact they can have."</p><div type="image" title="Anti Vaccine" height="1000" width="1333" msid="80736182" hostid="261"></div><p>TikTok announced this week that the app would introduce banner warnings on "inauthentic, misleading or false content" to limit the spread of such <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/sec-hunting-fraud-misinformation-social-media-reddit-driven-trading-frenzy-2021-2-1030042965">misinformation</a> while being reviewed for removal. </p><p>Asked if he agrees with the Royal Society and British Academy's <a href="https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/set-c/set-c-vaccine-deployment.pdf">view</a> that spreading anti-vaxx messages should become a criminal offense in the UK, Ahmed said: "People profit from misinformation and misinformation kills people. It is absolutely criminal." </p><p>Dr. Paul A. Offit, Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/philadelphia-officer-gun-taken-after-appears-she-attended-dc-rally-2021-1?r=US&amp;IR=TIR=T">Philadelphia,</a> said: "It's like if there were an anti-semitic website, free speech would become hate speech, so social media needs to clean up its act."  </p><p>Meanwhile, anti-vaxx extremism is taking its toll on families, friendship groups, and arguments are becoming more bitter.</p><p>Azeza said the latest falling out with friends was personal and upsetting: "They were posting statuses and stories on WhatsApp and Instagram that contained a lot of <keyword id="1379614" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="conspiracy-theories">conspiracy theories</keyword> about the vaccine and COVID itself. I called them about it and that's when we started to fight. </p><p>"The rest of our friend group tried to educate them on the matter, especially about COVID being fake.</p><p>"They said they didn't care. They only cared about the conspiracy. They even said that the government paid people who died of COVID. This hurt a lot because I lost my beloved uncle on December 31 and they knew about it," Azeza said.</p><h2>'We need to be more kind and empathetic'</h2><p>Ethan Lindenberger, 20, a prominent vaccine advocate from Norwalk, Ohio, first hit the headlines when he decided to get vaccinated against his mother's wishes when he turned 18 in 2018. </p><p>He told Insider: "She was scared, emotional and confused. She didn't understand why I'd want to get vaccinated would ask me how I was feeling all the time as if she expected me to get sick.</p><p>"She's moved back to Texas now to be with her family but I can see on her social media profiles that now with COVID, she is falling down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and really buying into them."</p><p>Asked whether the topic of vaccines is something that needs to be discussed with family and friends despite the potential to harm relationships, Lindenberger said: "It needs to be an everyday conversation. Vaccines are a medical issue, not a political issue.</p><p>"We need to be more kind and empathetic, and it's important we understand why people believe something."</p>

How anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories are straining family ties and breaking up friendships as the COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out globally

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c7e7fef2628983afa6a4018-2400/e249f42993c747f0953db373807b9102.jpg" border="0" alt="FILE - This Feb. 6, 2015, file photo shows a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine on a countertop at a pediatrics clinic in Greenbrae, Calif.  The U.S. has counted more measles cases in the first two months of this year than in all of 2017 _ and part of the rising threat is misinformation that makes some parents balk at a crucial vaccine, federal health officials told Congress Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019  .(AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)" data-mce-source="Associated Press" data-mce-caption="FILE - This Feb. 6, 2015, file photo shows a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine on a countertop at a pediatrics clinic in Greenbrae, Calif.  The U.S. has counted more measles cases in the first two months of this year than in all of 2017 _ and part of the rising threat is misinformation that makes some parents balk at a crucial vaccine, federal health officials told Congress Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019  .(AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)" /><p class="source"><span>Associated Press</span></p><p class="caption">FILE - This Feb. 6, 2015, file photo shows a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine on a countertop at a pediatrics clinic in Greenbrae, Calif.  The U.S. has counted more measles cases in the first two months of this year than in all of 2017 _ and part of the rising threat is misinformation that makes some parents balk at a crucial vaccine, federal health officials told Congress Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019  .(AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>As a result of more parents forgoing vaccines for their children, the highly contagious measles virus made a comeback in 2018, with 200 confirmed cases around the country. </li><li>Experts say that pervasive internet misinformation around vaccine safety has led to "hot pockets" of areas where kids are growing up unvaccinated.</li><li>Healthcare, including big public health issues, will be at the forefront of the 2020 election.</li><li>In 2016, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that vaccines are linked to autism on multiple occasions. </li><li>Here's what all the 2020 presidential candidates have said about vaccines. </li></ul><p>The measles vaccine was introduced in the 1960s and US government declared measles eradicated in 2000. But the highly contagious disease made a comeback in the winter of 2018, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lies-anti-vaxxers-spread-about-measles-vaccine-debunked-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">with nearly 200 confirmed cases reported across the country</a>. </p><p>The state of Washington declared a state of emergency earlier this year after 65 people in the state contracted the disease - with 47 of them <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/measles-outbreak-portland-not-vaccinated-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">young children under the age of 10</a> who had not been vaccinated. </p><p>Despite the broad scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and effective, as well as the dozens of studies discrediting any link between vaccines and autism, misinformation about vaccine safety abounds on the internet - and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/measles-outbreak-portland-not-vaccinated-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">experts say it's leading to an increase in kids in places like Washington going without their shots. </a></p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lies-anti-vaxxers-spread-about-measles-vaccine-debunked-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">From autism risks to mercury poisoning, here are 10 lies anti-vaxxers are spreading about the measles vaccine in the Pacific Northwest</a></em></p><p>An exhaustive new study of 650,000 Danish children again<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/study-shows-no-link-between-vaccines-and-autism-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> thoroughly disproved the validity of the connections between the measles vaccines and autism</a>, but scientists worry that the anti-vax movement growing stronger over time means "w<span>e now live in a 'fact-resistant' world where data have limited persuasive value."</span></p><p>On March 4, Ohio teenager Ethan <span>Lindenberger, who began getting vaccines against his mother's wishes after he turned 18, appeared before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teen-who-got-vaccines-testimony-accuses-anti-vaxxers-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to testify to the importance of vaccination </a>and the impact the pervasive misinformation on Facebook had on his mother. </span></p><p><span>"I feel like if my mom didn't interact with that information, and she wasn't swayed by those arguments and stories, it could've potentially changed everything," <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/03/06/ethan-lindenberger-mom-anti-vax-facebook-groups/?utm_term=.13a0cdd960b8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he told the Washington Post</a>. "My entire family could've been vaccinated."</span></p><p>Healthcare, including big public health issues, will be at the forefront of the 2020 election.</p><p>In 2016, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that vaccines are linked to autism on multiple occasions. </p><p><span>Here's where all the 2020 presidential candidates stand on vaccines with the exception of Sen. Cory Booker and  Julian Castro, who have not made recent public statements on the issue and did not return INSIDER's requests for comment. </span></p><p class="tagline"><hr><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/ai-in-us-healthcare?IR=T&amp;utm_source=businessinsider&amp;utm_medium=ctgr&amp;utm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_content=dhealth_ctgr_leadgen&amp;utm_campaign=dhealth_ctgr_leadgen_ai_in_us_healthcare"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5b1988cc1ae66235008b54c1" alt="Business Insider Intelligence Exclusive FREE Report: The 5 Ways AI Will Change U.S. Healthcare" border="0" style="display: block; width: 100% !important; max-width: 640px !important; margin: 0 auto !important" /></a><hr /></hr></p>

What every 2020 presidential candidate has said about vaccines

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c8924144f07ae15073cb56a-1627/gettyimages-2531888.jpg" border="0" alt="Flu Vaccine" data-mce-source="Robert Giroux/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="A nurse administers a flu vaccine in New York City." /><p class="source"><span>Robert Giroux/Getty Images</span></p><p class="caption">A nurse administers a flu vaccine in New York City.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>The American Medical Association (AMA) is worried that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/anti-vaxxers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">anti-vaxxers</a> are weaponizing the world's biggest social media platforms, including Facebook, Google, and Twitter. </strong></li><li><strong>Parents often use these platforms to spread misinformation about vaccine dangers that aren't real.</strong></li><li>Doctors say the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lies-anti-vaxxers-spread-about-measles-vaccine-debunked-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> content</a> is having a dangerous impact on the number of vaccinated people in America, and that could have deadly consequences.</li><li>"I<span>t is important that people be aware not just that these diseases still exist and can still debilitate and kill, but that vaccines are a safe, proven way to protect against them," the AMA letter states.</span></li></ul><p>Doctors think too many American kids are missing vaccinations, and that fake news <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/mit-study-fake-news-spreads-6-times-faster-on-twitter-than-truth-2018-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spreading like wildfire</a> on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube may be largely to blame. </p><p>On Wednesday, the American Medical Association (AMA), the largest professional group of doctors in the US, sent an open letter to the<span> CEOs of Amazon, Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube, voicing concern that parents are taking in all kinds of fake information about childhood vaccines from inaccurate videos, posts, and links on their platforms.</span></p><p>"P<span>hysicians across the country are troubled by </span>reports<span> of anti-vaccine related messages and advertisements targeting parents searching for vaccine information on your platforms," AMA CEO James Madara wrote. "We urge you to do your part to ensure that users have access to scientifically valid information on vaccinations, so they can make informed decisions about their families' health." </span></p><p>The anti-vaxx content that's been cropping up on social media for years appears to be having a harmful effect: a recent <a href="https://www.rsph.org.uk/our-work/policy/vaccinations/moving-the-needle-promoting-vaccination-uptake-across-the-life-course.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UK study</a> suggested that two in every five parents have been exposed to anti-vaccine content on social media, and more than one in four believe, wrongly, that a person can have "too many" vaccines.</p><p>In the US, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002578" target="_blank" rel="noopener">researchers</a><span> </span>are worried about several <span>potential "hotspots" that are ripe for a disease outbreak, including Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Phoenix, Arizona; Salt Lake City, Utah; Houston, Texas; and Detroit, Michigan. </span></p><p>Measles, a vaccine-preventable disease that was nearly unheard of in the US as recently as the early 2000s, is cropping up in more and more rich countries where people are neglecting their shots. In 2018, <a href="http://www.euro.who.int/en/media-centre/sections/press-releases/2019/measles-in-europe-record-number-of-both-sick-and-immunized" target="_blank" rel="noopener">measles killed 72 people in Europe</a>, and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/measles/cases-outbreaks.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">over 225 people in the US</a> have contracted measles so far this year. </p><p>Some big tech companies are starting to take note. </p><p>Last Thursday, Facebook <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-plans-tackle-anti-vaccine-misinformation-rejecting-ads-de-ranking-pages-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">promised to de-rank anti-vaxx</a> pages on its site. Ethan Lindenberger, an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teen-who-got-vaccines-testimony-accuses-anti-vaxxers-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">18-year-old who has recently taken it upon himself to start catching up on his own childhood vaccines</a>, said his mother often used Facebook to spread false information about vaccines to her friends, and inform her beliefs that vaccines were dangerous for him.</p><p><span>"Her love, affection, and care as a parent was used," Lindenberger told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions last week. </span></p><p>Pinterest is taking a more conservative approach by completely blocking vaccine searches. Amazon is also taking steps to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-removes-vaxxed-documentary-junk-science-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remove anti-vaxx videos</a> and stop selling books with quack medical "cures," as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/amazon-removes-books-promoting-autism-cures-vaccine-misinformation-n982576" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC reported Tuesday</a>. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54caae556bb3f7db08d381a1-2400/rtr4ne6p.jpg" border="0" alt="rhett krawitt and mom measles vaccination" data-mce-source="Reuters/Elijah Nouvelage" data-mce-caption="Jodi Krawitt holds her son Rhett, 6, in their home in Corte Madera, California January 28, 2015." /><p class="source"><span>Reuters/Elijah Nouvelage</span></p><p class="caption">Rhett Krawitt (pictured here with mom Jodi) can't get shots because his immune system is too vulnerable. Krawitt relies on the power of a large, vaccinated population to shield him from diseases.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Doctors could also be doing more to combat the problem, as <a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/136/1/70.abstract" target="_blank" rel="noopener">studies suggest they are some of the most trusted sources</a> that vaccine-hesitant parents may consult to change their minds. Here's the AMA's letter in full: </p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>Dear CEOs of Leading Technology Companies,</span><span> </span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>At a time when vaccine-preventable diseases, particularly measles, are reemerging in the United States and threatening communities and public health, physicians across the country are troubled by </span><a href="http://icm-tracking.meltwater.com/link.php?DynEngagement=true&amp;H=btYXC68syxnIlVIaW0qBweEUHWPFwuN5EgnqFgPj0oiC1OMl9zi1RoPMCr4rtqHHk7csOxhYB%2B6AK1Wa0HU5BF82gRcZGC%2Bud1sbFJtgiPrPwUs%2FKiTRjvN%2BIBmydDc4F8Wx31tL6xo%3D&amp;G=0&amp;R=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsociety%2F2019%2Fjan%2F24%2Fanti-vaxxers-spread-misinformation-on-social-media-report&amp;I=20190313143456.00000095f479%40mail6-113-ussnn1&amp;X=MHwxMDQ2NzU4OjVjODg0NTQxNjNlZGY0OTkzNDI4YjNmODs%3D&amp;S=z2uOf2QCBhzSJpNnJCbcZljFjr086KAvHIrkrqP8Y1c" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://icm-tracking.meltwater.com/link.php?DynEngagement%3Dtrue%26H%3DbtYXC68syxnIlVIaW0qBweEUHWPFwuN5EgnqFgPj0oiC1OMl9zi1RoPMCr4rtqHHk7csOxhYB%252B6AK1Wa0HU5BF82gRcZGC%252Bud1sbFJtgiPrPwUs%252FKiTRjvN%252BIBmydDc4F8Wx31tL6xo%253D%26G%3D0%26R%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.theguardian.com%252Fsociety%252F2019%252Fjan%252F24%252Fanti-vaxxers-spread-misinformation-on-social-media-report%26I%3D20190313143456.00000095f479%2540mail6-113-ussnn1%26X%3DMHwxMDQ2NzU4OjVjODg0NTQxNjNlZGY0OTkzNDI4YjNmODs%253D%26S%3Dz2uOf2QCBhzSJpNnJCbcZljFjr086KAvHIrkrqP8Y1c&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1552574416761000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEspIotJhowy0mjwOQdwH6lhwkecA">reports</a><span> of anti-vaccine related messages and advertisements targeting parents searching for vaccine information on your platforms. As physicians, we are concerned that the proliferation of this type of health-related misinformation will undermine sound <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword>, further decrease vaccinations, and persuade people to make medical decisions that could spark the spread of easily preventable diseases.</span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>With public health on the line and with social media serving as a leading source of information for the American people, we urge you to do your part to ensure that users have access to scientifically valid information on vaccinations, so they can make informed decisions about their families' health. We also urge you to make public your plans to ensure that users have access to accurate, timely, scientifically sound information on vaccines.</span><span> </span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>We applaud companies that have already taken action but encourage you to continue evaluating the impact of these policies and take further steps to address the issue as needed.</span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>The overwhelming scientific evidence shows that vaccines are among the most effective and safest interventions to both prevent individual illness and protect public health. When immunization rates are high, people who cannot be protected directly by the vaccines are protected because they are not exposed to the disease. This includes children too young to receive vaccinations and people with medical contraindications.</span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>The reductions we have seen in vaccination coverage threaten to erase many years of progress as nearly eliminated and preventable diseases return, resulting in illness, disability and death. In order to protect our communities' health, it is important that people be aware not just that these diseases still exist and can still debilitate and kill, but that vaccines are a safe, proven way to protect against them. </span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>As evident from the </span><span>measles outbreaks currently impacting communities in several states, when people decide not to be immunized as a matter of personal preference or misinformation, they put themselves and others at risk of disease. That is why it </span><span>is extremely important that people who are searching for information about vaccination have access to accurate, evidence-based information grounded in science.</span><span> </span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>Thank you for your attention to this critical, public health matter. We look forward to hearing from you.</span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>Sincerely,</span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>James L. Madara, M.D.</span></p><p style="padding-left: 40px;"><span>CEO, Executive Vice President, Americal Medical Association</span></p><ul class="read-more-links"><li>Read more:</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lies-anti-vaxxers-spread-about-measles-vaccine-debunked-2019-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">From autism risks to mercury poisoning, here are 10 lies anti-vaxxers are spreading about the measles vaccine in the Pacific Northwest</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/teen-who-got-vaccines-testimony-accuses-anti-vaxxers-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">A high-school senior who got vaccinated against his mother's wishes just testified before the Senate - and accused anti-vaxxers of weaponizing her love</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-removes-vaxxed-documentary-junk-science-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Amazon just took down a controversial documentary that links vaccines to autism. Doctors have known for years that it relies on sham science.</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-warning-to-anti-vaccine-parents-2019-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Bill Gates' warning to anti-vaxxers: People in rich countries will die because they aren't getting measles shots</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/study-shows-no-link-between-vaccines-and-autism-2019-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-read-more-link="" data-e2e-name="read-more-link">Another huge study of over 650,000 kids shows absolutely no link between vaccines and autism. Doctors say it's proof we're living in a 'fact-resistant' world.</a></li></ul>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/doctors-weight-healthy-bmi-bvi-science-health-fat-obese-overweight-2017-5">Doctors have finally found a more accurate way than BMI to determine whether your weight is healthy</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/lcapdTMy-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

You Searched For "ethan lindenberger" and got 5 results

How teens are using the internet to rebel against anti-vaxx parents and get the COVID-19 vaccine

Kieran Press-Reynolds

A high-school senior who got vaccinated against his mother's wishes just testified before the Senate - and accused anti-vaxxers of weaponizing her love

Hilary Brueck

How anti-vaxxer conspiracy theories are straining family ties and breaking up friendships as the COVID-19 vaccine is rolled out globally

Naina Bhardwaj

What every 2020 presidential candidate has said about vaccines

Grace Panetta

America's doctors warn Google, Twitter, and Facebook: Anti-vaxxers are weaponizing tech platforms, prompting outbreaks that can 'debilitate and kill'

Hilary Brueck