Tag Archives: anti-vax

The BBC reports: YouTube has pledged to delete misleading claims about coronavirus vaccines as part of a fresh effort to tackle Covid-19 misinformation. It said any videos that contradict expert consensus from local health authorities, such as the NHS or World Health Organization, will be removed. It follows an announcement by Facebook that it would ban ads that discourage people …

The Verge reports: On Tuesday, Facebook announced a new policy banning ads that discourage the use of vaccines. Timed to the beginning of flu season, the new policy is also aimed at the ongoing proliferation of anti-vaccine groups on Facebook and growing skepticism about forthcoming vaccines for COVID-19. “Our goal is to help messages about the safety and efficacy of …

The Verge reports: Children’s Health Defense, a group founded by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is suing Facebook and its fact-checking partners for rejecting ads and labeling debunked claims about vaccines and 5G networks. The complaint against Facebook, its CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and the fact-checking organizations PolitiFact, Science Feedback, and Poynter Institute is legally shaky. But it marks an …

CNN reports: Dr. Anthony Fauci says he would “settle” for a Covid-19 vaccine that’s 70% to 75% effective, but that this incomplete protection, coupled with the fact that many Americans say they won’t get a coronavirus vaccine, makes it “unlikely” that the US will achieve sufficient levels of immunity to quell the outbreak. Fauci noted that “there is a general …

ABC News reports: Unpersuaded by more than 100,000 pandemic deaths in the United States, 45% of strong conservatives, four in 10 Republicans and nearly as many evangelical Christians say they’d be unlikely to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, even for free. Overall, 27% of adults in an ABC News/Washington Post poll say they definitely (15%) or probably (12%) would not …

The Daily Beast reports: On one side of the fight is Robert F. Kennedy Jr., perhaps the country’s most prominent anti-vaccine activist, whose own family members have disowned his anti-vaccine views. On the other is Shiva Ayyadurai, the self-styled “inventor of email” who’s running in the Republican primary for a Massachusetts Senate seat. Last week, their simmering fight over leadership …

CNBC reports: Social media networks are working to remove or stop the spread of a viral pandemic conspiracy video that contains false, misleading or unproven claims about Covid-19. The roughly 26-minute “Plandemic Movie” video claims to be an excerpt of a larger documentary to be released this summer and contains claims about the origins of the virus and how it …

Sacramento Capitol Radio reports: As Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state was “many days, not weeks” away from relaxing its stay-at-home order, California Highway Patrol officers arrested 32 demonstrators during a protest against it at the state Capitol. Most of the protesters on Friday did not observe social-distancing guidelines as people rushed the building and carried signs decrying the governor …

NBC News reports: Facebook groups that routinely traffic in anti-vaccination propaganda have become a resource for people seeking out a wide variety of medical information — including about the ongoing flu season. One recent post came from the mother of a 4-year-old Colorado boy who died from the flu this week. In it, she consulted group members while noting that …

NJ.com reports: Religion will remain a valid excuse for children to bypass vaccination laws in New Jersey — at least for now — after state lawmakers Monday failed a second time to muster enough support to pass a controversial bill that would have repealed the option that thousands of the state’s families used last year. With hundreds of parents once …

The San Jose Mercury News reports: A San Francisco Bay Area woman who opposes mandatory childhood vaccinations has been charged with two felonies over allegedly flinging a cup of menstrual blood at state senators last year. The Sacramento County district attorney’s office filed charges of assault on a public official and vandalism against Rebecca Dalelio, 43, on Thursday. Senators had …

CBS News reports: Thousands of students in Seattle have 10 days to get vaccinated or they will not be allowed to go to school. This comes after Washington state had two measles outbreaks this year, one forcing a state of emergency. The Seattle Public Schools district issued a notice to families saying their kids could not attend school “until the …

Bloomberg Law reports: A judge in Albany, N.Y., upheld a state law boosting vaccine requirements, dismissing a case brought by parents who don’t want their children vaccinated and say the measure violates their religious rights. Under the law, parents are required to have their children vaccinated before they can attend school or day care, unless they have a medical condition …

The Guardian reports: The worldwide surge in deadly measles outbreaks is showing no sign of abating, with nearly 10 million cases and 142,000 deaths last year, according to new estimates, and three times more cases reported so far this year than at the same stage in 2018. Most of those dying are small children, and thousands more suffer harm including …

Fascinating deep dive from the New York Times: Though the situation may seem improbable to some, anti-vaccine sentiment has been building for decades, a byproduct of an internet humming with rumor and misinformation; the backlash against Big Pharma; an infatuation with celebrities that gives special credence to the anti-immunization statements from actors like Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey and Alicia Silverstone, …

The Bangor Daily News reports: Members of Mainers for Health and Parental Rights, the group opposing the vaccine law passed this year by the Democratic-led Legislature, were in Augusta on Wednesday to turn in 78,000 valid signatures — more than the 63,000 signatures required to suspend the law and put the people’s veto challenge on the ballot — to Secretary …

Politico reports: A chorus of mostly white women sang the gospel song “We Shall Overcome” in the California State Capitol, an anthem of the civil rights movement. Mothers rallied outside the governor’s office and marched through Capitol corridors chanting “No segregation, no discrimination, yes on education for all!” Some wore T-shirts that read “Freedom Keepers.” But this wasn’t about racial …

The San Francisco Chronicle reports: The California Senate was forced from its chamber and halted work for more than three hours on the final day of its session after an opponent of mandatory childhood vaccinations poured what appeared to be blood on lawmakers from the gallery Friday evening. Stunned lawmakers left the chamber and security officers cleared the gallery and …

Gothamist reports: New York City’s biggest measles outbreak in nearly 30 years, which predominantly sickened ultra-Orthodox Jewish residents of Williamsburg and Borough Park, has ended. According to Health Department officials, 42 days, or two consecutive incubation periods for the highly contagious virus have passed, allowing the city to declare itself measles-free. The last recorded infection was in mid-July. An emergency …

The Los Angeles Times reports: An anti-vaccine activist was cited for assault by the Sacramento Police Department on Wednesday after he livestreamed a physical confrontation with state Sen. Richard Pan, author of legislation to restrict vaccine exemptions. Pan, a Democrat from Sacramento, was pushed from behind by Kenneth Austin Bennett [photo], who challenged the senator in the 2018 primary but …