We are hearing a lot about anti-vaccine misinformation these days.
And how the anti-vaccine movement is using social media to persuade parents to skip their child’s vaccines, leaving them unprotected.
So how do they do it?
What Are the Greatest Tricks Anti-Vaccine Folks Use to Persuade Parents to Skip Vaccines?
If you want to understand the anti-vaccine movement, the first thing to know is that they have been around for centuries. That they are using social media is of course new, but their messages are basically the same.
They use scare tactics to try and make you believe that:
- vaccines are dangerous and injure people
- vaccines aren’t necessary because diseases are mild
- vaccines don’t even work
And you need all three elements, after all, even if you thought that vaccines were sometimes dangerous, you might want to vaccinate your kids if you thought that vaccines could stop an even more dangerous vaccine-preventable disease, right?
That’s why they keep all of your fear focused on the vaccines!
It is this fear that allows several cognitive biases, heuristics, and logical fallacies to take hold and change your perception of risk into something that is much different from reality.
And that’s maybe the ultimate trick – making you think that the risks of vaccines are greater than the risks of catching a vaccine-preventable disease or even greater than the risks of having a vaccine-preventable disease.
But what about the graphs they have, the autism studies, the vaccine injury stories, Whistleblowers, complaints about saline placebos, the idea that better hygiene and sanitation fixed everything, and all of the claims of toxins and the conspiracy theories about Big Pharma?
These and every new argument they come up with are easily refuted.
When will you stop listening to them?
“Thank you Chairman Alexander, Senator Murray, and distinguished committee members for the opportunity to speak today. Good morning, everyone. My name is Ethan Lindenberger and I am a senior at Norwalk High School. My mother is an anti-vaccine advocate that believes vaccines cause autism, brain damage, and do not benefit the health and safety of society despite the fact such opinions have been debunked numerous times by the scientific community. I went my entire life without vaccinations against diseases such as measles, chicken pox, or even polio. However, in December of 2018, I began catching up on my missed immunizations despite my mother’s disapproval, eventually leading to an international story centered around my decisions and public disagreement with my mother’s views.”
Testimony of Ethan Lindenberger Student at Norwalk High school Before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee March 5th, 2019
Should kids really have to hope that they grow up without getting a vaccine-preventable disease so that they can get themselves vaccinated?
“I have discovered along the way that it is easy for parents to be misinformed. It is a real challenge to be well informed.”
Suzanne Walther on A Parent’s Decision on Immunization: Making the Right Choice
Vaccines are safe, with few risks, and necessary.
It might be a challenge, but it is worth the effort to be well informed about vaccines. It is worth knowing that your kids are vaccinated and protected.
More on the Greatest Tricks Anti-Vaccine Folks Use to Persuade Parents to Skip Vaccines
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- Vaccines Save Lives: What Is Driving Preventable Disease Outbreaks?
- Testimony of Ethan Lindenberger Student at Norwalk High school Before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee March 5th, 2019
- A Parent’s Decision on Immunization: Making the Right Choice
- Antivax 101: Tactics and Tropes of the Antivaccine Movement
- 100 bad arguments against vaccines