What Makes Someone Anti-Vaccine?

Few people like to call themselves anti-vaccine.

They instead choose other labels for themselves, such as pro-safe vaccine, pro-vaccine choice, pro-informed consent, or that they are a vaccine skeptic.

What Makes Someone Anti-Vaccine?

Don’t be fooled though.

Most of these folks are clearly anti-vaccine.

How can you tell?

Folks who are anti-vax push myths and misinformation about vaccines.

Whether it is because they believe that vaccines aren’t safe, aren’t necessary, or that they don’t work, they work to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

“You don’t have to dig far to know that vaccines have caused tremendous harm. Have they had benefits? Absolutely. Which is why I remain somewhat on the neutral side in saying that I am not anti-vaccine,” said Dr. Paul Thomas. “I’m pro-safe vaccines. I’ve progressed along to the point where I now don’t believe there is such a thing.”

Still not sure of the differences?

You can typically tell if someone is anti-vaccine by how they answer common questions about vaccines. Ask about shedding, MTHFR, or SV40, etc.

Remember when Kat Von D said she was going to raise her baby without vaccinations?

“Just to set the record straight from the beginning, I just want to say I am not anti-Semitic, and I am not an anti-vaxxer.”

Kat Von D

Does that mean she is now vaccinating her kid?

“What I am is a first-time mother. I am one of those moms that reads everything. Anything that is going in my baby or on my baby, I research like a complete and total nerd. After doing a bunch of research and reading the ingredients, naturally I experienced some hesitancy.”

Kat Von D

Nope.

“Since then, we have decided as parents to consult with our pediatrician and just let him educate us and guide us. But, unlike before, I have learned my lesson and I am choosing not to make our decision or any of our baby’ s health records public.”

Kat Von D

Hopefully she chose a pediatrician who isn’t anti-vaccine…

Celebrities Who Say They Aren’t Anti-Vaccine

Who else has said that they aren’t anti-vax?

• Robert “I’m not anti-vaccine. I want safe vaccines.” DeNiro
• Mayim “we are a non-vaccinating family… but I’m not anti” Bailik
• Jenna “I’m not anti-vax” Elfman
• Kirstie “I’m not ANTI vaccines but we MUST take responsibility 4 choosing which ones WE give OUR children & ourselves. They aren’t ALL harmless” Alley

Anyone else?

More on What Makes Someone Anti-Vaccine?

• Decoding Anti-Vaccine Protests
• How Do Anti-Vaccine Folks Think?
• Making Sense of Anti-Vaccine Arguments
• What Are the Greatest Tricks Anti-Vaccine Folks Use to Persuade Parents to Skip Vaccines?
• How Do Anti-Vaccine Folks Think?
• I’m Not Anti-Vaccine, I Just Don’t Believe in the HPV Vaccine
• I’m Not Anti-Vaccine, I Just Don’t Believe in Flu Shots
• 15 Common Anti-Vaccine Arguments and Why They are a Load of Crap
• The annals of “I’m not anti-vaccine,” part 13: Nobody wants to admit to being “antivaccine”
• The annals of “I’m not antivaccine,” part 18: Dr. Bob goes full Godwin over SB 277
• The annals of “I’m not antivaccine,” part 20: “There is no safe vaccine” and excusing the murder of autistic children
• The annals of “I’m not antivaccine,” part 22: The Godwin of “We didn’t know”
• The annals of “I’m not antivaccine,” part 25: We’re not antivaccine, we just publish posts about stopping the “Vaccine Holocaust”
• The annals of “I’m not antivaccine,” part 26: “No, I’m not an ‘vaccine safety’ advocate”
• Not anti-vaccine, except when he is anti-vaccine
• What does “anti-vaccine” really mean?
• The difference between being antivaccine and “pro-safe vaccine,” explained using J.B. Handley
• Andrew Wakefield’s many statements that MMR causes autism
• Robert De Niro: ‘I’m not anti-vaccine, I want safe vaccines’
• Is Mayim Bialik an anti-vaxxer? It’s complicated…