As most folks know, Ethan Lindenberger is the Ohio teen who got himself vaccinated over the objections of his mother, who had always believed that vaccines are dangerous.
During his testimony before Congress, Sen Isakson joked that “I would love to be at Thanksgiving dinner at your house. It would be a heck of a discussion.”
Hopefully the family is talking again by Thanksgiving…
The Ethan Lindenberger Story Isn’t Over
Surprisingly, instead of simply supporting her son’s decision, even if she didn’t agree with it, Ethan’s mom is actually speaking out against him.
“Ethan has had no education at all in this,” said Wheeler. “None, again, he was asking three months ago where to go to get vaccinated and now he’s sitting on a committee voicing his opinion for research he’s done on the internet?”
She even seems to have bought into some of the conspiracy theories folks have created about them.
“They’ve made him the poster child for the pharmaceutical industry.”
Jill Wheeler
And unfortunately, as if they hadn’t done enough damage to this family, anti-vaccine folks are doubling down and continue to exploit them.
Ethan’s mom and brother even went out to California and appeared with Del Bigtree on his “show.”
So what led Ethan’s mom on the road to questioning vaccines?
“I remember going in and getting the chicken pox vaccine and after they had administered it, they said, well, you’re going to have to come back in about 10 to 15 years to have it redone. He’s going to have it again. I said well wait a minute, I thought that these vaccinations were forever. They were like well, no, you’re going to have to get it again in 10 years and probably 10 years after that.
I said then why don’t I just let him get the chicken pox? I had it. All my sisters had it. Everyone I know has had the chicken pox. Why don’t I just let him have the chicken pox? Oh no, you don’t want to do that. Just come every 10 years…
That’s when I went home and said somethings not adding up, somethings not adding up, I was always under the assumption that vaccines were a forever thing… I started researching…”
Jill Wheeler
What jumps out the most about this story? There has never been a recommendation to repeat the chicken pox vaccine every ten years. In fact, when it first came out, it was thought that it would be a one time dose. A second dose was later added because we were seeing some mild breakthrough infections.
The only vaccine that we get every 10 years is the one that protects us against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis. Would you like your child to get tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis so that they have natural immunity and don’t need the shot?
Good luck.
In addition to being very deadly, neither tetanus nor diphtheria infections provide you with natural immunity. And even natural pertussis infections don’t provide lifelong immunity.
We also learned that Ethan’s mom didn’t start her research on Facebook, which isn’t surprising, as Facebook didn’t exist when she first got started. But the anti-vaccine misinformation was there, as the anti-vaccine movement isn’t new. And at some point, she shifted to Facebook, YouTube and other internet sources, and that’s what she used to “debate” her son.
Del Bigtree: Sounds like a kid that goes off and you know starts smoking pot and shooting heroin.
Jill Wheeler: That’s what I’m saying, instead of that, he went and got vaccinated.
Del Bigtree: That’s how you rebel.
Jill Wheeler: That’s how you rebel.
Del Bigtree: Keep your pharmaceutical products I could get hooked on oxycontin, but I’m gonna go with vaccines.
For folks that talk about vaccine choice a lot, they don’t seem to like the choice that Ethan Lindenberger made…
“Well I think that us, taking a voice against what my brother is doing is going to be able to make an effort towards the Liberty movement to make sure that this lies an individual decision. “
Isaac Linderberger
They also ignore the fact that vaccine mandates don’t force anyone to get vaccinated and that their choice to skip or delay vaccines puts others at risk.
“If you believe in Liberty, that’s fine, don’t get immunized. But I don’t think that you need to necessarily expose others to disease.”
Sen Bill Cassidy
They also miss that by making a decision based on misinformation, they aren’t truly making an informed decision.
More on The Ethan Lindenberger Story
- Ethan Lindenberger Testifies On Why He Got Vaccinated Against His Mother’s Will
- Rand Paul is wrong: Vaccines are no threat to liberty
- VAXOPEDIA – Who Is Ethan Lindenberger?
- VAXOPEDIA – Why Did Anti-Vaccine Folks Applaud Rand Paul’s Testimony at the Senate Health Committee Hearing on Vaccines and Outbreaks?
- VAXOPEDIA – Parents Who Regret Not Vaccinating Their Kids
- VAXOPEDIA – How Can I Get Vaccinated If My Parents Are Anti-Vaccine?
- VAXOPEDIA – How Do You Get Caught up If You Have Never Been Vaccinated
- VAXOPEDIA – Catching up on 17 Years Worth of Vaccinations to Attend College
- VAXOPEDIA – Ask 8 Questions Before You Skip a Vaccine
- VAXOPEDIA – What Are the Greatest Tricks Anti-Vaccine Folks Use to Persuade Parents to Skip Vaccines?
- VAXOPEDIA – The Benefits and Risks of Delaying Vaccines
- VAXOPEDIA – 100 Myths About Vaccines
- VAXOPEDIA – Anti-Vaccine Points Refuted A Thousand Times
- VAXOPEDIA – 50 Ways to Get Educated About Vaccines
- Ethan Lindenberger Testimony Vaccines Save Lives: What Is Driving Preventable Disease Outbreaks? Hearing
- My parents are kind of stupid and don’t believe in vaccines. Now that I’m 18, where do I go to get vaccinated? Can I get vaccinated at my age?
- Defying Parents, A Teen Decides To Get Vaccinated
- I defied mother to get vaccinated for safety of me and others, US teen says
- A Rare Happy Ending Story Involving Reddit and Anti-Vaxxers
- Teen who defied anti-vax mom says she got false information from one source: Facebook
- 18-Year-Old Testifies About Getting Vaccinated Despite Mother’s Anti-Vaccine Beliefs
- Ethan Lindenberger’s Mother Disagrees with His Senate Testimony
- Ethan Lindenberger’s Mother Admits They Aren’t Speaking
