Anti-vaxxers and Anti-maskers

NUance

NUance

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12 people are behind most of the anti-vaxxer

disinformation you see on social media 

BY MATT BINDER   3/24/2021 

If you catch your old college roommate sharing COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on Facebook, the odds are that these falsehoods are coming from one of twelve people.

That’s right. Just twelve individuals.  A new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Anti-Vax Watch found that up to 65 percent of “anti-vaccine content” on Facebook and Twitter originated from twelve influencers within the anti-vaxxer movement.  

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The largest anti-vaxxer influencer on social media, according to the report, is Joseph Mercola. Mercola is an alternative medicine promoter who runs a multimillion dollar online business selling treatments and dietary supplements. The FDA recently sent Mercola a warning over his sham treatments for COVID-19. 

Another major culprit is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Kennedy, the nephew of John F. Kennedy, is perhaps one of the most high profile influencers in the anti-vaxxer community. Last month, Instagram banned him from the platform for violating the site’s coronavirus vaccine misinformation policy. 

However, despite calls to deplatform him from Twitter and Instagram’s parent company, Facebook, Kennedy’s accounts remain on those social media services.

The other social media users in the “Disinformation Dozen” include Ty and Charlene Bollinger, Sherri Tenpenny, Rizza Islam, Rashid Buttar, Erin Elizabeth, Sayer Ji, Kelly Brogan, Christiane Northrup, Ben Tapper, and Kevin Jenkins.  LINK 

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I guess I don't understand why?  Do these people not know the damage they're doing?  They must know that they're spreading misinformation.  I wonder if they've ever thought about how many deaths they've caused?    

This is a perfect example of the freedom we have in America, and the potential for harm that comes along with those freedoms.   The 1st Amendment gives us the freedom to say nearly anything we want—regardless of whether it's true or not.     /gets off soapbox.  pours a drink 

 
Agree, NUance. I get feeling a little cautious about THESE vaccines because they've been developed so quickly, and even wanting to wait for the first round or two of vaccinations to see if there are any side-effects, but the folks who refuse any vaccine are difficult to understand. 

 
knapplc said:
Agree, NUance. I get feeling a little cautious about THESE vaccines because they've been developed so quickly, and even wanting to wait for the first round or two of vaccinations to see if there are any side-effects, but the folks who refuse any vaccine are difficult to understand. 
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I imagine most (much?) of the testing has been done on the company side as they do in normal circumstances, and the gov't approvals/verification are where they're cutting corners.  But I'm just spittballing about this.  I have no idea how they developed these vaccines so fast.  

 
NUance said:
I imagine most (much?) of the testing has been done on the company side as they do in normal circumstances, and the gov't approvals/verification are where they're cutting corners.  But I'm just spittballing about this.  I have no idea how they developed these vaccines so fast.  
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I could dig up the article but I believe I read they piggy-backed these vaccines off of previously-begun research. So they didn't start from scratch last March, they just adapted what they had been working on for these coronavirus-type vaccines, and then... I guess just dedicated every available resource to the job? And the government did their due diligence, just quicker. 

I'm getting the vaccine Saturday, so I believe it's safe enough. I am the last among my friends to get it, and so far none of them have grown a third arm or anything. Weird thing is my wife, who has had serious medical issues and is older than me, has not been told it's her turn. No idea why I got it first. 

 
NUance said:
I imagine most (much?) of the testing has been done on the company side as they do in normal circumstances, and the gov't approvals/verification are where they're cutting corners.  But I'm just spittballing about this.  I have no idea how they developed these vaccines so fast.  
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The biggest reasons that the COVID vaccines were developed and approved so quickly were the unlimited capital funding used to go through the R&D process and that so many people were willing to go thru the clinical trial process. The drug makers typically have to go through rounds of approval, but they don’t put more money into those drugs until they pass each round.  This time, since there was unlimited funding provided by the US government, the drug companies could go through the approval process much quicker. There weren’t shortcuts made in the approval process, it was just done quicker than typical drug approvals. 

 
knapplc said:
I could dig up the article but I believe I read they piggy-backed these vaccines off of previously-begun research. So they didn't start from scratch last March, they just adapted what they had been working on for these coronavirus-type vaccines, and then... I guess just dedicated every available resource to the job? And the government did their due diligence, just quicker. 

I'm getting the vaccine Saturday, so I believe it's safe enough. I am the last among my friends to get it, and so far none of them have grown a third arm or anything. Weird thing is my wife, who has had serious medical issues and is older than me, has not been told it's her turn. No idea why I got it first. 
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It's always described as getting rid of "red tape" that sped it up.  So, I would agree that the cuts are on the governmental side approval.  Also, speeding up approval many times doesn't mean they cut corners.  So often these things sit for months while every little iota of data is scrutinized a gazillion times.  Getting rid of a lot of that wasted time can greatly speed up these processes, but doesn't necessarily make them less safe.

People need to realize that Corona virus vaccines have been produced for decades.  Just not this specific one.  And, yes, the technology isn't something they just started developing a year ago.

 
knapplc said:
I could dig up the article but I believe I read they piggy-backed these vaccines off of previously-begun research. So they didn't start from scratch last March, they just adapted what they had been working on for these coronavirus-type vaccines, and then... I guess just dedicated every available resource to the job? And the government did their due diligence, just quicker. 

I'm getting the vaccine Saturday, so I believe it's safe enough. I am the last among my friends to get it, and so far none of them have grown a third arm or anything. Weird thing is my wife, who has had serious medical issues and is older than me, has not been told it's her turn. No idea why I got it first. 
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i thought you were suppose to wait 90 days after having covid before you get the shot

 
commando said:
i thought you were suppose to wait 90 days after having covid before you get the shot
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Whoa. I hadn't heard that, so I just looked it up. Looks like that recommendation is only for people who had to be treated with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, neither of which covers me.

If you just had the Covid with mild symptoms (me), you're good to get vaccinated after their "doctor-recommended isolation period" ends. Which was a couple of months ago for me. 

 
knapplc said:
Whoa. I hadn't heard that, so I just looked it up. Looks like that recommendation is only for people who had to be treated with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma, neither of which covers me.

If you just had the Covid with mild symptoms (me), you're good to get vaccinated after their "doctor-recommended isolation period" ends. Which was a couple of months ago for me. 
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kk...i had heard that but missed the disclaimers.   i thought it was everyone who had covid.  although...they say we have immunity for 90 days so let others go first is an option.   i am only a couple weeks away from 90 days now so guess it's time to get scheduled if possible.   

 
I work in healthcare industry with clinical trials, and while it's only anecdotal, what I've seen is that the FDA/govt has been putting all the covid stuff at the head of the queue and trying very hard to get approvals and paperwork and whatnot done ASAP. So it's not as much that regulations have been eliminated as the FDA has been proactive in helping to keep things moving and making sure there's nothing blocking progress.

 
I was chatting with my wife as we were getting dinner ready last night and mentioned that one of my brothers was able to get a first dose of the vaccine this past weekend.  Then, I asked my wife if her mom had gotten her vaccine, and my wife didn't know, as her mom had some reservations about the vaccine.

A couple weeks ago, I had gotten into a small argument with my wife a couple weeks ago, when I said that people are "idiots" for not getting the vaccine.  This was a few days after my wife spent the weekend with her mom, spending 6 hours in a car with her as they went back to Nebraska for a baby shower.  So, this is now obvious to me that she was "sticking up for her mom" when my wife got mad about my idiot comment.

I am now concerned on how to deal with my wife's mom and stepdad.  They live close by, and stop by every now and then, and I think are coming over to our house for Easter.  They are both relatively healthy, but they are in their 60s (I think her mom is near 70) and if they aren't going to get the vaccine, I am not sure if we should be spending a lot of time with them.  My concern isn't getting COVID from them, my concern is my family passing COVID to them.  My MIL has had concerns about the vaccine (even if I have tried to alleviate those concerns) for a while, and can be stubborn, so I am not sure if they are going to ever get the vaccine.

I wish I could explain to them why it would be best if they got the vaccine, as it would help them go back to church, go to the grocery store & gym without a mask sooner, etc, but I also don't want to have the conversation go the wrong way.  My MIL and her husband aren't dumb, but I don't know if they would understand the science and approval process behind the vaccines.  This whole thing is frustrating, as Colorado has been slow to open up vaccines to the general population.

 
knapplc said:
I could dig up the article but I believe I read they piggy-backed these vaccines off of previously-begun research. So they didn't start from scratch last March, they just adapted what they had been working on for these coronavirus-type vaccines, and then... I guess just dedicated every available resource to the job? And the government did their due diligence, just quicker. 
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I have read/heard the same information; they had some shortcuts they could take from previous covid viruses/vaccines

knapplc said:
I'm getting the vaccine Saturday, so I believe it's safe enough. 
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How you feeling? 

 
Cdog923 said:
How you feeling? 
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I feel like most people do after the second Pfizer shot. The doctor who checked us in to the clinic Saturday said we could have worse reactions because we had Covid within the last 90 days, and he was right.

Yesterday I felt like I had Covid again. Exhausted, aches, alternating fever & chills, neuropathy, fuzzy brain. The whole thing.

Today I'm way better, but still really tired.

Most people say these effects last 48 hours, so hopefully I'm good to go tomorrow.

Not looking forward to shot #2 in a few weeks, but I will GLADLY go through this again if it means I don't go through two weeks of real Covid.

 
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