Anti-Vaccine Propaganda 101
Anti-vaccine influencers would have you believe that vaccine-preventable diseases aren't big killers.
It shouldn’t be hard to understand that anti-vaccine propaganda needs to be stopped.
Just look at all of the people who died during the COVID pandemic because they were too scared to get vaccinated after listening to bad advice. Not to mention all of the friends and family members who became estranged from each other over differing views about COVID vaccines.
Why?
They were influenced by anti-vaccine misinformation and propaganda.
Anti-Vaccine Propaganda 101
How do anti-vaccine influencers convince people that they don’t need to get vaccinated?
It’s a combination of:
making you think vaccines are dangerous
making you think vaccine preventable diseases aren’t that bad
making you think vaccines don’t even work
And then they launder their misinformation through a network of websites, social media accounts, and newsletters, etc.
How to Spot Anti-Vaccine Propaganda
Do you know how to spot this kind of anti-vaccine propaganda?
It can be tricky, as you will find many anti-vaccine influencers on popular sites where you can also get trusted information about vaccines!
Take for example, this post by ‘A Midwestern Doctor.’
Do you notice how they downplay the risk of cervical cancer from HPV by hiding it in a mortality rate?
They are trying to make you think that this vaccine-preventable disease isn’t that bad - anti-vaccine propaganda 101!
The bottom line though is that HPV is a big killer, even with pap tests.
“Each year in the United States, about 11,500 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed and about 4,000 women die of this cancer.”
You should also know that:
HPV vaccines do not cause cervical cancer - if you had a pre-existing infection, it isn’t going to do a good a job at preventing it though, which is why you want to get vaccinated before you become sexually active.
Rates of cervical cancer are way down since we started vaccinating and protecting women with the HPV vaccine!
A lot of studies have found the HPV vaccines to be safe.
So don’t believe misinformation about vaccines that put you and your family at risk to get life-threatening diseases.
And stop spreading anti-vaccine propaganda.
#StopAntiVaxPropaganda