Who's Afraid of Andy Wakefield?
Wakefield is scary because he is a misinformation shill that has convinced so many people to believe the propaganda he pushes!
Do you ever wonder why anti-vaccine influencers write long screeds defending other anti-vaccine influencers?
Yeah, I don’t either…
But it is interesting that in attempting to defending folks who push misinformation about vaccines and attack vaccine advocates, they often do the opposite.
JB Handley, for instance, starts his post about “Andrew Wakefield vs Stanley Plotkin: which one is evil?,” with this quote from Upton Sinclair.
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.
Upton Sinclair
Ironic isn’t it?
Do we need to list all of the ways Andy Wakefield has been “rolling in money” since the days of his Lancet fraud?
has collected money from rich donors
has written anti-vaccine books - Callous Disregard, Waging War on the Autistic Child
has directed anti-vaccine movies - Vaxxed, Who Killed Alex Spourdalakis, Vaxxed II, 1986: The Act, Vaxxed III, Protocol 7, Infertility: A Diabolical Agenda
Or how about Aaron Siri?
Aaron Siri is paid to publish anti-vaccine propaganda.
From Del Bigtree and Robert F Kennedy, Jr to Sherri Tenpenny and Joe Mercola, anti-vaccine influencers have turned being anti-vaccine into a money making industry!
And to be clear, that’s their primary purpose now!
More propaganda means more page views equals more donations!
Who’s Afraid of Andy Wakefield?
What else does JB Handley get wrong?
To go to such extreme–and desperate lengths –to annihilate Dr. Wakefield (the person, note, not the science) some people must be very afraid. Afraid, presumably, that parents might actually believe something that is blatantly obvious: that is that all vaccines can cause serious adverse reactions, including autism.
Dr. Richard Halvorsen
No one is afraid of Andy Wakefield because he is telling the truth about vaccines and autism. Wakefield is scary because he has convinced so many people to believe the misinformation he pushes!
Whole communities have been Wakefielded and have suffered the consequences.
His victims get measles and other vaccine preventable diseases, while he and other anti-vaccine influencers are rolling in money!
These misinformation shills have no reason to ever change their minds about vaccines, no matter what evidence they are given, because their salary literally depends on their spreading anti-vaccine propaganda.
Remember that the next time they try and scare you and tell you to skip or delay vaccinating yourself or your family.
References
Andrew Wakefield vs Stanley Plotkin: which one is evil? https://jbhandley.substack.com/p/andrew-wakefield-vs-stanley-plotkin
Big Money Flows To US Charities Fueling Vaccine Misinformation. https://www.barrons.com/news/big-money-flows-to-us-charities-fueling-vaccine-misinformation-bb2544d9
Q&A: How Instagram influencers profit from anti-vaccine misinformation. https://www.washington.edu/news/2024/03/11/instagram-influencers-profit-anti-vaccine-misinformation-disinformation-wellness/
For Some Anti-Vaccine Advocates, Misinformation Is Part Of A Business. https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/05/12/993615185/for-some-anti-vaccine-advocates-misinformation-is-part-of-a-business
Anti-vaxxers make up to $1.1 billion for social media companies. https://www.codastory.com/waronscience/social-media-profit-pandemic-antivax/
Make Big Money Peddling Covid Misinformation! https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a46909830/covid-vaccine-misinformation-revenue/
Spreading vaccine fears. And cashing in. https://publicintegrity.org/health/coronavirus-and-inequality/spreading-fears-cashing-in-anti-vaccine/
Disgraced doctor Andrew Wakefield’s new life. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/disgraced-antivaxxer-doctor-andrew-wakefields-new-life/news-story/51edb72f75d9a077679ba952ee680d84