When Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed from an on-field cardiac arrest most likely due to chest trauma, antivaxxers quickly blamed COVID-19 vaccines. The reason was a particularly nasty preexisting variant of the “died suddenly” myth in which athletes are dropping dead from the vaccine. They aren’t.
On Monday, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest after a tackle. The most likely diagnosis is commotio cordis, cardiac arrest after chest trauma. That didn’t stop antivaxxers from undergoing all-too-familiar contortions to blame it on vaccines.
While Orac was off last week, Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk resurrected an antivax conspiracy theory that Anthony Fauci’s wife was “supposed to make sure” that he “behaves ethically.”
In a classic case of projection, Joe Mercola claims a “pandemic of misinformed doctors.” He’s right, but not for the reason he thinks. The misinformed doctors are him and his fellow antivax docs.
In 2010 I wrote about how I define “antivaccine.” Has my definition changed since COVID-19? Yes and no, but that’s why an update was needed. So what does “antivax” mean now, since COVID-19?
