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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Politics Skepticism/critical thinking

Florida makes its antivax disinformation “official”

This month Florida State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo released a non-peer-reviewed “study” that recommends against males aged 18 to 39 receiving mRNA COVID-19 vaccines based on bad epidemiology and science. This is the first time that we’ve seen a state government weaponize bad science to spread antivaccine disinformation as official policy, a dangerous new escalation in antivaccine propaganda.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Politics Popular culture

Antivaxxers aren’t just antivaccine. They’re anti-public health.

Why have antivaxxers allied themselves with COVID-19 deniers? Simple. Both share an unrelenting hostility to public health interventions.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine

Novavax and “moth cells”: The latest antivax fear mongering

Recently, Novavax, an “old school” recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, was granted emergency use authorization. Now antivaxxers are fear mongering about its use of “moth cells” and “tree bark.” That’s because to antivaxxers, it’s about the vaccines, not any specific technology.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

Bernard and Lisa Selz (and Albert Dwoskin): Name and shame wealthy donors funding antivaxers

The Washington Post reported that Bernard and Lisa Selz have donated heavily to antivaccine causes. Will naming and shaming stop them? The Daily Beast reported that Albert Dwoskin is distancing himself from his ex-wife’s antivaccine foundation; so there’s hope.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

Conspiracy theories about monkeypox sound an awful lot like COVID-19

A week and a half ago the Biden administration officially declared monkeypox to be a national public health emergency. Unsurprisingly, conspiracy theories abound, many of them recycled from COVID-19 and older antivax conspiracy theories.