Misuse of the VAERS database to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt about vaccines has been a favorite technique of antivaxxers for decades. Unfortunately, 2021 was the year when this particular antivax trope was turbocharged. (Note: Orac will be taking a week off after this—see note in post.)
James Lyons-Weiler published a “vaxxed/unvaxxed” study with antivax pediatrician Paul Thomas. The paper was recently retracted, and his whining about it is epic.
A week and a half ago, the Oregon Medical Board suspended the licenses of two physicians, one for bragging about not wearing a mask around his patients, the second being Dr. Paul Thomas, an antivaccine pediatrician, whose continued practice was deemed a threat to his patients. It’s time for more state medical boards to step up, as Oregon’s has.
Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t stopped antivax “scientists” from publishing crappy antivax studies that don’t show what they claim they show, as Paul Thomas and James Lyons-Weiler’s most recent “vaxxed/unvaxxed” study shows.
Yesterday, antivaxxers were saying that the flu vaccine caused the Wuhan 2019-nCoV outbreak because of viral interference. Now the outbreak is due to a failed SARS coronavirus vaccine. Can they get their conspiracy theories straight?
