Vaccines

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[Image description: a duck wearing a white lab coat crossed out with text that reads "no quack zone"]

Thumbnail image retrieved from mimithewonderpoodle on Flickr

The Anti-Vaccine Movement (Anti-Vaxx for short) is a group of people who are against the use of vaccines. Vaccines are needles you put into your body. They prevent you from getting sick. For example, if someone gets a Polio vaccine, it means they will not get Polio. The Anti-Vaccine movement includes people with different kinds of views. This includes

Someone can be unsure about getting a vaccine. This does not mean they are an anti-vaxxer. It sometimes does mean they are. This is vaccine hesitancy. Anti-vaxxers have a history of fighting with the Neurodiversity Movement. This is because many anti-vaxxers think vaccines cause autism. This became a widespread idea after Andrew Wakefield published a paper in 1997. It said that more people were getting an autism diagnosis because of vaccines. This study was misleading. Wakefield is no longer a doctor because of this study. Wakefield's study affected how people talk about autism. Anti-vaxxers also tend to be allies with the far right. 


Autistic people and allies fight this misinformation. They have been  for a long time. Some of them join online forums where anti-vaxxers gather. They do it to expose anti-vaxxers for using dangerous treatments. These anti-vaxxers want to cure their kids of their autism. Here you will find pieces of the counter movement to the Anti-Vaxx Movement. You will also find a history of vaccine hesitancy. 

Vaxxed Protests

History of Vaccine Hesitancy

Anti-vaxxers have existed as long as vaccines have. People were unsure of how effective they were. Vaccines became more common during the 1900s. They led to prevention of diseases like smallpox, polio, measles, mumps, and rubella. There are cartoons  that promoted fear surrounding vaccines. Some of these cartoons date back more than a century. Vaccines are also called inoculation. Some also talk about people who resist vaccines.  Some people refused vaccines based on fear and misinformation. Some also refused vaccines for religious purposes. During the late 20th century, there were many questions about what caused autism. There is some evidence of people wondering if vaccines caused autism from the early 90s. This was before Wakefield's paper. People saw autism as a new condition that was suddenly appearing. Vaccines tend to get blamed for new conditions. 


Countering Vaccine Misinformation

Correcting vaccine misinformation has long been a huge part of the Neurodiversity Movement. This is because of the false vaccine causation theories.  Below are several links from sites that are critical of the vaccine-autism link. 


Vaxxed Protests

Autistics 4 Autistics (A4A) protested the screening of a film called Vaxxed. You can view images here.