Ethan Lindenberger, the 18-year-old whose Reddit post seeking advice on how to get vaccinated went viral, confirmed in a video interview with Fox that he’s begun receiving his vaccines. To put this into perspective, the teenager reportedly had never received vaccines for hepatitis, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, or chicken pox, among others.
Why wasn’t he vaccinated earlier in his life? As he’s explained, his mother is skeptical of vaccines, and worried they could lead to autism or brain damage.
The Washington Post reports that, according to an immunization record it reviewed, the teenager went to an office of the Ohio Department of Health in Norwalk on Dec. 17. There he received vaccines for hepatitis A and B, influenza, and HPV.
Lindenberger has one older sibling, who received some, but not all, of the standard vaccines. Once his mother realized she could opt her children out of them (legal in their state of Ohio), she did. Their younger siblings, ages 16, 14, 5, and 2, have not been vaccinated. Ethan says the 16-year-old wants to get vaccinated as well, but because he’s still a minor, he cannot get the shots without a parent’s consent.
“It breaks my heart that she could get measles and she’d be done,” Lindenberger said of his 2-year-old sister, who is at an especially vulnerable age.
Without his mother’s support, where did Ethan go to educate himself on vaccines? Reddit, of course.
His initial post, which appeared back in December, garnered thousands of comments. In an interview with the Daily Dot, Ethan said, “People were really supportive, and that was really cool. I had the blessing of Reddit. They were supporting me on a decision my mom freaked out about.” While his insurance ultimately covered the costs, he said people on the site even offered to send him money via PayPal or GoFundMe.
"When I started looking into it myself, it became very apparent that there was a lot more evidence in defense of vaccinations, in their favor," Lindenberger said in an interview with NPR's Scott Simon on Weekend Edition.
Lindenberger’s mother, Jill Wheeler, gave an interview to Undark, an online publication on the intersection of science and society, in which she said his choice to finally get vaccinated was a “slap in the face” and felt like an insult.
In his interview with Fox, the teenager says he and his mother still have a great relationship.
Lindenberger isn’t alone. In September, for example, a poster who identified himself as a 15-year-old from Minnesota made a similar plea on Reddit. This anonymous teenager wanted some guidance in figuring out state laws to get immunizations. A similar post appeared in January, from an apparent underage teenager who said their parent wouldn't allow vaccines.
Ethan’s parents aren’t outliers, either. Roughly 10 percent of Americans are against vaccines in some form. For some people, this goes back to myths about autism (which the Centers for Disease Control have debunked) and other ableist notions of vaccines causing disabilities. Vaccines are sometimes linked to conspiracy theories regarding government control or surveillance as well.
If you’re opting out of vaccines for medical reasons, that’s (of course) legal in all 50 states. In 17 states, however, parents can additionally opt out for “philosophical” reasons. In almost all states, you can opt out for religious reasons.
Vaccines are always a hot-button subject, but with a recent measles outbreak in Washington and Oregon, tensions are extra-high. So far 56 people have confirmed cases of the measles, which can be fatal for children. This is serious enough that it’s been declared a health emergency in Clark County, Washington.
And Ethan? He plans to get the rest of his vaccines soon—and he says he’s going to keep trying to reach his mother, too.