I’ve been paying attention to the anti-vaccine movement since long before the COVID pandemic. The stereotype of the anti-vaxer was that they were a bunch of liberals. I’m not saying there are no liberal anti-vaxers, but conservatives were at least as likely to be anti-vaccine — and now they are much more likely.
According to a Gallup Poll, in 2001, 66% of Democrats and 62% of Republicans thought it was extremely important for children to be vaccinated. Buy 2015, that had dropped to 59% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans. In 2024, it was 63% of Democrats and only 26% of Republicans.
In 2001, 6% of Republicans and 5% of Democrats believed that the risk of vaccines was greater than the risk from the diseases they prevented. In 2019, 12% of Republicans and 10% of Democrats believed this. In 2024, 31% of Republicans believed that the risk of vaccines was greater than the risk from the diseases they prevented, while this belief had dropped to 5% among Democrats.
19% of Republicans believe that vaccines cause autism, while only 4% of Democrats believe this.
Before the COVID-19 Pandemic, Republicans were slightly more anti-vaccine than were Republicans. We had two different responses to the pandemic — Democrats looked at what has going on and had a wakeup call about the threat from infectious diseases, while Republicans took refuge in conspiracy theory.
There was a study from the Navy which showed lower rates of COVID-19 among those sailors who masked and practiced social distancing. [Source, Navy Times} Republicans kept telling us that COVID was “just the flu” — of course, it wasn’t, it was much worse than the flu, and even the flu isn’t “just” the flu. I’m still shaking my head that this country had well over a million dead from a pandemic and some people could just dismiss it as nothing.
Let’s look at what anti-vaxers would bring back. Take Rubella, otherwise known as German Measles:
- 12.5 million people got rubella
- 11,000 pregnant women lost their babies
- 2,100 newborns died
- 20,000 babies were born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS)
Since the rubella vaccine became available in the US, the number of people infected with rubella dropped dramatically. Currently, less than 10 people in the US contract rubella each year. [Source: National Foundation for Infectious Diseases]
Here’s what congenital rubella syndrome causes:
[Source: Boston Children’s Hospital]
Measles deaths in the mid-1980s were around 2.4 million worldwide. Thanks to vaccines, that’s lowered to about 100,000. Anti-vaxers would bring this back. Anti-vaxers also claim that measles is good for you. There’s a children’s book called “Melanie’s Marvelous Measles” which claims that measles is not only harmless, it’s downright marvelous. The tile is a mockery of Roald Dahl’s book “George’s Marvellous Medicine.” Roald Dahl had a daughter who died from measles. Anti-vaxers also claim that measles has a death rate of “only” 0.1%. But that adds up to a lot of deaths. Michigan’s football stadium seats 100,000 people. If 0.1% of those who attended a Wolverine’s football game died, that would be 100 deaths. If 100 people died after attending a Michigan football game, people would be seriously panicked. The Ford Pinto was much safer than getting measles. And anti-vaxers also ignore any health impact besides death. Other health impacts include:
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Middle ear infection that may lead to hearing loss
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Infection of the lungs (pneumonia)
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Infection of the upper airway with trouble breathing and cough (croup)
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Diarrhea
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Infection of the brain (encephalitis) www.hopkinsmedicine.org/...
Anti-vaxers claim that measles strengthens the immune system, but the fact is it damages the immune system.
Most deaths from measles are from complications related to the disease.
Complications can include:
- blindness
- encephalitis (an infection causing brain swelling and potentially brain damage)
- severe diarrhoea and related dehydration
- ear infections
- severe breathing problems including pneumonia.
If a woman catches measles during pregnancy, this can be dangerous for the mother and can result in her baby being born prematurely with a low birth weight.
Complications are most common in children under 5 years and adults over age 30. They are more likely in children who are malnourished, especially those without enough vitamin A or with a weak immune system from HIV or other diseases. Measles itself also weakens the immune system and can make the body “forget” how to protect itself against infections, leaving children extremely vulnerable. [Source: WHO]
I guess it’s pretty cold comfort to know that the anti-vaccine movement can’t be clamed, at least not solely, on Democrats.
