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Gabby Daher

Meinhardt

UCWR

6 December 2018

Components That Feed the Fire Under the Asses of the Anti-Vaxxers

This nation seems to be very confused or torn when it comes to many social subjects:

abortion laws, pollution issues, immigration laws, male and female equality, and the effectiveness

of vaccinations, to name a few. Some citizens fear the side effects of immunization more than the

disease they fight, meanwhile, others push for the creation of new vaccines. Some reports claim

that immunizations may or may not cause allergies, autoimmune diseases, and autism; while these

reports still warn us of the dangers of certain viral epidemics that can only be stopped by creating

more vaccines. This issue has been around for hundreds of years since the relationship between

humans and their magical creations have had both successful and adverse effects on us. Many

deadly viruses, such as smallpox, polio, and tetanus, no longer pose a threat to humans because of

the successful development of an effective vaccine. The creation of these immunizations have

saved the world from diseases that could have potentially wiped out the entire population. With

the evolution and mutation of these deadly viruses and diseases, it is important that we continue to

create and use vaccines on a global scale to combat them effectively.

In 1998, a study published in a scientific journal by Andrew Wakefield linked the MMR

vaccine with autism. That study was later discredited and proven fraudulent by 25 international

research papers involving large population studies, along with 10/12 of the original authors

refuting and retracting their statements towards the suggested link. However, ever since then, a

small but vocal subset of parents have refused to vaccinate their children. This once small group
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of parents has now grown into a widespread movement. Now, measles have returned, along with

whooping cough, mumps, and other diseases that were nearly wiped out. Children’s lives are being

endangered because some parents are acting on beliefs that no longer have scientific evidence to

support their claims. It is important that we understand the hysteria behind this movement, as well

as the social, medical, and economic repercussions of it and how the actions of the anti-vaxxer

movement will affect future generations. This research paper will look at some of the main

components that feed the fire of the anti-vaxxer movement: anti-science/anti-intellectualism, poor

education, the parental fear factor, and social media’s influence and ability to spread ideas and

false information.

According to UNICEF, “smallpox has been completely eradicated and six other major

human diseases are under some degree of control – diphtheria, tetanus, yellow fever, whooping

cough, polio, and measles.” The combination of the amount of control we have over each of these

deadly diseases annually saves millions of lives all over the world. In the case of Polio, during the

height of its American epidemic, there were over 35,000 reported cases within one year. In 1955,

the safe and effective vaccine made to combat polio was created by Jonas Salk. Since then,

numbers of the victims have dramatically decreased, and it is reported that 550,000 lives are saved

annually.

In more recent years, the anti-vaccine movement has continued to spread erroneous claims

of higher risks for severe adverse effects associated with immunizations. In turn, this led to years

of expensive scientific research to prove those myths wrong. The main danger anti-vaxxers pose

is when them and their children spread diseases. In a study done by the University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill, it was found that in 2015, vaccine-preventable diseases amongst

unvaccinated adults costed the U.S. economy $7.1 billion. The most expensive preventable disease
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is the flu virus, which accounted for nearly $5.8 billion in healthcare costs and lost productivity.

By getting vaccinated, one is not only protecting themselves, but also, their community. The U.S.

Department of Health & Human Services claims that “when enough people within a group are

vaccinated against a certain disease, it’s much harder for others who might not be able to be

vaccinated to contract it. This type of protection is called herd or community immunity.” This is

of utmost importance because people suffering from a compromised or failing immune system due

to cancer, HIV/AIDS, type 1 diabetes, etc. are not able to protect themselves from diseases. If they

are surrounded by people who are against immunizations, any disease could spread like a wildfire

and potentially kill those who are already predisposed to a weakened immune system. The

importance of community immunity is key in the salvation of those who are unable to protect

themselves. Even the common flu virus could potentially kill someone with a compromised

immune system, this idea of a community protection is one way to safeguard the weak and is vital

to our society.

Anti-vaxxers, climate change deniers, conspiracy theorists; the world is full of people who

hold beliefs without any evidence. The psychology behind this idiocrasy involves feeding the sense

of powerlessness and gives parents something to blame and avoid. This pseudoscience is rooted

and flourishes from fear. This fear can directly and indirectly affect everyone and is detrimental to

our economy as well as the overall physical health of society. Susan Senator is an example of an

anti-vaxxer who strongly believed that autism in children was linked to the MMR vaccine. In her

article “Why I Was an Anti-Vaxxer” published in Psychology Today Magazine, she explains why

and how she came to be a part of the anti-vaxxer movement and how she found her way out. “I

used to be terrified that vaccines might have caused my oldest son Nat’s severe autism. He

struggled on a daily basis, with his frustration at the world’s confusing ways, his sensory deficits,
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his clueless parents. But back then a lot of my sympathy, I’ll admit, was for myself and my

struggles with Nat's autism. And I needed to find something to blame.” (Senator). The author flat

out admits that she needed to blame something for her child’s autism. The mere happenstance that

this could have happened to anyone else’s child, but it happened to her first born, was something

she could not accept without a reason. By the time she had her third child, she felt the need to do

more research on the subject in order to fully understand it. “I felt I had to do more digging and

discovered the maelstrom that had followed Wakefield’s study. His "research" had been debunked.

More studies were done. None established a connection between MMR and autism. And yet still,

no one knew exactly what did cause autism. Ultimately, I began to be convinced by science—

however compelling the anti-vaccine stories.” (Senator). Senator’s testimony on her growth

through research outside of YouTube videos and Facebook articles, is important because it shows

that once she was better informed on the topic, she ridded herself of her anti-vax views and

accepted that science was not to blame for her son’s autism or the supposed link between autism

and vaccinations.

Senator is a great example of the sociological understanding of embedded elaboration. Dr.

Judson G. Everitt, a professor of sociology at Loyola University Chicago, specializes in cultural

sociology, inhabited institutionalism, and social psychology. In an interview, he explains his

concept of embedded elaboration and its relevance to this topic: “Experience through interaction

over time, combined with the institutional environment they operate in tends to play out in a

process where the way people make sense of the world, is through this ongoing elaboration of

meaning; it’s very rare that people wake up one morning and turn over a new leaf, and completely

change their attitudes and world views. We’re constantly elaborating how we understand the world

and that’s always building upon and modifying what we believed prior to and all new subsequent
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interactions are filtered through and modify those prior interactions.” (Everitt 2). He later adds on

that “the way that this is relevant to your topic is that there were lots of people that had sentiments

rooted in experience and prior interactions that made them receptive to this [anti-vax movement]

and then they had these interactions that pushed them to look anti-vax, something about that felt

confirming to them, it felt true. And when that happens, people are much more inclined to believe

that and perpetuate those meanings.” (Everitt 3). Senator’s experience with her eldest son being

autistic left her vulnerable to the idea that his infantile immunizations were the cause of it since

she couldn’t quite grasp the reality of the situation. “Wakefield’s theory seemed to make so much

sense. I imagined how immune-compromised baby bloodstreams could become filled with what

the doctor had called “opiate-like substances,” that caused the terrible autistic behavior of preferred

isolation, spaciness and aggression. This felt so true, it found a home in my sore soul. It gratified

my instinctive feelings that autism was unfair for what it did to kids, and that we as a society are

so careless with our medications!” (Senator). With this quote, Senator is confirming Everitt’s

concept of embedded elaborations. Her impotence in her newest hardship left her susceptible to

ideas that had any relevance to her issue and since it offered a reason to something she did not

fully understand, she grasped onto it.

The fact that science is not right 100% of the time, does not mean that it is an unreliable

source of information. How many things in your daily life does one completely take for granted

that are brought to us by science? To name a few things: clean water, structurally sound buildings,

infrastructures that transport us wherever we need to be, vast amounts of electricity, the ability to

check the weather, food that does not kill us when we eat it, etc. It is patently hypocritical for anti-

vaxxers to find science unreliable when they rely on it for every other aspect of their life. In today’s

society, one simply can’t not rely on the advances in technology science has brought to us. Since
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anti-vaxxers do not accept that science is an effective and objective method that generates safe and

useful tools and knowledge, they often attack science and researchers when they try to present new

findings and evidence that are able to further debunk Wakefield’s original claim of a link between

autism and the MMR vaccine. When asked his opinion on the research presented to anti-vaxxers,

Everitt responded “Science has gotten things wrong in the past and has done so in ways that have

harmed people, that doesn’t mean it’s always wrong. But to an extent people that have been

inclined to feel a distrust of science in general, what they would view as intellectual elites, will

cherry-pick those things as “evidence” even though they are exceptions rather than norms. With

that being said, I believe that the anti-vaxxer phenomena is one component of anti-intellectualism.”

(Everitt, 3). Anti-intellectualism is the hostility, mistrust, and dismissal of science and education,

Everitt believes that this is another component of why anti-vaxxers are unable to change their

views even after concrete evidence has been presented.

Poor education, or lack thereof, also greatly contributes to the anti-vaxxer movement. The

majority of people who support this movement are not properly educated on the toxicology or

chemistry that goes into the creation of vaccines. When it comes to the science behind

immunizations, anti-vaxxers’ go-to argument are the chemicals used in the creation of them. It is

true, vaccines have contained aluminum, mercury, and formaldehyde. These chemicals, in large

quantities, can be toxic. However, the same argument can be said for water, in large doses it, too,

can kill you; too much of anything can. Obviously, an increase in the quantity of a chemical has a

direct correlation to the toxicity of it and according to the FDA, the World Health Organization,

and PublicHealth.org, the doses of the chemicals in vaccines are negligible. Another example of a

component that worries parents is the use of aluminum in vaccines since there has been some

evidence that shows brain and bone related diseases in response to high amounts and long-term
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exposure. However, the World Health Organization claims that aluminum is the “third most

common naturally-occurring element, after oxygen and silicon. It is found in plants, soil, air, and

water.” Vaccines contain about 0.125 milligrams per dose of aluminum but, the average person

intakes around 30-50 milligrams everyday through food and drink. According to the FDA,

“aluminum is used as an adjuvant in vaccines. That is, makes them more effective by strengthening

the immune system response. Thanks to adjuvants, people need fewer doses of vaccine to build

immunity.” By adding aluminum into certain immunizations, it’s making them more effective and

efficient. There are hundreds, if not, thousands more combinations of chemicals in vaccines. If

anti-vaxxers took the time to research and truly understand the toxicology and chemistry behind

every added ingredient, they would learn that there is a specific reason and job each component

has.

Social media has greatly contributed to the widespread knowledge of the anti-vaxxer

movement. Tanushree Mitra in her research paper “Understanding Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in

Social Media,” she looks at the main social media outlet that encourages the popularization of the

anti-vaxxer movement; her main focus being “social media’s purported role in disseminating anti-

vaccine information, it is imperative to understand the drivers of attitudes among participants

involved in the vaccination debate on a communication channel critical to the movement: Twitter.”

(Mitra 1). Her research reveals that “long-term anti-vaccination supporters are resolute in their

beliefs and they tend toward categorical thinking and conspiratorial worldviews. New anti-

vaccination adoptees share similar conspiracy thinking and hence are predisposed to develop

attitudes aligned with the cohort of believers of vaccine myths. These new members tend to be less

assured and more social in nature, but with a new and continued focus on health concerns.” (Mitra

9). Although only one media outlet was tested, this research shows the significant effect social
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media has on the popularization and vastness of the anti-vaxxer movement. Through social media

and well resourced, influential figures and organizations, this once fringe phenomena was given a

public voice through media and, as a result, is no longer fringe.

Many components contribute to the rise and popularity of the anti-vaxxer movement, some

of which being anti-science or anti-intellectualism, social media’s influence, as well as the parental

fear factor. Everitt claims that a reason many people might join the anti-vaxxer movement is

because they identify and feel at home with what the majority of other group members are saying.

He further explains that many anti-vaxxers “might have slices of all these components and had a

number of their own experiences and interactions that have shaped those ideas and meanings, then

they start to see these new sources of information that confirm things that they feel like they already

deeply believe but maybe take it in a different direction specific to anti-vaxxers and that is a social

psychological recipe for buying into that. So it’s not just that a bunch of people woke up one

morning… There were these constellations of factors that people were already identifying with

and then had subsequent interactions that confirmed those original beliefs in a new way, linked

specifically to vaccinations and the idea became very compelling to them.” (Everitt 3). Humans

are veracious meaning makers, we have to make sense of the world around us because we can’t

not feel like we know what is going on. There is a constant need for that sense of stability; that we

understand our world and our proper place in it. Anti-vaxxers see the world from a defensive point

of view and feel the need to control their environment; avoiding vaccinations because of their

belief in its harm is one way of guiding or avoiding problems they foresee.

Steps need to be taken to change the perspectives of the anti-vaxxers. We cannot idly stand

by and watch this movement engulf our society because it will literally kill everyone that is not

already immune; the majority of which are young children. We have to be very strategic about
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how we engage in our dialogue with supporters of this movement. Along with accepting the fact

that there is only so much we can control, those who strongly stand by their anti-vaccine beliefs

have to find some way or reason to receive the messages we’re sending. One way to encourage the

anti-vaxxers to keep an open mind is to reduce the sense of threat that they feel; people are more

inclined to entertain any notion when they do not feel attacked for their beliefs. When asked the

steps that need to be taken to combat this social psychological issue effectively, Everitt responded:

“It’s not just that this is false, we have to push back the falseness of the anti-vaxxer movement and

rather look at the underlying sociological phenomena that have produced the anti-vaxxer

movement and start there and use our understanding of social psychology to know that shoving a

bunch of data in front of somebody and calling it evidence as to why they are wrong is ineffective.

In fact, not only is that method not going to work, it’s going to solicit the 180 degree opposite

effect that you want because not only are they not going to change their mind, they’re going to

double down and push back harder – they’re going to retrench on their perspective. It’s a very

counterintuitive thing for people to embrace.” (Everitt 4). Our belief systems are the product of

very elaborate experiences that are embedded in institutional environments, of which are extremely

difficult to change. Even if confronted with strong, empirical evidence, one might feel threatened;

even if certain facts are not personally threatening, this type of confrontation can threaten the way

someone understands the world which can be very distressing. Everitt explained this response as

epistemic distress, it feels like turmoil and causes people to push back in a very frustrated and

closed-off way. This doesn’t mean people don’t change, we are usually making small adjustments

based on accepted new or changing stimuli.

This topic has been discussed for hundreds of years and still maintains its relevance in our

society. This issue is able to hold its importance because with advances in technology, there are
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more discoveries within science and medicine that, not only enable different ways of finding cures,

but also in reducing the possibilities and types of side effects one might experience. These

advances in technology not only drives science but has contributed to the spread of the anti-vax

idea with the relatively new popularity of social media. What was once a knee jerk, mass hysterical

response to an incorrect scientific study, has now grown into a dangerously more sophisticated

movement that continues to be driven by erroneous claims; claims that are now mass-spread

through social media. Through anti-intellectualism and poor research and education, the

continuation of misguided information continues to circulate throughout society. People give into

the belief because they want to hear that there is a reason, a direct correlation with immunizations

and autism. Anyone today can research the usage, affects, and components of any chemical or

vaccine in existence that are backed up by several reputable sources. Those who chose to ignore

the data and refute it with no substantial evidence or plead ignorance, are only contributing to the

destruction of the well-being of society. The anti-vaxxer movement was born out of fear; parental

fear of not being able to keep their own child safe from an invisible monster. Once the link between

MMR and autism was announced, it did not matter how many qualified individuals, scientists,

doctors, or researchers refuted it; parts of society had already latched on to the idea of it and refused

to let go because they wanted a reason and needed something to blame. The off chance that

someone might experience adverse effects of vaccines, scares people more than the deadly diseases

themselves. This fear lies within large pockets of the population and as long as they continue to

refuse to take vaccines and convince others to do the same, no virus or disease can ever be

completely eradicated again.

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Works Cited

Benios, Thania. “Unvaccinated Adults Cost the U.S. More Than $7 Billion a Year.” UNC News,

12 Oct. 2016.

Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “Vaccine Safety & Availability - Thimerosal

and Vaccines.” US Food and Drug Administration Home Page, Center for Drug

Evaluation and Research.

“Disease Eradication.” History of Vaccines,www.historyofvaccines.org/content/articles/disease-

eradication.

Everitt, Judson G. Personal Interview, November 30, 2018.

Gelling, Peter. “Australia Imposes Penalties on Anti-Vaxxers.” Public Radio International, PRI.

Mitra, Tanushree, et al. Understanding Anti-Vaccination Attitudes in Social Media.

“Nonclinical Evaluation of Vaccines.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization,

21 Nov. 2014.

“Parents Who Have Not Vaccinated Their Kids Are Not Welcomed Here.” Small Joys, 28 Nov.

2018.

Senator, Susan. “Why I Was an Anti-Vaxxer.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers.

Skloot, Rebecca. “Under the Skin: A History of the Vaccine Debate Goes Deep but Misses the

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“Social Medicine: The Effect of Social Media on the Anti-Vaccine Movement.” Infectious

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“Vaccines Bring 7 Diseases under Control.” UNICEF.

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Zipursky, Simona, et al. “Polio Endgame: Lessons Learned From the Immunization Systems

Management Group.” The Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 216, no. Suppl 1, 2017, pp.

S9–S14.