'He is one of us!': US anti-vaxxers rejoice at nomination of David Weldon for CDC

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Sun 1 Dec 2024 06.00 EST


When Donald Trump nominated David Weldon, a 71-year-old doctor from Florida who has long questioned the safety of vaccines, to lead the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), anti-vaccine activists celebrated. The move comes as the US faces increased threats from bird flu and mpox as well as resurgences of whooping cough, measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

“He is one of us!!” the co-director of the anti-vax group Mississippi Parents for Vaccine Rights wrote on Facebook. “Since before our movement had momentum. Dream Come True.” “Every day more good news!” wrote another prominent anti-vaxxer in West Virginia.

“SUCH GREAT NEWS TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” announced AutismOne, a group that has platformed the anti-vaxxer who recommended chlorine dioxide, essentially industrial bleach, to “cure” autism. The organization also gave Weldon an award in 2013. “He’s definitely someone who’s very sympathetic to the anti-vaccine cause,” said Dorit Reiss, a professor of law at UC Law San Francisco.

As a representative to the US House from 1995 to 2009, Weldon was a founding member of the Congressional Autism caucus, and he introduced two bills related to vaccines. One bill would have limited who can receive vaccines containing thimerosal, even though nearly all vaccines were already made without the preservative by then, despite the evidence that low doses of thimerosal are safe. Another bill sought to move the CDC’s vaccine safety work to a separate, independent agency, a major change.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/01/antivaxxers-david-weldon-cdc-nomination

[Vinca]

1. Make polio great again!

[The Madcap]

4. I vote for

The return of the plague. Where are those rats when you need them?

[DBoon]

6. smallpox will do

It had a 30% death rate, and unlike the plague was a constant presence for centuries.

Smallpox was finally eliminated through vaccination/innoculation. Why not undo the greatest public health accomplishment of the last three centuries?

[GiqueCee]

2. Anti-vaxxers...

... are idiots. They are sociopaths desperate for attention, exploiting the gullibility foolish people incapable of critical thinking.
At my advanced age, I've had all of the most common vaccines, with no side effects whatsoever. Without them, I would have been susceptible to polio, scarlet fever, and a multitude of other potentially fatal childhood ailments. I did have measles and chicken pox as a youngster.
I have no respect for these people and their lies. Their stupidity is right up there with the Flat Earthers.

[The Madcap]

3. No sympathy

When their own kids get sick. Not my problem. Just keep them away from my family.

[bmichaelh]

5. Putting Americans at risk

I have a family member who is MAGA and anti-vaxxer.
I am the only family member that gets at least one COVID vaccine every year.

I am a lymphoma survivor (diagnosed in 1990) and am in my third remission.
Currently, I am undergoing maintenance treatments that cost about $1 million/year.
ACA protects me against lifetime limits.
Hopefully, Trump will be unable to repeal the ACA because the GOP margin in House is small.

I told this family member a Trump presidency would put my health at risk.
I told them that I may not survive a Trump presidency.
They were dismissive and repeating Vance's lies about Trump and ACA.

[sakabatou]

7. The clown car gets bigger

[La Coliniere]

8. Oh wonderful. Another point scored for the

stupidity team. We are in deep shit with these ignorant, dangerous fools.

[The Madcap]

14. Might be time

for a four-year trip to Europe.

[EastBayGuy]

9. This is how natural selection works!

[cstanleytech]

10. I question the safety of vaccines but only as far as making sure there is good quality control.

Otherwise I support them and believe the science and the facts prove that do far more good than any harm that they may or may not cause.

[Kablooie]

11. The CDC will soon he the worst place to get medical information.

The whole government has been handed to a crime syndicate.

[truthisfreedom]

12. Hey, they're not wrong about one thing

He’s just as stupid as they are.

[The Madcap]

13. Vaccines aren't the problem

The main problem with medications (other than cost) is that there are many people out there who just take way too many pills/supplements, etc., that may or may not be effective and might even combine in ways that are not particularly beneficial. You can't treat every little ache with a different pill.

I realize there are individuals out there who have to do this to live, but they aren't the ones I'm referring to. I'm talking about those people who believe the solution is always in the pill bottle. I do believe this is something that needs to be addressed, but with big pharma, it's going to be difficult.