Tag: Del Bigtree

Steve Kirsch ad

Steve Kirsch’s “mother of all revelations” about the “deadliness” of COVID-19 vaccines goes poof

On Thursday, Steve Kirsch gave his long-hyped talk about "record-level data" from New Zealand that supposedly demonstrates that COVID-19 vaccines have killed more than 10 million people worldwide. His "analysis" of illegally obtained data from a "whistleblower" was so ridden with false assumptions and rookie errors that even some antivaxxers couldn't accept it.

/ December 4, 2023
RFK Jr Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. comes home to his antivax roots…again

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave the keynote speech at the second annual meeting of his antivax organization, Children's Health Defense. Once again, he demonstrated that not only is he still antivax as hell, but that his proposals are even more bizarre than before. Truly, it was a homecoming for him.

/ November 6, 2023
Do Not Comply

Dr. Vinay Prasad fully embraces the antivax message of “do not comply”

COVID-19 "contrarians" like Dr. Vinay Prasad have long complained about being labelled "antivaccine," which they view as unfair. Why, then, do they embrace antivax messages like "do not comply," even if they don't use the exact words?

/ September 11, 2023
RFK Jr. no saline placebo

RFK Jr. resurrects an old antivax half-truth about “saline placebos” in randomized controlled trials of vaccines

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has resurrected the antivax claim that the childhood vaccine schedule has never been tested in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a saline placebo controls (and therefore the vaccine schedule is unsafe). This is an old and deceptive antivax half-truth that ignores both what constitutes a scientifically valid placebo and the ethical requirements for RCTs.

/ July 3, 2023

Steve Kirsch: How “anti-COVID-19 vaccine” antivax often becomes radicalized and just plain antivaccine

Tech bro turned COVID-19 misinformation superspreader and antivaxxer Steve Kirsch has now fully embraced "old school" vaccine-autism conspiracy theories, demonstrating how anti-COVID-19 vaccine antivaxxers frequently become just antivaxxers.

/ June 5, 2023
Consensus

Why antivaxxers reject the concept of scientific consensus as a “manufactured construct”

Neil deGrasse Tyson invoked the concept of a scientific consensus while supporting vaccines in his debate with Del Bigtree. Why was his statement about how "individual scientists don't matter" compared to scientific consensus so triggering to antivaxxers? Why do antivaxxers reject the very concept of a scientific consensus and promote a hyper-individualistic view of how science should be conducted?

/ April 17, 2023
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Del Bigtree

Neil deGrasse Tyson makes the unforced error of “debating” antivax propagandist Del Bigtree on The Highwire

Last week, astrophysicist and famed science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson appeared on The Highwire, an antivax video podcast, to "debate" its host, antivax propagandist Del Bigtree. This incident demonstrates quite well why it is almost never a good idea for a scientist to agree to "debate" science deniers.

/ April 10, 2023

Dr. Vinay Prasad echoes a common antivax trope that portrays concern about a deadly disease as irrational fear

Before the pandemic, antivaxxers likened concern about childhood diseases to mental illness. In the age of COVID-19, Dr. Vinay Prasad accuses medicine of "legitimizing" irrational anxiety and says we should treat COVID like the flu—with one telling omission. In a recent paid Substack, he doubles down and accuses physicians and scientists of anxiety disorders that "interfere with people's lives".

/ September 19, 2022
Better Way

“New school” COVID-19 antivaxxers are becoming less and less distinguishable from “old school” antivaxxers

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a new generation of antivaxxers has arisen. Most view themselves as pro-vaccine, just not pro-COVID-19 vaccines. Recent developments, however, have demonstrated that "new school" antivaxxers are increasingly indistinguishable from "old school" antivaxxers and that this fusion is increasingly endangering all public health, not just COVID-19 public health interventions.

/ June 6, 2022
Harry Potter vs. Lord Voldemort

COVID-19 vaccines versus “purity of essence,” revisited

Antivaxxers frequently make the false claim that mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines "permanently alter your DNA". These claims are really a concern about "impurifying" their "purity of essence" and have now gone into some truly disturbing territory, such as antivaxxers calling themselves "purebloods".

/ November 22, 2021