Science Facts and Fallacies podcast: Dr. Paul Offit takes on anti-vaccine activism as COVID shots stem new infections

offit vax cov
Paul Offit
Early in the pandemic, Children’s Health Defense—the anti-vaccine group headed by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.—alleged that SARS-COV-2 was being used by “the elite” to facilitate a “global immunization agenda.” The campaign had been prepared years in advance, the activists warned last spring. All our political overlords needed was the right infectious disease to instill viral terror in the world’s population:

For those who follow the global immunization agenda … the announcement of a new pandemic didn’t come as a surprise. ‘Pandemic preparedness’ has been well-funded and a buzz word for a long time …. What better than viral terror to influence public opinion and health policies on vaccine battles raging on both sides of the Atlantic?

Now, with effective vaccines beginning to bring down COVID-19 cases and help us return to normalcy, the same activists are warning people to skip their shots based on scientifically dubious claims. How can scientists and educators effectively combat vaccine skepticism at this vital point in the pandemic?

Join geneticist Kevin Folta and GLP contributor Cameron English as they break down the latest COVID-19 vaccine news with Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an attending physician in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Offit is the author of 13 books, including Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes too Far, and the co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine RotaTeq. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter @DrPaulOffit

Subscribe to the Science Facts and Fallacies Podcast on iTunes and Spotify.

Kevin M. Folta is a professor in the Horticultural Sciences Department at the University of Florida. Follow Professor Folta on Twitter @kevinfolta

Cameron J. English is the director of bio-sciences at the American Council on Science and Health. Follow him on Twitter @camjenglish

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