Tag: Vaccine hesitancy

The surge in global measles cases might be the first medical epidemic bolstered by a political movement. The anti-vaccination crowd — long relegated, quite properly, to the fringes of society — has moved perilously close to the mainstream, riding in on the same currents that brought us the Tea Party, Brexit and other populist movements. It’s the enthusiastic undermining of societal norms, however legitimate they might be. “Vaccine hesitancy and political populism are driven by similar dynamics: a profound distrust in elites and experts.” The correlation between populism and the anti-vaccination movement is so clear, the paper argues, that doctors should be tracking where populist sentiments are strongest and focus their vaccine-awareness efforts there: “Support for populist parties could be used as a proxy for vaccine hesitancy … with an increase in support being a signal for public health actors to be vigilant.” The Guardian, as part of a recent deep-dive series on the resurgence of populism, concluded the relationship with the anti-vaccination movement is a symbiotic one: Populism gets converts, and vaccination opponents get a political home after having been mostly rejected by established political parties. “The arguments align,” wrote the British daily. “Populists are often suspicious of the establishment and authority figures. Antivaxers are hostile to government, medical institutions, Big Pharma and science. More than 41,000 cases were reported in Europe in the first half of last year, almost double the year prior, with more than 30 deaths. England’s almost 1,000 cases in 2018 were fully triple the year before. In more than a half-dozen states, including Missouri, Republican lawmakers have responded to the epidemic by trying to pass legislation making it easier for people to avoid vaccinating their kids.