Ethan Lindenberger

Last updated
Ethan Lindenberger
Born (2000-09-30) September 30, 2000 (age 22)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationStudent
Known forPro-vaccine activism

Ethan Lindenberger (born September 30, 2000) is an American activist known for his opposition to anti-vaccine disinformation campaigns. He received vaccinations, against his mother's wishes, on reaching the age of majority. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

In November 2018, Lindenberger used Reddit to ask for help on how he should proceed to get vaccinated. Lindenberger said his mother believed in conspiracy theories about vaccines and so he had not been vaccinated as a child. Around the age of 13 years old, Lindenberger began pursuing vaccines related resources, such as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) articles, [7] hence deciding that after reaching adulthood he wanted to exercise his right to be vaccinated. He says his mother rejected vaccination because of unfounded fears about adverse effects of vaccines. His father however was reluctant to vaccinate younger kids instead of everyone. [8] [9] [10]

His story, which involved intergenerational conflict, [3] caught the attention of media and politicians. In March 2019, Lindenberger was invited to attend a US Senate hearing [11] which dealt with epidemics of diseases such as measles, which can be easily prevented but are returning because of the dissemination of misleading information about vaccines. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine hesitancy</span> Reluctance or refusal to be vaccinated or have ones children vaccinated

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References

  1. "Escondido dos pais, jovem espera completar 18 anos para poder se vacinar". revistagalileu.globo.com (in Portuguese). 2019-02-20.
  2. "Coming of Age Unvaccinated". Undark. 2019-02-06.
  3. 1 2 "Unvaccinated teens are fact-checking their parents — and trying to get shots on their own". Washington Post. 2019-02-11.
  4. "Teen has vaccinations after asking Reddit". BBC. 2019-02-11.
  5. "Defying Parents, A Teen Decides To Get Vaccinated". NPR.org.
  6. "Lack of options for teen with anti-vaxx parents is heartbreaking". www.indy100.com. 2019-01-29. Archived from the original on 2019-03-06. Retrieved 2019-03-06.
  7. Full Frontal, with Samantha Bee. "Anti-Anti-Vaxxers April 3, 2019 Act 2 Full Frontal on TBS". Youtube. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  8. "Ethan Lindenberger's vaccine debate heads to congress". News-Medical.net. 2019-03-04.
  9. "Ethan Lindenberger, who got vaccines against his anti-vax mom's wishes, will speak in front of the Senate Tuesday". Newsweek. 2019-03-05.
  10. Rodríguez, Adrianna (13 February 2019). "For his 18th birthday this teen got himself vaccinated, despite mom's objections". WKYC.com. WKYC-TV . Retrieved 2020-01-14.
  11. "Vaccines Save Lives: What Is Driving Preventable Disease Outbreaks?". The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions. 2019-03-05.
  12. "This teen got vaccinated against his mother's wishes. Now, he'll testify before Congress". Washington Post.
  13. "An 18-Year-Old High School Student Explained Why He Got Vaccinated Against His Mother's Wishes In Testimony Before Congress". BuzzFeed News. 5 March 2019.
  14. "Teen who defied mother by getting vaccinated testifies before Congress". www.cbsnews.com. 2019-03-05.
  15. "'Propagating These Lies Is Dangerous': Ohio Teen Vaccinated Against His Mother's Wishes Calls for End to Misinformation". Time. 2019-03-05.
  16. "I defied mother to get vaccinated for safety of me and others, US teen says". The Guardian. 2019-03-05.