Texans for Vaccine Choice

Last updated

Texans for Vaccine Choice (TFVC)
Formation2015;9 years ago (2015) [1]
FounderJackie Schlegel [1]
Type Political action committee [2]
Focus Anti-vaccination
Region
Texas
Executive Director
Jackie Schlegel [1]
Website www.texansforvaccinechoice.com

Texans for Vaccine Choice (TFVC) is an anti-vaccine [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Facebook group turned political action committee [9] [10] in Texas which advocates for personal belief exemptions to vaccination requirements, [2] [11] [12] based on "a collection of fake news, half- truths, and conspiracy theories". [13] Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced former medical researcher and originator of the MMR autism hoax, and infectious disease specialist Peter Hotez, both describe TFVC's lobbying as very effective, with the rate of Texas students opting out of at least one vaccine at least doubling in around five years [14] [15] and over 50,000 Texas schoolchildren not being vaccinated. [16]

Contents

Background

Texans for Vaccine Choice was founded in 2015 by a group of mothers, led by Jackie Schlegel, who opposed legislation proposed by state representative Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) which would have eliminated conscientious exemptions to vaccination requirements in the state of Texas. [2] [17] Referring to this bill, TFVC executive director Jackie Schlegel said, "This is Texas. We believe in parental rights in Texas. Like, that is just a fundamental belief that most Texans have that parents make decisions for their children, not the state." [5] [10] The bill was never voted on. [2] When he ran for re-election, Villalba faced opposition from TFVC as well as a primary challenger who ran a campaign largely based on the vaccine exemption issue. [10] Villalba won, but stated that he believed opposition from TFVC reduced his margin of victory, and said, "I'm not interested in a suicide mission on this issue, I sense — and this is unfortunate — the only way a bill like this gets any traction is an even worse large-scale outbreak, between now and session. Short of that, I just don't think there is going to be the appetite to do this bill." [10]

Texans for Vaccine Choice also helps parents apply for vaccine exemptions for their children, [18] placing them at the epicenter of Travis County's rapidly growing anti-vaccination movement. [19] TFVC is promoted alongside Andrew Wakefield in the anti-vaccination propaganda film Vaxxed . [19] [20]

Political actions

Terri Andrews of the Immunization Collaboration of Tarrant County, a Texas Medical Association member initiative, describes TFVC as the "main anti-vaccination group in Texas". [3] Vaccine researcher Peter Hotez notes that moderate candidates in Texas are "being cherry-picked out by candidates running on anti-vaccine platforms". [15] One example is the 2018 Texas statehouse election for district 114, where TFVC endorsed Lisa Luby Ryan, unseating the incumbent Republican in the primary. [21] Ryan was beaten in the general election by Democrat John Turner.

Science communicator David Gorski has criticized TFVC for publishing blog posts misrepresenting herd immunity, and accusing them of exaggerating the risks of vaccines and downplaying the benefits. Gorski has also criticized Jackie Schlegel for describing her autistic daughter as "vaccine injured", [5] since there is compelling evidence that vaccines do not cause autism. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccination</span> Administration of a vaccine to protect against disease

Vaccination is the administration of a vaccine to help the immune system develop immunity from a disease. Vaccines contain a microorganism or virus in a weakened, live or killed state, or proteins or toxins from the organism. In stimulating the body's adaptive immunity, they help prevent sickness from an infectious disease. When a sufficiently large percentage of a population has been vaccinated, herd immunity results. Herd immunity protects those who may be immunocompromised and cannot get a vaccine because even a weakened version would harm them. The effectiveness of vaccination has been widely studied and verified. Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases; widespread immunity due to vaccination is largely responsible for the worldwide eradication of smallpox and the elimination of diseases such as polio and tetanus from much of the world. However, some diseases, such as measles outbreaks in America, have seen rising cases due to relatively low vaccination rates in the 2010s – attributed, in part, to vaccine hesitancy. According to the World Health Organization, vaccination prevents 3.5–5 million deaths per year.

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

Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain about their use, or using certain vaccines but not others. Although adverse effects associated with vaccines are occasionally observed, the scientific consensus that vaccines are generally safe and effective is overwhelming. Vaccine hesitancy often results in disease outbreaks and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. Therefore, the World Health Organization characterizes vaccine hesitancy as one of the top ten global health threats.

Generation Rescue is a nonprofit organization that advocates the scientifically disproven view that autism and related disorders are primarily caused by environmental factors, particularly vaccines. The organization was established in 2005 by Lisa and J.B. Handley. Today, Generation Rescue is known as a platform for Jenny McCarthy's autism related anti-vaccine advocacy.

The National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), founded under the name Dissatisfied Parents Together (DPT) in 1982, is an American 501(c)(3) organization that has been widely criticized as a leading source of fearmongering and misinformation about vaccines. While NVIC describes itself as the "oldest and largest consumer-led organization advocating for the institution of vaccine safety and informed consent protections", it promotes false and misleading information including the discredited claim that vaccines cause autism, and its campaigns portray vaccination as risky, encouraging people to consider "alternatives." In April 2020, the organization was identified as one of the greatest disseminators of COVID-19 misinformation on Facebook.

A vaccine adverse event (VAE), sometimes referred to as a vaccine injury, is an adverse event believed to have been caused by vaccination. The World Health Organization (WHO) knows VAEs as Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Offit</span> American pediatric immunologist

Paul Allan Offit is an American pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases, vaccines, immunology, and virology. He is the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine. Offit is the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, professor of pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, former chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases (1992–2014), and the director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Wakefield</span> Discredited British former doctor (born 1956)

Andrew Jeremy Wakefield is a British fraudster, discredited academic, anti-vaccine activist, and former physician.

Robert William Sears, known as Dr. Bob, is an American pediatrician from Capistrano Beach, California, noted for his unorthodox and dangerous views on childhood vaccination. While Sears acknowledges the efficacy of vaccines—for instance, he supports the claim that Chicken pox, measles, whooping cough, polio, diphtheria have all disappeared because of vaccines—he has proposed alternative vaccination schedules that depart from accepted medical recommendations. His proposals have enjoyed celebrity endorsement but are not supported by medical evidence and have contributed to dangerous under-vaccination in the national child population. While he denies being anti-vaccine, Sears has been described by many as anti-vaccine and as a vaccine delayer.

Trace Amounts: Autism, Mercury, and the Hidden Truth is a 2014 anti-vaccination biographic film by Eric Gladen, who claims to have experienced mercury poisoning after receiving a tetanus vaccine. In the film, he presents his investigation on the cause of his condition, argues that vaccines should be made without mercury, and claims that mercury and aluminium content of vaccines is linked to autism, a claim that is contrary to the scientific consensus. The film questions a 2011 journal article which described the vaccine-autism connection as "the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years".

<i>Vaxxed</i> 2016 anti-vaccination documentary film

Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe is a 2016 American pseudoscience propaganda film alleging a cover-up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of a purported link between the MMR vaccine and autism. According to Variety, the film "purports to investigate the claims of a senior scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who revealed that the CDC had allegedly manipulated and destroyed data on an important study about autism and the MMR vaccine"; critics derided Vaxxed as an anti-vaccine propaganda film.

In early months of 2019, a measles outbreak occurred in the Portland metropolitan area, including the Clark County, Washington suburbs, in the United States. At the time, the outbreak was the largest outbreak in more than two decades; outbreaks in 2019 in areas including Brooklyn and Rockland County, New York have since seen far greater numbers of cases.

Extensive investigation into vaccines and autism has shown that there is no relationship between the two, causal or otherwise, and that vaccine ingredients do not cause autism. Vaccinologist Peter Hotez researched the growth of the false claim and concluded that its spread originated with Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent 1998 paper, with no prior paper supporting a link.

Children's Health Defense (CHD) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit activist group mainly known for anti-vaccine disinformation, and which has been called one of the main sources of misinformation on vaccines. Founded under the name World Mercury Project in 2007, it is chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The group has been campaigning against various public health programs, such as vaccination and fluoridation of drinking water. The group has been contributing to vaccine hesitancy in the United States, encouraging citizens and legislators to support anti-vaccine regulations and legislation. Arguments against vaccination are contradicted by overwhelming scientific consensus about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. Its $15-million budget is funded through donations from individuals and affiliate marketing revenues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaccine Choice Canada</span> Canadian anti-vaccination group

Vaccine Choice Canada (VCC) is Canada's main anti-vaccination group. It was founded in the 1980s under the name Vaccination Risk Awareness Network (VRAN) and adopted its current name in 2014. The group has been contributing to vaccine hesitancy in Canada, encouraging citizens to forgo immunization and legislators to support anti-vaccine regulations and legislation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Bigtree</span> American television producer and anti-vaccination activist

Del Matthew Bigtree is an American television and film producer who is the CEO of the anti-vaccination group Informed Consent Action Network. He produced the film Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe, based on the discredited opinions of Andrew Wakefield, and alleges an unsubstantiated connection between vaccines and autism. His frequent public speaking engagements and an influx of funding in 2017 have made Bigtree, who has no medical training, one of the most prominent voices in the anti-vaccination movement.

The Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN) is one of the main anti-vaccination groups in the United States. Founded in 2016 by Del Bigtree, it spreads misinformation about the risks of vaccines and contributes to vaccine hesitancy, which has been identified by the World Health Organization as one of the top ten global health threats of 2019. Arguments against vaccination are contradicted by overwhelming scientific consensus about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

The Children's Medical Safety Research Institute (CMSRI) was a United States based anti-vaccination group which funded a number of pseudoscientific studies, notably by Christopher Shaw of the University of British Columbia, and his collaborator Lucija Tomljenovic, and by Christopher Exley of Keele University, which purport to link aluminium in vaccines to autism. The studies have been rejected by the World Health Organization and some have been retracted. A claimed "vaccinated vs. unvaccinated" cohort study has also been debunked.

The Stop Mandatory Vaccination website and associated Facebook group are some of the major hubs of the American anti-vaccination movement. It was established by anti-vaccination activist Larry Cook in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States</span> Reluctance by those living in the USA to be vaccinated with a COVID-19 vaccine

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States is the sociocultural phenomenon of individuals refusing or displaying hesitance towards receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in the United States can be considered as part of the broader history of vaccine hesitancy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-vaccine activism</span> Activism against vaccination

Anti-vaccine activism, which collectively constitutes the "anti-vax" movement, is a set of organized activities proclaiming opposition to vaccination, and these collaborating networks have often fought to increase vaccine hesitancy by disseminating vaccine-based misinformation and/or forms of active disinformation. As a social movement, it has utilized multiple tools both within traditional news media and also through various forms of online communication. Activists have primarily focused on issues surrounding children, with vaccination of the young receiving pushback, and they have sought to expand beyond niche subgroups into national political debates.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Novack, Sophie (August 8, 2017). "Fringe Factor, How 'Mad Moms in Minivans' Injected Themselves into Texas' Anti-Vaccine Debate". Texas Observer. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kupferschmidt, Kai (December 1, 2016). "Why Texas is becoming a major antivaccine battlefield". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aal0439 . Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Immunization Collaboration of Tarrant County Countering Anti-Vaxxers With Shots and Information" . Retrieved January 15, 2019.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ "Benjamin Mazer: The dog whistle medicine of the anti-vaccine movement". March 9, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 "Texas: Ground zero for the politicization of school vaccine mandates". sciencebasedmedicine.org. March 5, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  6. ↑ "How Anti-Vaxxers are Injecting Themselves into the Texas Republican Primaries". The Texas Observer. February 28, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Trump energizes the anti-vaccine movement in Texas". Washington Post.
  8. ↑ Evans, Marissa; Tribune, The Texas (November 15, 2018). "Anti-vaccine Texas families may take their fight to day cares next" . Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  9. ↑ Galili, Uri (2018). "Anti-Gal-Mediated Amplification of Viral Vaccine Efficacy". The Natural Anti-Gal Antibody as Foe Turned Friend in Medicine. Elsevier. pp. 149–169. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-813362-0.00009-9. ISBN   9780128133620.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Morgan (April 2, 2016). "PAC Mobilizes to Defend Vaccine Exemptions in Texas". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  11. ↑ Gorden, Max (March 3, 2017). "Texas Groups Fight Pro-Vaccine Legislation". Spectrum News Austin. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  12. ↑ Thakar, Emily (2018). "God Bless Texas: Should Texas Eliminate the Vaccine Exemption for Reasons of Conscience?". Journal of Biosecurity, Biosafety, and Biodefense Law. 9 (1). doi:10.1515/jbbbl-2018-0008. S2CID   159815147.
  13. 1 2 "Vaccines do not cause autism, says Dad who should know [Opinion] - HoustonChronicle.com". December 22, 2018. Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Vaccine exemptions on the rise among Texas students - HoustonChronicle.com". August 15, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  15. 1 2 Glenza, Jessica (February 26, 2018). "Disgraced anti-vaxxer Andrew Wakefield aims to advance his agenda in Texas election". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  16. ↑ "US Scientists: Refusing Vaccines Puts Everyone's Health at Risk" . Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  17. ↑ Sun, Lena H. (February 20, 2017). "Trump energizes the anti-vaccine movement in Texas". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Why Texas is becoming a major antivaccine battlefield". Science | AAAS. November 30, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  19. 1 2 Hotez, Peter J. (October 25, 2016). "Texas and Its Measles Epidemics". PLOS Medicine. 13 (10): e1002153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002153 . ISSN   1549-1277. PMC   5079653 . PMID   27780206.
  20. ↑ Graham, Ruth (November 16, 2016). "Private School Parents Are Keeping Austin Weird—and Unsafe—by Not Vaccinating Their Kids" . Retrieved January 15, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Democrat hopes to flip Dallas district in Texas House race against staunch GOP Trump backer". Dallas News. October 22, 2018.
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