A person in a white lab coat holds a syringe with red liquid using a gloved hand, set against a plain background.

Tracing the Origins of the Anti-Vaccine Movement

Author headshotBryon Hughson
read time - icon

0 min read

Jun 09, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic was accompanied by a surge in conspiracy theories that blunted global efforts to stop the spread of SARS-CoV-2. At the time of writing, more than three and a quarter million people have died of COVID-19.1 It’s likely that many of these deaths could have been prevented but for the proliferation of conspiracy theories that reduced the public’s trust in medical experts and government officials.

These conspiracy theories are driven by the unintentional and intentional dissemination of false information—misinformation and disinformation, respectively.2 Disinformation is particularly harmful as it is designed to damage social institutions.

In February 2020, the WHO identified the danger posed by the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation to combatting COVID-19.3 The Director-General of the WHO and Secretary-General of the UN both characterized this as an infodemic.4,5 One year later, empirical evidence indicates that existing strategies for mitigating this infodemic are inadequate.6 Policymakers must use these data to design effective strategies that counter the growing public health threat posed by novel SARS-CoV-2 variants. Central to this goal is identifying the target for these intervention strategies.

References

  1. WHO. (2021). WHO Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/
  2. Dalkir, K., & Katz, R. (Eds.). (2020). Navigating Fake News, Alternative Facts, and Misinformation in a Post-truth World. IGI Global.
  3. Pomeranz, J.L. & Schwid, A.R. 2021. Governmental actions to address COVID-19 misinformation. Journal of Public Health Policy, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-020-00270-x
  4. WHO https://www.who.int/news/item/11-12-2020-call-for-action-managing-the-infodemic
  5. Guterrez, A. 2020. https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/1243748397019992065?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1243748397019992065%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.un.org%2Fen%2Fun-coronavirus-communications-team%2Fun-tackling-E28098infodemicE28099-misinformation-and-cybercrime-covid-19
  6. López-García, X., Costa-Sánchez, C., and Vizoso, Á. 2021. Journalistic fact-checking of information in pandemic: stakeholders, hoaxes, and strategies to fight disinformation during the COVID-19 crisis in Spain. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(1227): https///doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031227
  7. NASEM. 2020. Addressing health misinformation with health literacy strategies: proceedings of a workshop in brief (2020). Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26021
  8. Manby, A. R. (1889). THE ANTI-VACCINATION MOVEMENT. The Lancet, 133(3426), 858.
  9. Waterhouse, W. D. (1889). ROYAL COMMISSION ON VACCINATION. The Lancet, 133(3426), 858.
  10. Wolfe, R.M., and Sharp, L.K. (2002). Anti-vaccinationists past and present. British Medical Journal, 325: 430-432.
  11. Porter, D., and Porter, R. The politics of prevention: anti-vaccinationism and public health in 19th century England. Medical History, 32: 231-252.
  12. Hussain, A., Ali, S., Ahmed, M., and Hussain, S. (2018). The anti-vaccination movement: a regression in modern medicine. Cureus, 10(7): e.2919. doi: 10.7759/cureus.2919
  13. Wakefield, A.J., Mursh, S.H, Anthony, A., et al. 1998. Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. The Lancet, 351: 637-641.
  14. Wakefield, A.J., Mursh, S.H, Anthony, A., et al. 1998. Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. The Lancet, 351: 637-641.
  15. Walker, D.R. 1998. Autism, inflammatory bowel disease, and MMR vaccine. The Lancet, 351: 1355.
  16. Dales, L, Hammer, S.J., & Smith, N.J. 2001. Time trends in autism and in MMR immunization coverage in California. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285(9): 1183-1185. https://doi:10.1001/jama.285.9.1183
  17. Taylor, B., Miller, E., Paddy Farrington, C., et al. 1999. Autism and measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine: no epidemiological evidence for a causal association. The Lancet, 353: 2026-2029.
  18. Deer, B. (n.d.). Andrew Wakefield: The fraud investigation. Brian Deer. https://briandeer.com/mmr/lancet-summary.htm
  19. Horton, R. (2004). A statement by the editors of the Lancet. The Lancet, 363(9411), 820-821. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(04)15699-7
  20. Murch, S.H., Anthony, A. Casson, D.H., Malik, M., Berelowitz, M., Dhillon, A.P. Thomson, M.A., Valentine, A., Davies, S.E., and Walker-Smith, J.A. 2004. Retraction of an interpretation. The Lancet, 363(9411): 750.
  21. Wakefield, A. 2004. A statement by Dr. Andrew Wakefield. The Lancet, 363(9411): 823-824.
  22. Walker-Smith, J.A. 2004. A statement by Professor John Walker-Smith. The Lancet, 363(9411): 822-823.
  23. Deer, B. 2011a. How the case against the MMR vaccine was fixed. British Medical Journal, 342:c5347.  https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c5347
  24. Deer, B. 2011b. How the vaccine crisis was meant to make money. British Medical Journal, 342:c5258. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c5258
  25. Deer, B. 2011c. The Lancet’s two days to bury bad news. British Medical Journal, 342:c7001. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c7001
  26. Editors of The Lancet. 2010. Retraction – Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. The Lancet, 375: 445.
  27. Godlee, F., Smith, J., & Marcovitch H., 2011. Wakefield’s article linking MMR vaccine and autism was fraudulent. BMJ 2011;342:c7452
  28. Hussain, A., Ali, S., Ahmed, M., and Hussain, S. (2018). The anti-vaccination movement: a regression in modern medicine. Cureus, 10(7): e.2919. doi: 10.7759/cureus.2919
  29. Alcoreza, O.B. 2021. Science literacy in the age of (dis)information: a public health concern. Academic Medicine, 96(2): e12.
  30. Powell, K. & Meyers, C. 2021. Guidance for medical ethicists to enhance social cooperation to mitigate the pandemic. HEC Forum, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-021-09445-9
  31. Pomeranz, J.L. & Schwid, A.R. 2021. Governmental actions to address COVID-19 misinformation. Journal of Public Health Policy, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-020-00270-x
  32. Bernard, R., Bowsher, G., Sullivan, R., & Gibson-Fall, F. 2020. Disinformation and epidemics: anticipating the next phase of biowarfare. Health Security, 19(1): https://10.1089/hs.2020.0038
  33. Powell, K. & Meyers, C. 2021. Guidance for medical ethicists to enhance social cooperation to mitigate the pandemic. HEC Forum, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-021-09445-9
  34. Alcoreza, O.B. 2021. Science literacy in the age of (dis)information: a public health concern. Academic Medicine, 96(2): e12.
  35. Pomeranz, J.L. & Schwid, A.R. 2021. Governmental actions to address COVID-19 misinformation. Journal of Public Health Policy, https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-020-00270-x
  36. Alcoreza, O.B. 2021. Science literacy in the age of (dis)information: a public health concern. Academic Medicine, 96(2): e12.;
    Chen, B., Chen, X., Pan, J., et al. 2021. Dissemination and refutation of rumors during the COVID-19 outbreak in China: infodemiology study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(2) e22427.
  37. Kolluri, N.L. & Murthy, D. 2021. CoVerifi: a COVID-19 news verification system. Online Social Networks and Media, 22: 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.osnem.2021.100123

Additional references

  1. Brennen, J.S., Simon, F.M., Howard, P.N., & Nielson, R.K. 2020. Types, sources, and claims of COVID-19 misinformation. Oxford, U.K. Oxford University Press. Factsheet, April 2020.
  2. Richmond, P. & Goldblatt, D. 1998. Autism, inflammatory bowel disease, and MMR vaccine. The Lancet, 351: 1355.
  3. Sinclair, L. 1998. Autism, inflammatory bowel disease, and MMR vaccine. The Lancet, 351: 1355.
  4. Su, Z., McDonnel, D., Wen, J., et al. 2021. Mental health consequences of COVID-19 media coverage: the need for effective crisis communication practices. Globalization and Health, 17(4): https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-020-00654-4
  5. Sutton, J., Rivera, Y., Sell, T.K., et al. 2020. Longitudinal risk communication: a research agenda for communicating in a pandemic. Health Security, 19(4): 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1089/hs.2020.0161
  6. Uyheng, J. & Carley, K.M. 2020. Bots and online hate durignt the COVID-19 pandemic: case studies in the United States and the Philippines. Journal of Computational Social Science, https://doi.org/10.1007/s42001-020-00087-4
  7. Viswanath, K., Edmund, W.J., & Pinnamaneni, R. 2020. We need the lens of equity in COVID-19 communication. Health Communication, 35(14): 1743-1746. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1837445

About the Author

A man speaks at a podium labeled "Épinard Nasu" with a microphone, in a conference room with beige panel walls. The sign also includes "Hotel Épinard Nasu".

Bryon Hughson

University of Waterloo

Bryon graduated from the University of Waterloo with an undergraduate degree in Biology and earned his Ph.D. in the field of Behaviour Genetics. His thesis work investigated the effects of early-life nutritional experience on developmental trajectories into adulthood, with a special interest in metabolic health and feeding behavior during adult life. Bryon has a special interest in academic research ethics and effective communication between scientists and stakeholders. His goal is to improve scientific literacy and awareness among the “end users” of discovery research.

About us

We are the leading applied research & innovation consultancy

Our insights are leveraged by the most ambitious organizations

Image

“

I was blown away with their application and translation of behavioral science into practice. They took a very complex ecosystem and created a series of interventions using an innovative mix of the latest research and creative client co-creation. I was so impressed at the final product they created, which was hugely comprehensive despite the large scope of the client being of the world's most far-reaching and best known consumer brands. I'm excited to see what we can create together in the future.

Heather McKee

BEHAVIORAL SCIENTIST

GLOBAL COFFEEHOUSE CHAIN PROJECT

OUR CLIENT SUCCESS

$0M

Annual Revenue Increase

By launching a behavioral science practice at the core of the organization, we helped one of the largest insurers in North America realize $30M increase in annual revenue.

0%

Increase in Monthly Users

By redesigning North America's first national digital platform for mental health, we achieved a 52% lift in monthly users and an 83% improvement on clinical assessment.

0%

Reduction In Design Time

By designing a new process and getting buy-in from the C-Suite team, we helped one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world reduce software design time by 75%.

0%

Reduction in Client Drop-Off

By implementing targeted nudges based on proactive interventions, we reduced drop-off rates for 450,000 clients belonging to USA's oldest debt consolidation organizations by 46%

Let's chat

Read Next

Insight

Tackling Conspiracy Theories Amid COVID-19

Conspiracy theories pose a threat during a pandemic. Social and behavioral sciences emerge to dismantle them and align people’s conduct with public health recommendations.

Notes illustration

Eager to learn about how behavioral science can help your organization?

Contact us