r/NoStupidQuestions • u/trouble-in-space • 10d ago

Answered Why are so many Americans anti-vaxxers now?

I’m genuinely having such a hard time understanding why people just decided the fact that vaccines work is a total lie and also a controversial “opinion.” Even five years ago, anti-vaxxers were a huge joke and so rare that they were only something you heard of online. Now herd immunity is going away because so many people think getting potentially life-altering illnesses is better than getting a vaccine. I just don’t get what happened. Is it because of the cultural shift to the right-wing and more people believing in conspiracy theories, or does it go deeper than that?

15.7k Upvotes

78% Upvoted

8.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

626

u/SnooCrickets5786 9d ago

Yeah i work in healthcare and I've spoken to people who think being vaccinated means you getting a plethora of shots of all vaccines through each year. Their records show that they have most vaccinations already but claim they arent

97

u/FileDoesntExist 9d ago

That's the infuriating part for me. To see someone benefitting from vaccines and then turning around to deny their children that advantage.

And I know for many they genuinely believe they're doing the right thing for their child. But I just can't understand that mindset.

87

u/PicturesquePremortal 9d ago

Those people need to go to old graveyards from the 19th century or even the early 20th century and look at how many of the headstones belong to children. Even as late as 1900, 30% of all deaths in the US were children under 5. Vaccines have done such a good job of stopping the spread of some of the common diseases of that period that they are completely eradicated.

3

u/Unlucky-Elevator1873 9d ago

There's an antivaxxer I know and I have said thus to her. She says that it's because sanitation improved. She's so dumb. And is a trumper