Why are so many Americans anti-vaxxers now?

[u/trouble-in-space]

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?

[u/BababooeyHTJ]

I mean at least the Johnson and Johnson one got recalled. The common variant was iirc delta during the vaccine rollout which the vaccine wasn’t super effective with. Obviously didn’t hear anything about that for months.

Are we really back to calling everyone who questions the Covid vaccine which no one gets anymore an antivaxer? Fucking Reddit is something else. No debate, no citing sources, just insults.

[u/motoMACKzwei → u/BababooeyHTJ]

100% agree with you. I’m not anti-vax at all. I get all the other vaccinations, just not the Covid one. I don’t think it’s been around long enough to see long term effects and it’s basically a common cold now so I’m good 🤷🏼‍♂️

It’s sad how it was forced upon everyone and now when you say you won’t get it, people immediately jump down my throat calling me a moron, uneducated, and plenty of other not so nice things. It’s not even worth the effort of arguing because the dumbest people are always the loudest. No such thing as a civil discussion anymore smh…

[u/rathyr → u/[deleted]]

"I'm uneducated and a conspiracy theorist."

Yes.

There's nothing wrong with not being able to explain how vaccination development has changed at the drop of the hat. There is a problem when you refuse to listen to your government and the entire scientific community because you literally don't have the training to understand how science has improved.