General Question

SQUEEKY2's avatar

Are the majority of anti vaxxers conservatives?

Asked by SQUEEKY2 (20603points) 3 weeks ago

As asked.

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36 Answers

JLeslie's avatar

A lot of them are. I think most of them are maniac Libertarians. Not all Libertarians are maniacs, but these people are.

Are you talking only COVID anti-vax or the people who are against vaccines altogether?

The antivax movement has been the schtick of the religious right for a while. Here’s some of what they say: HPV vaccine kills girls, my daughter isn’t having sex at age 13 why does she need it? Liberals use vaccines in Africa to make them inferior and kill them for eugenics reasons. The anti-Christian government is trying to vaccinate and control people.

There are lefty, love nature, don’t put anything foreign in your body, hippie types, who also are anti-vax.

Then there are also people who are just afraid or who really aren’t listening about the dangers of covid.

Edit: Remember Michelle Bachmann? Anti-vax was practically part of her Christian far right platform. Along with pray the gay away.

gondwanalon's avatar

The only anti SARS-CoV-2 vaccine person that I personally know is an old Army buddy of mine. Oh and he is black and very liberal. But I still love him.

JLeslie's avatar

Typo: infertile not inferior.

Blackwater_Park's avatar

Possibly but not by much. I know more than a few quasi-cult health obsessed left wingers who are anti-vax also. There is a common theme and it’s not politics. I think the numbers are pretty balanced.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

I refused the vaccine for whatever when I was five years old. I was scared of needle’s, and I felt that it was as harmful as injecting weed killer. I don’t know my political leanings as a child, but I was scared of putting crap in my body.

I eventually took it three years ago and my vaccines are caught up except some retro flu shots that I didn’t receive. I am double Covid vaccinated now, and have taken all of my flu shots since 4 years ago.

Some people are terrified of the unknown. I am glad that the school nurse didn’t hold me down and force the shot on me as a child, and I won’t force it on any one who is scared of them.

Blackwater_Park's avatar

I can frame this in another way and it becomes clear. A related cognitive malfunction: Smart power meters. Left wingers who are against them tend to think they pose health risks (despite the evidence) but big corporations don’t care and are forcing them on us for profits. Right wingers who are against them think big brother wants to track all they do in their homes using them and other nonsense (despite the evidence). Note that there is some crossover. The tendency to favor the fanciful when it aligns with ideology over the evidence based mundane explanations for things is the common thread.

Dutchess_III's avatar

In my experience they are.

jca2's avatar

Yes, I think so. They seem to be anti-science.

Caravanfan's avatar

I got convinced two people to get their vaccine today!

SQUEEKY2's avatar

WAY TO GO!! Now if they can convince two people each we might be on to something.

zenvelo's avatar

There are some “holistic-health” advocates that are like a new age version fo Christian Scientists who feel that proper supplements and proper diet can fend off any illness and obviate the need for vaccines. See Congressman Patrick Kennedy, and Dr. Mercola.

They are as vociferous in their anti van position as any QAnon adherent.

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Poseidon's avatar

Being anti vaccination has absolutely nothing to do with someones politics. It is strictly a personal choice.

There may be some people refusing to have vaccinations due to their religious beliefs.

Personally I simply cannot understand why anyone refuses a vaccination, especially the Covid vaccine.

True a very, very, very few people have had reactions against the vaccine some serious but the reactions are normally far, far less than catching the actual virus.

Added to this science has shown those who have had reactions when they have had the Covid jab are approximately the same as other vaccinations such as the flu jab.

We have to remember that 100s of millions have had the Covid vaccine and the percentage of those who have had it and had reactions are an extremely small percentage and of course the percentage of those who have died is much less.

It is also a fact that even though the vaccines available at the moment cannot prevent Covid it does does prevent the more serious effects that were initially experienced before the vaccines were produced.

JLeslie's avatar

@Poseidon Is that the conclusion now regarding the vaccine? It does not prevent covid? No protection against getting the virus, only protection from severe disease? The new data showing a third shot of Pfizer and second of J&J will boost up above 90% is only about not getting a severe case?

@zenvelo Yes! Mercola. He slipped my mind. I actually agree with him on some things, but he is completely destructive when it comes to vaccines. That’s the other big group of people not taking the vaccine, the health nuts. I mentioned the more hippie type nature loving people, but also there is a work out at the gym every day, eat protein, take vitamin supplements group.

cookieman's avatar

The only anti-Valera I know are white, middle-class, conservative Trump supporters. A family of four and a recently divorced woman.

basstrom188's avatar

Here in the UK we have Piers Corbyn who well to the left politically. He is both an anti-vaxxer and a climate change denier.

JLeslie's avatar

Hold on!

I found myself wondering about Mercola’s religion. Here is in part what one article said about his religious beliefs:

“When symptoms arrive as a result of how poorly you’ve neglected your body and mind, rather than taking personal responsibility for your own wellness (restoring wholeness) and trusting in the God-given recuperative powers of your body, many seek those who are now only too willing take on this role for you.”

Mercola was raised as a Catholic. Later in life he switched to evangelical Christianity, but now calls himself spiritual rather than religious. Dr. Mercola was formerly a member of the Christian Medical Society but stopped his membership in 2002. He promotes religion and prayer as having health benefits, and focuses strongly on studies that advocate this position.

Mercola hosts the theistic writings and beliefs of other website contributors such as Carol Tuttle,[4] who speaks of angels among us,[5] that want to help everyone…


I’m not sure if his religious beliefs influence him, or if it’s him and he “speaks to” people with similar beliefs. There is no denying the religious right is hearing a lot of the same information simply because they talk to each other like any group. Hence the Bible Belt reluctance for covid vaccinations. I do not mean religion itself is anti-vaccine, it’s not the religions, it’s just who is listening to people like Mercola.

Another website basically credited him with the greater anti-vax movement, although I think he is only part of it.

Dutchess_III's avatar

@Poseidon it’s not really about politics. It’s about mind set, intelligence and education.

Tropical_Willie's avatar

. . . Tag along @Dutchess_III and common sense !

raum's avatar

I think it comes down to having access to a science-based source of information that they trust.

We got our 12yo vaccinated yesterday. (Yay!) And I noticed a young white man sitting next to a homeless black woman.

I assumed he was doing outreach. (His demeanor and interaction with her was very kind and polite, but professional. And he was walking her through the process.)

Same as the two people that @Caravanfan spoke with, I think some people need a face to the information.

Unfortunately, many people are also relating to YouTube videos and TikToks that are notoriously spreading misinformation. :/

cookieman's avatar

“vaxers” not “valeras”

JLeslie's avatar

I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of the people not taking the covid vaccine don’t even register to vote.

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Smashley's avatar

I think there’s been intellectual herding on this issue. Before COVID, I would have said more lefties were antivax, because that had been my experience. There are several threads of quackery you can follow to antivax, and most that I had seen came from the alt-health industry, that has been fleecing lefties for decades. But when Trump decided rather than take credit, he’d rather demonize the vaccine, while taking it secretly, obvs, a large number of people on the right began contorting themselves into anti-vaxxers to match their thinking with those around them.

Blackwater_Park's avatar

@Smashley Alex Jones is who really brought anti-vax to the nutty side of the right wing. Just prior to when all the big tech and telecom companies started de-platforming those types his show was even on local broadcast radio. He was peddling his narrative to a wide audience with the fake legitimacy of being on a real broadcast network. It was mostly new age-ish health cult/fad types buying in to the bullshit before people like him. Right wing conspiracy profiteers are selling all kinds of fake supplements and health potions now too. At this point political orientation has been subtracted out leaving only those who are susceptible to believing in snake oil elixir.

Smashley's avatar

@Blackwater_Park – those are good points. I’d kinda forgot about “nutraceuticals” because his whole operation is such a blatant scam.

JLeslie's avatar

@Smashley Did Trump demonize the vaccine? I completely missed that.

The religious right has been going after HPV vaccine and Gates vaccinating Africans and making them infertile, sick, or dead for years. Accusing the left of Eugenics in Africa, ironically, since we just talked about that on another Q.

I agree the health nuts and liberals can be anti-vax too as I said above.

Nomore_lockout's avatar

Is the Pope Catholic?

SQUEEKY2's avatar

I never said are all anti-vaxxers conservative, of course there would be a handful of left wing nut jobs thrown in.

Nomore_lockout's avatar

Possibly a few. But by far, way more conservatives. @SQUEEKY2

SQUEEKY2's avatar

And that is why I said the majority.^^

Nomore_lockout's avatar

As @Smashley has stated above: “But when Trump decided rather than take credit, he’d rather demonize the vaccine, while taking it secretly, obvs, a large number of people on the right began contorting themselves into anti-vaxxers to match their thinking with those around them”.

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