A Biden administration that vowed to restore Americans’ faith in public health has grown increasingly paralyzed over how to combat the resurgence in vaccine skepticism.
And internally, aides and advisers concede there is no comprehensive plan for countering a movement that’s steadily expanded its influence on the president’s watch.
The rising appeal of anti-vaccine activism has been underscored by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s insurgent presidential campaign and fueled by prominent factions of the GOP. The mainstreaming of a once-fringe movement has horrified federal health officials, who blame it for seeding dangerous conspiracy theories and bolstering a Covid-era backlash to the nation’s broader public health practices.
But as President Joe Biden ramps up a reelection campaign centered on his vision for a post-pandemic America, there’s little interest among his aides in courting a high-profile vaccine fight — and even less certainty of how to win.
“There’s a real challenge here,” said one senior official who’s worked on the Covid response and was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “But they keep just hoping it’ll go away.”
The White House’s reticence is compounded by legal and practical concerns that have cut off key avenues for repelling the anti-vaccine movement, according to interviews with eight current and former administration officials and others close to the process.
Right. Back during the early days of the MMR vaccine refusals, it wasn’t a big problem. Vaccine deniers were few and far between so they didn’t break herd immunity.
Then more people saw that you could skip the MMR vaccine and have nothing bad happen to you. So they skipped the vaccine for their children. Herd immunity weakened and now we’re getting measles outbreaks.
It was virtually wiped out, but it’s making a comeback now thanks to people believing Facebook posts saying “the measles vaccine injected chemicals into my son and turned him autistic!”
Vaccines were victims of their own success.