Far from increasing confidence in childhood vaccines, that decision only served to lead antivaxxers to conclude that their fears were justified and that there had been a coverup. It only feed the “mercury in vaccines cause autism” conspiracy theory. 2/
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Worse, it gave antivaxxers a line of argument that seemed credible: Why would they remove thimerosal from vaccines if it really weren’t harmful? It took years to shed the impression that thimerosal-containing vaccines were unsafe. 3/3
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One last thought: I appreciate that FDA is between a rock and a hard place with this issue. If it didn’t issue a pause, antivaxxers would weaponize that too. 4/4
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And, yes, this is what I mean. 5/5https://twitter.com/beyerstein/status/1382017379492847616 …
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When talking to people, funnily enough, the term ‘abundance of caution’ appears to translate to ‘identified as life threatening danger, but we want to hide it’ Words have power, and the words to the knowing get twisted in meaning when heard by the general public.
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If that is true, those people are ripe for conspiracy theories. They are expecting other people to lie and cheat. I originally thought that phrase was condescending to the worriers.
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The news makes me very pessimistic that people will now be more hesitant to take J&J like in Canada and Europe w/ AZ hesitancy. We need J&J to get this pandemic over with quickly
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I already had my first dose of Pfizer, and I would still take the Janssen vaccine if I had not, and it was available.
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“Phase III trials didn’t show any sign of this, but we’re taking a second look because there’s a plausible mechanism of action and we want to be safe” is a ringing endorsement of the FDA’s commitment to safety, and the anti-vaxxers are already using it as proof of The Conspiracy.
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Nothing that we can say, or write, is likely to persuade someone who is strongly anti vaccine. I am concerned about those people who can be persuaded. I feel happier defending a position that treats serious side-effects as serious rather than dismissing any concerns.
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