Stressing freedom, vaccine opponents rebranding

Years before this year’s anti- mask and reopening demonstrations, vaccine opponents were working on reinventing their image around a rallying cry of civil liberties and medical freedom.

Now, boosted by the pandemic and the political climate, their rebranding is appealing to a different subset of society invested in civil liberties — and, some health officials say, undercutting public health efforts during a critical moment for vaccines.

A new analysis from several institutions has found that between 2009 to 2019, conversations around civil liberties in the anti- vaccine community had increased, with Facebook pages framing vaccines as an issue of values and civil rights.

Researchers reviewed over 200 Facebook pages supporting vaccine refusal for their paper published in the American Journal of Public Health this month. David A. Broniatowski, the paper’s lead author, said current protests against government lockdowns and masks took their pages directly from the anti- vaccine playbook.

“We could’ve seen it coming,” said Broniatowski, an associate professor at George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science.

In recent weeks, protesters gathered in Massachusetts to demonstrate against the governor’s mandate requiring schoolchildren to receive the influenza vaccine. On Facebook, the protesters have called the mandate unconstitutional and say it infringes on their rights.

Anita Garcia, who has been protesting vaccines for years, said with the flu mandate demonstrations she is seeing protesters turn out to object to what they consider government overreach. “All you can do is try to fight for your freedom,” Garcia said. “We are for medical freedom, bodily autonomy. Our bodies are ours, not for someone else to govern.”