How the anti-vaccination stance held by certain celebrities is damaging public health awareness

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In the age we’re all a part of, the fact that celebrities have an enormous amount of influence on people is one of the few undeniable realities that one cannot question. Simply looking back on how Jennifer Aniston’s haircut basically kick started a whole trend in the matter of a few episodes back in the nineties, it is only safe to assume that the magnitude of this impact has only amplified with time.

While not all matters of celebrity influence are necessarily bad, there are certain areas where a lot of responsibility and thought needs to go into what stances and opinions influential people put out into the world. In this article, we’ll be enlisting celebrities who have had a dubious attitude towards vaccination and what that means in a post-COVID environment.

What the anti-vax stance means and how it began.

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic made waves globally, many prominent figures stepped up encouraging people to immediately opt for vaccinations as soon as they were introduced for the coronavirus. This encouraged thousands of people to register for shots sooner rather than later, and created a very favorable turnout for the management and prevention of the highly viral pathology.

One of the greatest obstacles in the management of COVID-19 was the passing on of misinformation through various platforms, but despite this impediment, experts and those with a good outreach made it their priority to educate people. The problem, however, started when many individuals with significant influence jumped on the bandwagon of endorsing unverified information and passing on faulty advice.

Many celebrities fell prey to concepts put forth by conspiracy theories and sketchy internet sources, but this was not the extent of the problem. The real alarm began when they imparted this faulty information onwards to the thousand, even millions of individuals following their every move. Moreover, these people even went out of their way to discourage people from opting for vaccinations.

Over social media, a lot of uncorroborated information about how COVID-19 vaccines cause severe unmanageable symptoms, or lead to other illnesses have made rounds. This is a natural response, since many people seek to benefit off of keeping people from making medically informed choice. The problem deepens when people who have notably more influence than healthcare professionals start guiding people with little to no education in the matter.

Which celebrities are publicly anti vax? There are names that will downright shock you.

The concerning fact that needs mentioning before we go on to disclose which celebrities are against vaccination is that these are individuals who have uninterrupted access and resources to approach the best medical professionals and be associated with the most diligent medical clinics, despite this, they have made the choice to consult and then pass on random information knowing well what kind of ethical responsibility lies in their decision.

It's hard to point out where exactly the first of these uneducated stances began, but Nicki Minaj’s hesitation to be vaccinated in order to safely attend that year’s Met Gala was probably the first tile of the domino effect. She further aggravated this by sharing many tweets of how someone she knew was suffering from impotence and genital dysfunction after getting vaccinated.

These alarming messages received responses from many people who put it out there that they were being forced by their workplaces to obtain vaccinations, but after coming across Minaj’s tweets, they were no longer sure if they would opt for a second dose. This just goes to show that a single person’s stance for themselves can make the largest of ripples as long as they have an impactful platform.

But this barely begins here, comedian Robert Schneider also made use of his twitter influence to share with followers that they have the right to refuse the vaccine and should keep doing so. He even went as far as to brand it as ‘experimental gene therapy’ and claimed that choosing to stay away is very much similar to the ‘my body my choice movement.’ These unchecked comments have spread a lot of fear about getting vaccinated in a time that was already marked by much uncertainty.

Celebrities who are subtly anti-vax and even doctor shopping.

Many celebrities have been against vaccinations even before the entire coronavirus ordeal. They especially are against vaccination for children, who are vulnerable and require good and informed healthcare to ensure their continue wellness. Back in 2019, Jessica Biel was revealed to be supporting a popular name who was publicly against vaccinations.

After the outrage, she took to Instagram to share that she was not against vaccines, however, did want parents to make thought-out decisions about what works for their children. The same incident that caused her to release this stance also provided further detail on how Biel had not stuck to appropriate vaccination schedules for her own kids and was hesitant on account of a friend’s child’s condition that, according to them, was triggered by vaccination.

This practice of looking for doctors or medical experts that fit one’s own ideas of medically correct decisions is referred to as doctor shopping and has seen being practiced by many influential names with no lack of means. But this certainly does not even slow down here, other extremely well-known names like Jim Carrey, Lisa Bonet, and Toni Braxton are all very much part of the entire agenda that is misinforming the public.

The problem here is not opinions; everyone has them and is certainly allowed to have them. The entire focus of this narrative is to be careful with what one puts out there into a sea of people who are suggestible and very much internalize the experiences of others. People do not know celebrities personally, but they feel comfort in knowing that they can relate on them at any instance.

While this desire is fine in spheres of fashion and aesthetics, going the extra mile of also relying on celebrities for awareness on healthcare, especially when they put out information that is not backed or simply focused on isolated instances, is very much a problem and will continue to be extremely injurious for public health decisions.

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