A group of pediatricians has rallied behind the hashtag #PedsSquad on TikTok to dispel medical misinformation for families. When the CDC released the long-awaited recommendation for Covid-19 vaccines for children under five years old over the weekend, the doctors celebrated the updated guidelines with additional information for families about vaccinating their children. The nine doctors alternated with messages that they felt would make a massive difference to families and that “the benefits of vaccinating young children outweigh the risk.” The #PedsSquad shared that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were safe with “zero cases of myocarditis reported in either trial,” to the tune of Lizzo's summer hit “About Damn Time.” 

That hasn't stopped online trolls from targeting physicians on their social media accounts with hate messages and other forms of online harassment. 

Take Dr. Zachary Rubin, who over the weekend posted a tweet about his father, also a pediatrician, finally being able to administer vaccines to children, “who will be one of the first [to get] the #covidvaccine for kids under 5 in our county. I’m so proud of his tireless efforts to help protect all.” 

The tweet was pulled apart by conspiracy theorists and anti-vax supporters with messages like calling for the revocation of his license, calling him and his father murderers, and that administering the vaccines is “inhumane, immoral and evil.” The barrage of threatening messages led Rubin, part of the #PedsSquad, to share with his followers that he's taking a break from social media platforms like Twitter.