The real scientists on the frontlines of the anti-vaccine movement
Dr. Robert Malone confuses me. He is the man who played an important role in the invention of MRNA technology that is used in Covid-19 vaccines. But his Harvard University post-doctoral research is also widely cited by anti-vaccination groups as proof that the vaccines do not work.
Just watch this “SW Ohio School Board Meeting,” where a man who identified himself as Dr. Sean Brooks, opened his speech with “Dr. Robert Malone, who created the messenger RNA [mRNA] vaccine has said no one should ever take these jabs, under any circumstance whatsoever — he created it! And he says, ‘Don't ever do it!’”
Dr. Malone is not the only one. As Omicron spreads, several serious scientists, some with Ivy League affliations, are providing incredibly potent fodder to opponents of the vaccine. These professors are the darlings of the right-wing media, Reddit forums and anti-Covid-19 vaccine social media groups. And their academic credibility lands unprecedented potency to the anti-vaccine movement.
“I literally invented mRNA technology when I was 28,” Malone told me, pointing to his graduate research at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. He says he is not sceptical about vaccines, but is rather conflicted about the “rapid approval process” and thinks that adverse effects of vaccines need deeper examination. No wonder the anti-vaccine movement loves him.