As we learned this week, Jessica Biel is an anti-Vaxxer who associates with anti-Vaxx people and advocates against vaccine legislation. Biel was in Sacramento this week with Robert Kennedy Jr, who has moved from environmentalism to anti-Vaxxism. When Biel got called out for being anti-Vaxx, she made a vague statement on Instagram about how she wasn’t against vaccines, she just something something maybe fewer kids should be vaccinated. As an ABC reporter pointed out, Biel was actually spouting the anti-Vaxx party line:
Important for those not versed in anti-vaxx talking points: anti-vaxx activists say "I am not against vaccines," preferring language like "pro-choice" or "skeptic" etc etc. Biel's Insta post isn't a walk back and it isn't "setting the record straight." It's a basic confirmation. https://t.co/vAXBq6OdVE
— Brandy Zadrozny (@BrandyZadrozny) June 13, 2019
And that’s not all – Jezebel was one of the outlets to break the news about Biel’s work with Robert Kennedy Jr, and why they were in Sacramento, which was to lobby against SB 276, which would make it harder for parents to doctor-shop until they find a doctor who will give their kid a medical exemption for vaccines. Jezebel did an excellent follow-up about what Biel and Kennedy were actually saying in those meetings:
On Wednesday, a series of photos posted by activist and vaccine “skeptic” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. showed him and actress Jessica Biel lobbying California state lawmakers. Those lawmakers later confirmed that the duo were there to advocate against SB 276, a bill seeking to introduce more oversight into the process that allows parents to get medical exemptions from vaccines for their children. The same day, we were contacted by a legislative staffer who sat in on one of those meetings. The staffer says that both Biel and Kennedy spent some of the meeting talking about their personal belief that vaccines are both dangerous and ineffective, a belief that goes against the overwhelming weight of medical and scientific evidence.
“I’m a legislative staffer in the CA State Capitol, and I was in a meeting with Jessica Biel and her crew yesterday,” the person wrote. The legislative staffer wrote that, in the meeting, Biel said she personally didn’t go by the regular vaccine schedule for her child, due to a perception that a friend’s child had suffered negative health consequences from a vaccine. The legislative staffer we spoke to…says that some of what Biel discussed did center around her own personal concerns regarding vaccines.
“Jessica said that her doctor recommended the regular vaccine schedule for her kid and she refused,” the staffer wrote, saying that Biel claimed that her friend’s child had an adverse reaction to a vaccine. The staffer also said that Biel seemed to indicate she’d then visited multiple doctors to find one who was comfortable with her preference: “She practically admitted to doctor shopping, which SB 276 is trying to prevent. She said she wants safe vaccines and mentioned ‘corporations’ a lot.”
At that point, the rest of the group Biel was with, the staffer wrote, including RFK Jr., “tried to pivot away from the doctor shopping piece, talking about how vaccines are both dangerous and ineffective at the same time. They kept mentioning these people who don’t develop antibodies from vaccines. They also mentioned a gene associated with vaccine injuries, and when I looked it up, I could only find it on these anti-vax sites.”
Jezebel has a lot more in that piece, including the background on Jessica’s half-assed denial that she’s not “against vaccines,” but merely worried about a “friend.” So now we know Jessica was sitting in legislators’ offices, openly spouting anti-Vaxx talking points and talking about how she refused to put her son on the regular vaccine schedule, and that she doctor-shopped until she found someone who agreed with her. Canceled. Totally and completely canceled.
Also: a couple of other celebrities outed themselves as anti-Vaxxers in this whole controversy too – both Rosanna Arquette and Kimberly Van Der Beek (married to James VDB) commented on Kennedy’s IG that he and Biel were doing amazing work.
Photos courtesy of Backgird, Instagram.
She was already cancelled in that I never cared about her but I’ll bring her to life just to get the satisfaction of cancelling her on purpose.
This anti-science, anti-medical evidence group all need to just go away and live by themselves, on a remote island where they can all live together, happily ever after in their rarified, non-vaccinated world.
They need to take the climate deniers with them.
I wanna know what anti-vaxx parents do when their child gets sick…. rely on medical science to help them get better or…….?
With so many people getting sick from measles, I don’t understand why someone about as bright as Jenny McCarthy (many babies died because of her) is given a pulpit to spread more damage. This isn’t even a relevant argument anymore.
Celebrities are the very worst anti-vaxxers out there because they can use their fame to reach out and influence millions of people who will be swayed by whatever uninformed garbage comes out of their mouths. This is what happened when Jenny McCarthy started shooting her mouth off about vaccines. Single handedly, she negatively changed the minds of mothers everywhere to not vaccinate their children. I won’t eleborate on the fate of some of these children because it’s just too sad to relate.
@ Kate: Best post ever.
Why are the California legislators listening to an actress with no medical or scientific knowledge? I really don’t understand what information or value she is bringing? How does she get credentials to present her uninformed views?
Her friend’s child got sick and it happened around the time he got a vaccine (he also was exposed to about a thousand germy people and ate new foods and breathed different allergens) but it was definitely the vaccine that caused a health issue. She needed to report this rock-solid information to the legislature. /s
@joanne This is a really good point. How did she get this kind of access? You know what I want to see? People with immunodeficienies (or with kids who have compromised immunities) making statements about how the unvaccinated are threats to their lives. Why haven’t we heard more testimonies like that?!
Anne, that’s an excellent suggestion. My husband is waiting for a lung transplant and has to take immune suppressing drugs. We almost never go out publicly anymore. Any exposure to even a cold or flu would disqualify him or kill him. I hope your suggestion is used for to give access to people affected by anti-vaxxers.
Joanne, positive vibes to you and your husband! Stories like yours are so important to hear.
Exactly. You’ll probably end up seeing the parents of immunodeficient kids bringing lawsuits against the pro-disease parents if their child contracts something. Lawyers will have a field day.
Thank you Anne. Your thoughts are much appreciated.
Light for Riley is a site that offers the testimony of a family in AUS who lost their newborn son, Riley, to pertussis. They have channeled their pain into action, lobbying for greater accessibility to vaccines and boosters in their area. Other families who have lost children, or who have suffered or are suffering, due to preventable diseases have found support from this family. Their stories are often posted on the Light for Riley Facebook page. It’s equally uplifting and heartbreaking.
Because she was invited by one of those dummies who opposed the bill. These idiots actually posed with her and posted it on Twitter. https://variety.com/2019/politics/news/jessica-biel-anti-vaxx-robert-f-kennedy-jr-california-vaccine-bill-1203241577/
So now you know who to vote out of office. They are as dangerous as the Trumpers. Doesn’t matter that they are dems.
Full D, that’s been my only political view the past few years. If you’ve been there two or more terms and especially if you are not/have not accomplished anything. You out! Dem and GOP both (esp GOP tho).
I also wonder why she gets to talk about, well, anything really. I liked her as actor but never really thought she was smart enough to take advice from.
And the anti-vaxx position is not about ‘choice” in health care or parenting. You do NOT get the choice of allowing your child to infect other children because of your political beliefs. You do not have the right to facilitate the return of polio, measles and small pox in your community.
It’s all fun and games until her kid gets whooping cough and measles.
Nah, her kids won’t get whooping cough, pertussis, red measles, diphtheria, etc., because they’re counting on all the other kids who come in contact with them to have been vaccinated and therefore will be protected. That’s what herd immunity’s all about, and they’re banking on it. But I think what it’s going to take with these “pro-diseasers” is one of their kids coming in contact outside their usual geographic area with one of these diseases, with disasterous results. Maybe that will change their mind because right now they’re treating these diseases as minor and no big deal, absolutely refusing to acknowledge how many children have died before these miraculous vaccines were produced. They’ve never come across anyone who has suffered from physical repercussions from any of these “benign” childhood diseases because they have been protected from them for the last 50 years or so. Their hubris is appalling, dangerous, and just plain foolish. It’s going to take a real wake-up call for them to change their mind, and we seem to be on that dangerous path right now. Maddening and stupid.
The measles outbreaks in California are happening because herd immunity is thinning there, though. My company started providing free titer panels and boosters because we have to travel to LA frequently and there are constantly outbreaks. Herd immunity is beginning to fail in several places in the nation (Texas is also dangerously close to the breaking point), and it’s only a matter of time before we have a massive, deadly outbreak. Rich and celebrity kids will suffer disproportionately, since the hot zones of the outbreaks are affluent areas.
@ DM2 : thank you for using the word “hubris”. It really fits here and also it just doesn’t get used enough.
@ Algernon : I am also waiting for some outbreak to cause hell to come back and then it will be too late to help the people who are sick and/or dying. Your comment about rich and celebrity kids suffering disproportionately is true and it always reminds me of a scene in the Clive Owen/ Angelina Jolie movie “Beyond Borders” where a poor young mother in a Cambodian village is killed at a vaccination clinic when it is attached by rebels. She had brought her baby there as she was desperate to have him vaccinated against preventable diseases like measles and small pox that are still killers in her part of the world. And yet smug idiots like Jessica Biel won’t vaccinate their kids.
Not surprised about KVB- she gave birth to all six of her children at home in a pool with her husband’s assistance. A home birth doesn’t mean a person is anti-Vax, but I’ve often seen in my own life that people who don’t trust hospitals to deliver babies also don’t trust doctors and vaccines.
I had no idea he has six kids. I had to look the name up to make sure it wasn’t some reality show I didn’t know about. But nope, you mean Dawson. Wow
I followed them both on IG. It’s not surprising. And it saddens me. She’s super into ‘holistic’ shit and oils and stuff.
And I mean – I loathe hospitals and the idea of a home birth is amazing in theory. But I’m far too terrified of the chance of something going wrong that even if I had their money I’d be hightailing it to a hospital.
“Vaccines are ineffective”. Obviously, which is why the US was deemed measles-free until enough parents stopped vaccinating!
Why are so many actors anti-vaxx? How is this spreading? I mean Kennedy I was shocked about, but I am used to it now and I can’t stand him because of this. But what is up with the acting community??
They think they are special. Their children are too precious for vaccines. Vaccines are for peasants.
Or as the sponsor of this bill, a pediatrician, stated, they are “privileged.” Only the dirty masses must vaccinate their children (that’s a joke).
So many celebrities are anti-vaxx because they are ignorant, think they know better than others, and they live in a bubble of pseudo-scientific quakery (Colonics, Jade eggs and Vadge steaming anyone?) It’s horrifying how many of them with such huge platforms spout this dangerous nonsense.
You’re right.
Yup, Originalala.
Yeah I am reminded at times like this that most celebrities are dumb dumbs with, at best, an eighth grade education. They’re the kids in your high school that were very pretty and skipped a lot and got Cs. These are not valedictorians.
exactly this. Just because they have money does not mean they should be considered as a point of reference for anything except wiglet tips and lipo
Because most of them are uneducated narcissists?
You hit the nail on the head… narcissistic. I know many people don’t like Dr. Drew here but he was actually a good psychologist before he started doing reality TV & he said it best with athletes, actors & politicians: many are narcissistic, some even have an anti-social disorder. The desire to seek attention at all costs..to seek fame & glory is probably what drives this anti-vaxxer crusade. Listen, vaccines save lives. People are just being dumb. I look at it like this…I was born with allergies. Born with them…not exposed to them, no vaccine gave them to me. I still have them. As much as these parents are looking for excuses not to vaccinate because of exposure to this or that…it’s nonsense. Autism, ADHD, ADD, severe allergies..etc all of it starts in the womb, prior to birth. I know I’m lumping stuff together but children don’t develop autism or ADHD, they are born with it. Stop blaming vaccines.
Just because they’re famous doesn’t mean they’re smart. The culture out in Hollywood is kale cures everything crystals can’t. Jessica’s mother is a spiritual healer which probably predisposed her to the goop life. Justin never went to college (did he even get GED?), she dropped out of college. Education was not valued more than fame for these two.
For some reason society thinks being rich, famous and pretty means they must be smart.
Because as others pointed out, these people are narcissists who think they’re smarter than everyone else, and ultimately, they will never have to deal with the actual consequences of not vaccinating their children.
They’ll never have to deal with their child dying because of a preventable viral disease. They have the money and the resources to get their child proper healthcare should they ever actually contract measles or something, something that the majority of the rest of the population can’t do. You’ll never see these chumps talking about Big Pharma and corporations and doctors being untrustworthy when their childrens’ lives are actually on the line. They live in their own little protective bubble where they have access to the best of everything, including proper food and nutrition, clean uncontaminated spaces, etc, so they’ll never have to deal with their children coming out of the gate and lagging because they can’t afford these things due to their socioeconomic status. They live in a country where rich white people like them are relatively protected in more ways than they realize because of their wealth and status, where their dumbf-ck feelings are more valued and validated than anyone else’s right to a healthy, illness free life, and now they’re turning around and dismantling these protections for people who cannot afford to live without them.
Wow, great comment, A. Thank you!
I hope she gets a lot of blowback on this.
I was following her and looked on the comments of her latest photos before I unfollowed. I then unfollowed some other people I really liked that were congratulating her.
Gawd these people with this nonsense. It must be nice to live in a protected bubble where you have the wealth and means to have the best health care at your fingertips. The rest of us live in the real world where many have NO health care or the bare minimum. Vaccines were a game changer. Devastating childhood diseases were practically eradicated. And now these morons are helping to spread these illnesses again. But they don’t have to worry if their child gets sick, they have the means to provide for their children, while so many others don’t. There are just so many stupid f@#king people in this world.
This all day. Being in the healthcare profession, I have given vaccines to both kids and seniors. Vaccines save lives. She is using her platform to spread lies and anti-science. Biel is the kinda client Goop loves-dumb, gullible, and willing to spend money on things that have no scientific basis whatsoever.
But all those celebrities were vaccinated right? And they are all here? And just fine?
This is like those turkeys that say measles aren’t a big deal because of a episode of the brady bunch and how it’s just a bad rash. My dad was nearly blinded by measles as a child (it got into his corneas) -so I’d think he’d disagree.
My aunt (born pre-measles-vaccine in 1945) is deaf in one ear because of a measles complication. But no big deal, right?!
Yes, measles can blind, diphtheria can kill wee ones, mumps can cause male infertility, polio maims, (my old neighbour wore a leg brace from contracting it way before the vaccine), pertussis can be fatal in newborns (and is making a resurgence also) — I mean, really – why did these scientists bother with creating these vaccines anyway — there really wasn’t any risk with these diseases. /s
Very disappointed with her. Cancelled
I’ve known this for years. She talked about it when she gave birth. It really knocked JT down a peg for me. I know everyone here hates him, but he’s been my forever crush since I was 12. Not after that. Vaccinate 👏🏾 Your 👏🏾 Kids 👏🏾
And this is stupid anyway. If your kid qualifies for a medical exemption, any doctor would give one. If you have to shop…they don’t qualify.
That’s exactly what this bill is about. It’s meant to quash doctor shopping. People who need exemptions will get them, it’s the people like Biel who will have to vaccinate their kids on the normal schedule as their doctors direct. She won’t be able to shop around for an unethical doctor anymore.
The “medical exemptions” issue is a red herring. They are notoriously misused and one cause of rising epidemics.
Can anyone please tell me what your issue is with having a child’s DOCTOR make the call on whether or not a child should have a medical exemption? No, JB doesn’t have medical background. But you know who does? Doctors. The California Medical Board- does NOT support medical vaccine exemptions being taken over by the Public Health Department. What she is saying isn’t anti vaccine. It is anti-taking the decisions of discerning physicians away and anti- limiting who can get a legitimate medical exemption. (IE children who had a seizure as a vaccine reaction would NOT qualify for a medical exemption under the new bill). The rallying cry of pro-Vaxxers is “trust your doctor! They went to medical school!” And this bill takes away the choice of the doctor and turns it over to the health department. It’s ridiculous. Should there be oversight? Yes. But those decisions should be left up to the doctor who knows the patient and their history best- not the Health Department.
Doctor shopping.
Your post is nonsense. Are you a PR person?
It isn’t just any doctor. There are a very few doctors in California that are issuing the majority of the medical exemptions. I wonder what could possibly make these doctors in particular a magnet for children with “vaccine injuries”?? Hmmmm. Could it be the doctor shopping people (LIKE BIEL) find those few doctors and magically their child has an exemption.
I find you sad, personally, but socially I find you, yes you Jbird, (and all others like you) abhorrent.
Oh yeah we certainly wouldn’t want doctors to have additional oversight on this. Those above-reproach doctors, some of whom….handed out learning disability diagnoses to rich kids like it was candy so they could cheat the SATs and fraudulently get into college? You know for the good of their patie….hahahaha you’re right, I meant for the $$$$$$.
Ah yes, we should just leave it all up to rich white parents like Biel and their “doctors”. 🙄🙄🙄
For every medical school, for every year, someone graduated dead last. All doctors are not equal in medical knowledge, ethical standards or in honorable business practices. In other words- doctor shopping.
I heard a joke long ago about how the top 20% in each graduating med class get hired and the other 80% just become doctors.
Doctors will still be allowed to issue exemptions. The exemption form just has to be signed off by a health department official. Apparently there are doctors who make big bucks charging a fee to anyone who wants an exemption. This is supposed to do away with those non-legitimate cases. I trust health department officials will be thoroughly trained in how to evaluate the exemptions. Literally their entire purpose is to ensure public health.
@jbird
Doctors are taking bribe money to give these parents medical exemptions for their kids who are not actually medically exempt and it has caused a public health crisis! Damn, do some research instead of taking the word of a selfish and ignorant celebrity!
They’re trying to prevent doctor shopping and people lying and bribing their way into exemptions, which is dangerous for both the child and the community.
Legitimate medical exemptions are fine.
I hear you jBird. I also, as a PRO VAXXER everyone (and an attorney), feel funny about the idea of doctors being hamstrung by our idiot administrators. I love living in California but the red tape is a joke. It’s unfortunate it’s even come to this, education would be key but at this point it’s really too late. So i understand the need to implement some sort of additional bill but – i don’t think this one has been well thought out in the least.
Because there are doctors who are greedy enough to prey on the frightened.
I should know. It was a family doctor who prescribed the opioids for pain management that led to my mother’s death. The same doctor refused to sign her death certificate for fear of liability.
Most doctors are fantastic, but as with any field, there are those who prey for profit.
And God forbid we ask for more oversight to maintain a healthy society.
Shesh, with money comes soooooo much privilege!!! I don’t cancel many, but this is cancel worthy.
I can’t not wait till this woman gets the karma she so justly deserves! Rich white lady privilege is finally showing her true colors. She could care less if others get sick and or die due to the damage she’s promoting as long as her her child is protected! I hope life bites right in her dumb a$$!
There are children that have legit medical reasons for not being able to get vaccinated. But this is a totally different story than parents that won’t protect those children from eradicated diseases. Jessica Beil is so lost. You don’t vaccinate, you don’t get to go to public school and some private schools. Plain and simple.
If you think this is just about a bunch of dumb ill informed anti science people not vaccinating then you are the dumb ill informed ones. Their are extremely legitimate concerns in regard to vaccine side effects. How many of you know that if you have autoimmune disease in your immediate family then your vaccinated child is at increased risk for side effects from a vaccine? If you didn’t know this, then you don’t know much about vaccines to be calling people that don’t vaccinate their children stupid.
Sara, I think a lot of people, like myself, are grouping this into the ‘I’m white, rich and my children are so much better than poor regular kids to be vaccinated!!’ There are sadly loads and loads of these types. She comes off as one of them to me.
Okay, and here’s a question – which side effects? Fever, nausea, hard red spot on the arm?
Because the “vaccine injured” don’t usually mean those side effects that come listed in the booklet. They mean autism, which has been studied over and over and over again, and while there is no clear evidence of one single thing causing autism, there hasn’t been any causation shown between vaccines and autism.
As the parent of a child who does get the listed side effects from vaccines – and it freaks me out, and we discuss it with her doctor on how to approach it – I’m still all for vaccines because in my risk analysis, her getting these side effects is still better than her contracting a preventable and possibly debilitating or fatal disease.
Please don’t act like side effects means vaccines don’t work or aren’t safe. Everything in life comes with risk, some people just aren’t very good at conducting risk assessments.
my understanding is that those extremely legitimate concerns regarding side effects for vaccines will be protected by this bill exactly and should thus have your support. If that is truly your concern, rest easy. There is not a doctor alive that would force vaccines on the truly immunocompromised. For the exemption by the vaccine injury of “my kid is richer than yours and therefore better”, yeah, see those folks out of here and protect those vulnerable immune systems like your own in the same fell swoop.
Simple right?
What side effects? Can you link to legitimate scientific studies that show this?
Are the side effects worse than a deadly disease?
I want everyone to go buy a drug book. I recommend Davis. Look up a random medication you have ever taken. Most likely there are serious side effects listed. But you took them anyway. There is the potential for adverse reaction to everything. Vaccines are highly regulated and there is a program called the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program also called “vaccine court” in response to the 1986 the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act being passed. This program has paid out jury awards. But never to “a vaccine gave my child autism.” Because the vaccine didn’t give your child autism.
The stats are released, it is transparent. Per the chart between 10/01/1988 and 2/4/2019 20,332 claims were filed, 11,269 were dismissed. (All vaccines).
For every parent that says their child was vaccine injured, I ask have you filed through vaccine court? Was your petition accepted? Was cause shown?
Oh you didn’t know that? Its on the vaccine information you are entitled to request and doctors are required to provide. Along with the ingredients in each injection (down to saline), and a list of adverse reactions.
I ask people, as a nurse, as a mom of a child on the spectrum, as the daughter of a polio afflicted dad, as a former chemo patient who was dependent on her immunity, please do REAL research.
Ok were you vaccinated? I bet you were.
Also, all drugs, including that flu shot and the aspirin you take, come with that legal cya proviso of the “side effects.”
There is no such thing as a “vaccine injury” – no having a sore arm and a low grade fever doesn’t count. Vaccines do not cause autism.
My son got a tetanus shot in his thigh when he was 2-3yo. The site swelled to half the size of a tennis ball, he was throwing up and he had a fever for 2 days. He got fevers easily back in those days. It was the only time he suffered a side effect from a shot and not vaccinating him after that never crossed my mind for an instant. I love him and I want him around.
My cousin showed signs of autism prior to having any vaccines…he didn’t reach any of his milestones on time & by age 3 he was diagnosed. I wish anti-vaxxers would stop, autism is not a death sentence.
So much this! These parents would rather risk their child catching a DEADLY disease that millions literally died from before vaccines or putting at risk innocent people that have a legit contraindication to them and the herd immunity. People/children/babies DIED from these diseases, these are just straight undeniable facts. This is why vaccines were created in the freakin first place! But one doctor publishes one study, that was debunked and had his license revoked for, and suddenly none of that history or medical research or information matters because autism is so much worse right?? He gave desperate parents an “answer” and something they could cling onto when there were no answers and like lemmings they can’t let go. They guy is disgusting. Do they legit think all children with autism got it from a vaccine though? If not how do they account for those that didn’t?
There are SO many parents who either don’t know, or willfully ignore the signs of autism. So when the kids get older, and they have more vaccines, they blame the developmental delay on the vaccine because they’d rather have something to blame than to think that it’s a genetic thing. There’s both narcissism and fear involved, which is always a bad combo.
Not only was the study debunked – he was charged with 12 counts involving the abuse of developmentally delayed children.. Something that the anti vax crew likes to leave out.
The other major issue is that ANYONE can slam a vaccine injury claim into a database. Your kid could have already been incubating a stomach virus, gotten the vaccine, and the symptoms could kick in that evening. It could be 100% unrelated, but anyone can file the claim.
I had a nurse inject a flu shot into my arm incorrectly. I felt a sudden awful pain, and I bruised in a huge area for like 2 weeks with an incredibly sore arm. My Dr was so annoyed over that. But STILL. I get my flu shot.
@Erinn, the anti-vaxxer crowd leaves out his charges of abuse because, contrary to what they insist, they don’t actually care about their children with autism. If they did care, they wouldn’t be trying to find a “cure” that could make their child “revert” back to “normal,” they wouldn’t use language like, “My child was lost to autism,” etc. What all of this anti-vaxxer crap comes down to is this idea that children with developmental delays are “broken,” that they are “less than,” that they are “not normal,” “defective,” and people who should be “fixed.” These people are the same types of parents who force bleach onto their autistic children, because they think that they’ll then vomit out the “toxins that cause autism.” They don’t care about science or facts, they’re more content to be driven by fear and a profound hatred for children who are different.
It is a fundamentally, hugely immoral stance, one that lacks the basic compassion that people should have for other human beings, and it’s aided by a world that isn’t safe or kind to people with developmental delays tbh.
@Erinn I know, that’s why I made sure to include how many of those claims were dismissed or found without merit too. Far outnumbers the few that were with merit or settlement agreement reached.
Sara, if someone is *legitimately* too sick or elderly to receive a vaccination, that is precisely why everyone else SHOULD be getting the vaccine! What the medical community is having a huge issue with is those who are blindly declining based on “what if” happens. These are healthy individuals who have no reason to say no to a vaccine, and prevent a true outbreak / crisis from occurring.
I don’t understand these anti-Vaxx movement, especially in a country like the United States or free health insurance do not exist. These actors and actresses have the means finance, in case their children have health problems, but all the others poors citizens who theirs try to convince that vaccine is negative and the others citizens who will be victims of them choices , who will pay the health care?
@line, YUP! There you go! These people don’t give a f-ck about anyone except themselves! They want to make the world a less safe place for people who, unlike them, cannot afford to be ill, cannot afford the care necessary for when their children do get sick from something utterly preventable!
There are people who will definitely die from the lax standards around vaccinations, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it won’t be the children of these celebrities. People like Jessica Biel want to talk about “vaccine injuries” well, what about “anti-vaccine injuries” caused by people who infect others because they’re too arrogant to care about anyone except themselves?
Hollywood the place we go to get both political and medical advice no one asked for.
Say it for the people in the back: COMPANIES DO NOT MAKE HUGE PROFITS OFF VACCINES. Some profit, of course. But that margin is so low that some companies stopped making them altogether. And many doctors and practitioners make no money, more often they LOSE money on administering immunizations.
I just can’t stand this automatic big pharma argument. I have severe ADHD, and I can’t tell you how many people have to my face said ADHD isn’t real and was invented by big pharma to medicate our kids. Granted, there are lots of children misdiagnosed with ADHD. However for those of us adults who have had it all our lives… that medication is literally a safety issue. All but one fender-bender I’ve ever been in was my fault, and when I was unmedicated/my meds hadn’t kicked in yet. Ugh. Rant over.
Yeah ok Sara but if you don’t get a vaccination then you are like a billion percent more at risk for ACQUIRING THE DISEASE and perpetuating the proliferation of once-eliminated diseases. “At risk for side effects”- everything has side effects and everyone is at risk, so equating an increased CHANCE at experiencing a side effect to the actual social health damage done by forgoing vaccines is lame.
New York just eliminated religious exceptions for vaccines because of the recent measles outbreak.
This is a woman who opened a high-end restaurant for kids. Can you imagine what someone might have caught in there? Yuck-o.
I was thinking that too! I’d imagine there were lots of other like minded parents there, they’re lucky there wasn’t some sort of outbreak.
That stupid restaurant closed last year and she stiffed her employees. So yeah we should all listen to this dumb dumb.
A high end restaurant that failed a health inspection during its run. So no, this does not shock me about her.
that’s what i said!!!!
Looks like someone is trying to have it both ways. She’s clearly anti-vaxx and she has a disease carrying child (who should remain at home always) but when the press got wind of it, she tries to deny it? There was one CA legislator that obviously agreed with her cuz he posted a pic of himself with JB and thanking her for coming out to speak. I don’t know him and he doesn’t represent my district but if anyone knows this clown, please vote him out. He’s as stupid as the Trumpsters.
The fact that both RJK Jr and this asshole were vaccinated as children and now advocate against it pisses me off.
She may not have a career but JT does. They are cancelled. If they don’t like it, move the f0–k out of CA.
I hope this hurts whatever career she has left and we never have to hear from her again.
Man. All those Vanderbeek kids! Unvaccinated! That’s horrible.
My child had a bad reaction to a vaccine. He had a seizure, brain swelling & hives. One of the scariest moments of my life. I couldn’t have him vaccinated, doctors orders. I will tell you I was soooo paranoid about him not having vaccines. I kept thinking he was going to get chicken pox, measles, mumps, etc… He was going to pass it on. He was going to be patient zero, lol.
Don’t yell at me anyone. It is very hard for me to understand why parents don’t want to vaccinate. I even have had anti-vaxxers come up to me and ask to share my story, especially because I lost my son. I want to scream “I wanted him vaccinated!” I lost him not because of vaccines. Not having him vaccinated was truly stressful for me as a parent.
Later he was able to have vaccines. It was when he was almost eighteen. He did get a little sick but not seizures. The doctor was very careful about how my son did the series of shots. I really truly do not understand anti-vaxxers arguments.
I am sorry for Jessica’s friends child. I hope he/she is fine. That’s her friends child not her child! Jessica’s son could catch the mumps and have serious medical consequences. You don’t go to Congress advocating on a friends child as your argument for why you don’t vaccinate your own child.
Stories like this rile me up. I know I am not the only one who couldn’t have their child vaccinated and wanted those vaccines. I know I am not the only parent who had stress and worry about it too.
Anti-vaxxers just make parents look bad that have legitimate medical reasons to not have their child vaccinated. They need to stop using us as excuses for their own platform. Jessica’s friend could have went to Congress. Don’t see why Jessica needs to be there. She sounds like the type that likes to make waves without an ocean.
I’ve been saying for years, since moving overseas (to Guinea and Rwanda since 2001) that people like Jessica Biel are able to have the positions they have because they don’t know children – many, many children – who have died of communicable diseases. Diseases that are avoidable because of vaccinations. It’s so easy to be skeptical when you don’t count on your hands the number of living brothers and sisters you have versus those that have died. It’s an impossibility for people like her, in the U.S., to understand the impact vaccines have had on our ability to survive childhood.
Because, by default, you only hear from people who DIDN’T die. That’s the way of life. Like riding a motorcycle – you hear from people all the time who ride without helmets, and they are perfectly fine! But you don’t hear from the people who died because they rode without a helmet. That’s how anti-vaxxers get to spread their malicious lies.
Jessica Biel isn’t even qualified to play doctor on TV.
I’m just waiting for someone to sue an anti-vaxxer for spreading a once eradicated disease.
You needn’t wait for long
Tuberculosis is on the rise.
Because in western nations that disease had been erased by vaccinations – as a consequence – those tuberculosis vaccinations have been abolished.
Nowadays children are often not vaccinated against tuberculosis because it is considered to be obsolete.
But thanks to the European refugee crisis – tuberculosis is back on the rise. Because a lot of these refugees bring tuberculosis with them. And it is a very tricky infectious disease. And there are lots of resistant tuberculosis bacteria families by now.
So tuberculosis is back.
It was really true, because 3 years ago ,I’d had pulmonary turbulence, I had the vaccination against the tuberculosis at the age of 9 years,there is normally another second vaccine to be made at age 13 but the anti-tuberculosis vaccination was suppressed.Add that the turberculeuse is one of the most dangerous bacteria because it is caught by breathing, consequently everyone one can be touched.
The concern with refugee’s who bring TB with them is that they are bringing a drug resistant strain (see article below).
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/19/rise-drug-resistance-tb-cases-threatens-europe/
I was recently surprised to learn that in the UK they no longer give teenagers the TB vaccine (BCG TB) – I was about 12/13 when I got it at school and have a lovely scar on my arm to prove it.
I am vaccinated and I trust in vaccinations. I am not an anti-vaxxer.
While I agree that you shouldn’t force people to undergo medical treatments – vaccinations are a necessity. The near-erasure of pox and polio is of great benefit to mankind.
There might be solid medical reasons for delaying a vaccination or perhaps even for not doing it at all but these are very very rare exemptions.
To put it quite frankly: should Biel’s children catch polio and should it become necessary for them to have an iron lung or the modern version then I would not want to pay for it. Because it was entirely perfectly and easily avoidable. Because polio vaccinations have been there for decades. Because they are safer than most other medications. So why should I pay for medical treatment of the polio-handicapped child of a delusional mother?
And worse: if you look into the information leaflets of these vaccinations then you see the quotas: that certain vaccinations have a certain efficiency factor. for example: 95 of 100 people develop the respective antibodes as desired by getting vaccinated. But 5 of 100 don’t.
Don’t get me wrong: I am vaccinated against all the usual diseases and I trust in these vaccinations. But I am worried because my immune system is sort of “rigged” and often doesn’t respond properly to infections (not HIV). And the efficiency factor of vaccinations means that it might be the case that some vaccinations didn’t really ‘teach’ my immune system to fight a disease.
For example: I was vaccinated against pertussis (whooping cough) properly. The vaccinations should have worked and were timed correctly etc. But nevertheless I caught whooping cough about 7 years ago. It was awful. Three years later I got my regular pertussis vaccination refreshing shot. I thought I was safe. Nope. Last year: whooping cough. There was a little whooping cough epidemic in my country and somebody infected me. 2nd time whooping cough despite being vaxxed.
In other words: thanks to my rigged immune system I need to trust in other people to not spread any diseases. Aka I need to trust other people that they got vaccinated so that they won’t infect me.
Apparently Biel’s children would infect me. I am disgusted. Stay away from me, Biel family.
I fully support a ban of anti-vaxxers from schools and hospitals and public departments. Or they should say if they allow them in or not.
In the end all medications have side effects. And there are lots of medications who are deemed to be somewhat unsafe. Often they just haven’t been forbidden because there was nothing else in terms of replacement.
What I would really like to know is if Biel has issues with other medications or medicine in general as well? Surely there is some bogus science article which “proves” that antibiotics cause autism or paralysis or pregnancy? 😀
I think Marlee Matlin defended Biel on Twitter too, calling out people for “bullying” her. Ugh.
I feel sorry for the kids of anti-vaxxers. It’s Darwinism, but the kids pay the price.
If you are curious about the issue as a whole, read Seth Mnookin’s excellent book, The Panic Virus. It takes the reader through the history of vaccines, the junk science that started the vaccine-autism controversy ( there is NO connection between vaccines and autism, a fact which has been repeatedly and recently supported with data), and the social media explosion which allowed conspiracy theories about vaccines and the anti-vaxx movement to thrive. He even takes Oprah to task for allowing Jenny McCarthy to come on her show and spout off about her “Mommy Intuition” about her child’s autism and the vaccines that she believed caused it…because Oprah allowing that gave McCarthy credibility and seriously helped to further the anti-vaxx movement at its inception. Mnookin does acknowledge and tell stories of some families whose children did have bad reactions to vaccines–it happens, just as some kids have bad reactions to antibiotics or other medical treatments. And at times, these reactions can be life-altering and very sad. But his overall point is that vaccines are, for the vast, vast majority, safe, and that not vaccinating is a devastating choice for oneself, for one’s child, and for the countless other humans who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons and who depend on herd immunity to stay safe. It’s a terrific book–readable, informative, and convincing.
This story, which makes my blood boil, reminds me of a story I read earlier in the week or maybe last week — RFK Jr’s family members wrote an op ed shaming him for his stance.
I checked Biel’s Wikipedia because I had the sinking feeling that she was born in my mostly normal but occasionally wingnut state. I was right, so I have to cancel *and* disown her. It also said that her mom was a homemaker/spiritual healer, so… yeah. Maybe the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, there.
Where’s her husband now?
I didn’t follow a regular vaccine schedule for my child as two of my siblings had a bad reaction to the MMR vaccine (I never thought the issue lay with the vaccine itself; it’s some issue with our gene pool). So…I did one vaccine a month for his first year of life and by 13 months, he was back on schedule. It was a huge pain in the ass to go in every month and wait for hours (public system), but I wanted a conservative approach given my family history. REGARDLESS I STILL FREAKING VACCINATED AND ONLY SLIGHTLY OFF SCHEDULE—there is really no excuse for not vaccinating because “you know someone who had a bad experience”
The only thing worse than anti-vaxxers are anti-vaxxers that pretend they’re not and spout BS like this and make it sound like they are just fighting for the rights of the parents and the kids.
Truthfully, I’m most surprised that anyone cares what Jessica Biel thinks and I’m disappointed my state legislators are giving her a platform.
She knew this was gonna bring her attention and think at the end of the day that was all she wanted.
If you look at the current vaccine schedule, you might actually change your point of view on making children have “the regular vaccine schedule.”
Do you think that you could handle getting 9 different virus injections at once? I had a 102 F fever for 3 days after getting just the tetanus vaccine a few years ago – and then got tetanus within 5 years!
There’s nothing wrong with doctors working with parents to make a delayed schedule so that the child isn’t overwhelmed, and it is true that some children – and adults – can’t have vaccinations at all due to adverse reactions. I know that I’ll never have another tetanus vaccine. (The formula was changed in the early 9o’s; I had never reacted badly to one before it was changed.)
Soz….. don’t believe you?
Tetanus vaccine prevents the disease in almost every single person, especially if you received it just 5 years earlier.
Contracting it is exceptionally rare once vaccinated. Was this you mentioned in this review article?
An unexpected tetanus case
Ergonul O, et al. Lancet Infect Dis. 2016.
Thousands and thousands of people had the regular vaccine schedule. We’re all fine.
Choosing to disregard well-established science because 1) you happened to fall into the miniscule percentage of people who had an adverse reaction to vaccines and 2) you want to give in to your fears and worst impulses is just sheer idiocy.
My 2 year old niece had to get three vaccines in one day because my absent minded sister had forgot the scheduled days. We were all worried about how she’d take it, and she was perfectly fine.
Angel, do you really mean tetanus, or pertussis? Tetanus has a high mortality rate and is very unusual in developed countries. 5 years is the cutoff of you got a riskier wound (rusty metal, something with dirt on it, bad injection needle). It could just be possible that you SURVIVED the infection (if that’s what you have) because of the vaccination.
Actors should not be allowed to talk about medical science unless they are also scientific researchers with at least a masters in science or unless they are physicians…… and that leaves you only – Ken Jeoung aka Mr.Chow from the Hangover!!!!!!
The whole point of the vaccination schedule is to make sure your child is completely immune to these fatal child diseases ASAP. It is not arbitrary. There is an immunological/medical reason behind it.
Do not be stupid!
Listen to all the Pediatricians, Scientists and Medical Specialists that actually have the rigorously medical training and experience to be on the Child Survival Program.
I actually cannot believe I have to write this statement in the USA, in 2019.
I am a doctor old enough to have seen babies die from some of these diseases. If Jessica had witnessed what I and others have, she may not hold this uneducated, ignorant stance.
That’s the problem though: they haven’t seen how bad it can get because they’ve stayed safe because of vaccines. They also consistently don’t understand that correlation doesn’t imply causation and N = 1 is an anecdote and not empirical proof. This gives them room to think up all these paranoid ideas. When coupled with arrogance that they know better than medical professionals and over 200 years of experience with vaccines it leads to taking unnecessary risks just to have their own way.
Any parent who wants to refuse these vaccinations should have to sit through a video of a child with an active pertussis infection (see YouTube, there are plenty), a historical video on the effects of polio, and another one on the 10s of millions of people who died in the flu epidemic of 1918.
I’m sure we could find a few videos of tetanus spasms. Diphtheria still kills people in some parts of the world – want to suffocate as the back of your throat erodes into a membrane that cuts off your breathing?
When a “consumer” buys the wrong pair of shoes it won’t kill them. When a patient goes by false information, it could. When people don’t vaccinate their children, it could kill others, to boot.
Some of the anti-vaccination sites can be convincing – until you look at their references and realize they keep citing one article or one author.
My son had a mild injection-site reaction to a vaccine. It swelled up and was hot to the touch and he had to take antibiotics. You should have seen my poor pediatrician trying to convince me that I still should continue to vaccinate (incorrectly assuming because of this I’d now be skeptical). I told her quickly it was no issue and we’d continue on the vaccination schedule as planned. You could tell she was terrified I’d stop vaccinating my kids. It made me think she’d dealt with it before from others. She refuses to see unvaccinated kids and I applaud her for it!
Your pediatrician sounds like someone who actually cares about children being healthy unlike these antivaxxers who care more about feeding their own ego. Poor doctors having to go through all that medical training and then having to deal with these Google m.d.s thinking they know beter.
I looked up my vaccinations and there were quite a few. The only reaction I ever had was a throbbing pain in my arm for about 5 min. Thankfully my parents had common sense and just soothed me until the pain went away. If one of these antivaxxers had been my parent they would have gone crazy.
My daughter had to get double vaccinations at three months as my Pediatrican didn’t want to accept her vax records from Ethiopia.. I asked her if there were any side affects from getting double shots, she said no and that was that. Later she told me she was so relieved I wasn’t one of “those” moms. That was ten years ago when literally a third of the pre-school age kids in my California bubble town were unvaccinated.. so happy the state banned opting out for personal beliefs after that time.. I can’t imagine the consequences if they didn’t stop it when they did.
Why would anyone listen to Jessica Biel?
Arrogance and confirmation bias. Arrogance as in: I know better than all these medical professionals and over 200 years of experience with and facts on vaccinations. Confirmation bias as in: Jessica Biel may be just an actress with barely 2 years of university under her belt but she agrees with me so she must be right.
At age 60 I caught pertussis (whooping cough in adults) from a woman at work who hadn’t vaccinated her children. By the time you get over 50 the effectiveness of childhood vaccinations wears off. Well long story short I was sicker than I’d been in decades. You can’t breathe, you cough until you vomit, you run a high fever, you have a headache so bad you feel like you’re having a stroke. I was sick for 2 weeks and it took me a long time to get my energy back. If I hadn’t been in such good health I would have been hospitalized – in any event I had to stay home from work for 2 weeks until I wasn’t contagious AND my 85 year old mother was living with me at the time. I pretty much isolated myself in my room and washed EVERYTHING I touched in disinfectant. If she’d caught it she could very well have died.
But we’re supposed to take medical advice from some bone-headed rich celebrity who lives in a bubble? She is stupid but it’s dangerously stupid because her celebrity makes her an influencer. I hope someone sends her a picture of a sick child who could have avoided a serious illness by getting vaccinated – seeing photos of a dangerously sick 2 year-old with measles, whooping cough, scarlet fever or mumps isn’t pretty.