DR. PETER HOTEZ: “SNUFF OUT” ANTI VACCINE MOVEMENT~SUGGESTS AN ARRAY OF PUNISHMENTS FOR THOSE WHO CRITICIZE VACCINES

republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:

Occasionally, I come across an article that really
riles me. Okay fine, when it comes to vaccine science and vaccination
policy, I’ll admit this happens almost every day. Still, there was an
opinion published recently in Scientific American that I found
particularly annoying. It’s titled “Will an American-Led Anti-Vaccine
Movement Subvert Global Health?” and was written by pediatrician Peter
J. Hotez, MD, PhD,1 director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development2 in Houston and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine.3

The piece starts out with an image of an old 1902 invitation for
membership by the Anti-Vaccination Society of America. The invitation
reads:

The Anti-Vaccination Society of America. Otherwise: An
Association of “half-mad”, “misguided” people who write, and toil, and
dream, of a time to come, when it shall be lawful to retain intact the
pure body Mother Nature gave, sends GREETING to a “suspect”. “Liberty
cannot be given, it must be taken.” You are Invited to Join Us.1 4

One of the aims of the opinion piece is to tout the gains made
vaccination programs throughout history, while cautioning that these
“gains can be fragile.”1

The primary aim of the article, however, is clearly to warn about the dangers posed to those gains by people who do not get every government endorsed vaccine or decline to one or more of them to their children.
Dr. Hotez cites a report by Daniel Salmon at the Johns Hopkins
Institute of Vaccine Safety and Saad Omer at Emory’s Rollins School of
Public Health claiming that most of the measles cases in the United
States in 2015 can be blamed on “intentionally unvaccinated” people.1

The purpose of this exercise in fear-mongering by Dr. Hotez appears
to be to create a convenient scapegoat for any infectious disease
outbreak that occurs and, thereby, add weight to calls for forced
vaccination campaigns in the U.S. Dr. Hotez seems to harbor particular
concern about citizen efforts in Texas to protect vaccine exemptions and
the impact that the movie Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe is having throughout the country in raising public awareness about vaccine risks. He describes Vaxxed as a “a faux documentary alleging a vast conspiracy and cover-up at the CDC.”1

Dr. Hotez also mentions the Revolution for Truth march in Washington, D.C. on Mar. 31 sponsored by what he labels as “anti-vaccine groups” in Washington, DC on Mar. 31 and and he ridicules the idea of a vaccine safety commission reportedly being considered by the new administration.

These are all things that are of great concern to Dr. Hotez, who wrote:

I’m worried that America’s anti-vaccine movement has
sufficient strength and momentum to affect vaccine coverage globally.
Whether it’s Hollywood movies, rap music, or soft drinks, the world is
quick to embrace American culture. The “Vaxxed” tour has already begun
with showings so far in the United Kingdom, Australia, and elsewhere,
but I’m especially concerned about the large middle- and low-middle
income nations such as Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia,
Nigeria, and Russia. A small drop in measles vaccine coverage in those
nations would lead to measles outbreaks and deaths on a scale that we
haven’t seen since the years prior to EPI (Expanded Program on
Immunization).1

Dr. Hotez added:

Things might only get worse pending the imminent
expansion and export of an American-led anti-vaccine movement. We need to
recognize that the current activities in Texas and Washington DC could
ignite reversals of global disease elimination and eradication efforts
that are now more than 50 years in the making.1

Dr. Hotez is also a vaccine developer and president and director of the Sabin Vaccine Institute’s Product Development Partnership (PDP),5 and he is so
worried about the growth in size and influence of the grassroots
movement of well-educated people, who are questioning mainstream vaccine
science and demanding that their informed consent rights and basic
civil liberties be respected that he is actually calling for this
movement to be snuffed out.

Dr. Hotez closed his opinion by saying:

An American anti-vaccine movement is building and we need to take steps now to snuff it out.1

But what exactly does he mean by this. Does he mean that anyone who
questions the safety and effectiveness of vaccines or refuses a vaccine
should be penalized in some way? Is he suggesting prison time?
Certainly, he is not suggesting some sort of government sponsored
capital punishment?

For the record, let it be known that Dr. Hotez does have conflicts of
interest in making such a call. The Texas Children’s Hospital Center
for Vaccine Development receives a lot of money from government and
industry to develop and produce vaccines and so does the Sabin Vaccine
Institute.6 7 8 9 10
And while he has written, “I will never see a penny from our
vaccines,” there is a lot of money flowing into and out of the
institutions in which he has prominent positions and exerts substantial influence regarding vaccine development and promotion.6 Dr. Hotez has been described as an “advocate” and “spokesperson” for the vaccine industry.9 

Dr. Hotez, you’ve left me wondering about how far you’re willing to go. Please elaborate on what you have in mind when you refer to snuffing out a movement. You do realize that you’re talking about people—in many cases, parents who, just like you,1
have a daughter or son with autism? In some cases, more than one
daughter or son with autism. The idea that you would seek to deny their
right to dissent and speak out and tell their personal stories is so
repulsive that I can… barely speak.

References:
 1 Hotez PJ. Will an American-Led Anti-Vaccine Movement Subvert Global Health? Scientific American Mar. 3, 2017.
2 Hotez PJ. How the Anti-Vaxxers Are Winning. The New York Times Feb. 8, 2017.
3 Peter Jay Hotez, MD, PhD. Baylor College of Medicine.
4 Youngdahl K. The Anti-Vaccination Society of America: Correspondence. The History of Vaccines Mar. 8, 2012.
5 Sabin Vaccine Institute. Leadership. Sabin.org.
6 Handley JB. My (real) apology to Dr. Hotez, and demand for the same. Medium.com/@jbhandley Feb. 11, 2017.
7 Pathak D. Grant to develop chikungunya virus vaccine awarded. Baylor College of Medicine Aug. 30, 2016.
8 Deam J. New grant will help develop vaccine to treat deadly Chagas disease. Houston Chronicle July 29, 2015.
9 Gharib M. #NPRWormWeek: The Scientist Who’s Waging A War On Worms. NPR Aug. 8, 2016.
10 Sabin Vaccine Institute. Sabin Vaccine Institute Awarded Funding to Advance Country Ownership of Immunization. Sabin.org (press release) Aug. 25, 2016.