The Campaign Against Vaccination: A Personal Attack
Rumblings of the Anti-Vax Movement
At the outset of Dr. Switzer’s career, Facebook was in its infancy, and Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok didn’t exist. Most misinformation was spread by word-of-mouth, and pediatricians could easily dispel myths and erroneous statements made by parents’ friends or family members.
Upon learning about parents who were wary of vaccines, Dr. Switzer decided the best option was to educate parents and guardians about how vaccines save lives and help protect their children’s health. What she didn’t expect, though, was the pushback that came from local anti-vaccine groups.
How the Harassment Began
“Nobody wants to see all the chemical names of an apple. I mean, it’s an apple, right? But there’s so many chemical names to it, but it makes it not sound like an apple.” — Dr. Eve Switzer
As Dr. Switzer prepared to pass the baton to the next chapter president of the Oklahoma American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Oklahoma’s House and Senate passed legislation mandating pediatricians provide a vaccine ingredient list to all parents. While the chapter was initially unaware of the legislation, it was brought to their attention by a request for input from the governor’s office. After discussing the issue with other members of the chapter, Dr. Switzer responded with their concerns that this pamphlet might benefit patients but would more likely fuel a lack of trust in science.
In Dr. Switzer’s opinion, handing a list of long chemical names to parents would create larger problems. Chemical names can sound severe, scare parents, and harm their understanding of vaccines. Anti-vaccine activists often use this powerful tactic to sway people against vaccines. She worried that parents might soon see the vaccines and the pediatricians giving them as agents of harm.
Dr. Switzer wrote a letter to the governor explaining these scare tactics and the eventual effect they may have on children, and she vetoed the bill. Activists were angry. When a press release quoted Dr. Switzer’s stance and described the action she took, the harassment — and the campaign to discredit her — began.
When Everything Got Worse
“…they shared that article amongst their group and also on all their Facebook channels and Twitter and stuff like that. And the accusation was ‘Oklahoma pediatrician gives flu vaccine without permission.'” — Dr. Eve Switzer
Around 2015, Dr. Switzer’s office decided to stop asking if patients wanted the flu vaccine with the rest of their shots and instead offer it as a part of normal vaccination treatment (similar to other routine childhood shots such as vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus, and polio). One patient’s mother refused the flu vaccine, but it was given anyway in a moment of oversight. It was a simple mistake that could be resolved with a discussion and an apology — or so Dr. Switzer thought.
Dr. Switzer wrote about the oversight and how it occurred in an article for the AAP newsletter. Anti-vaccine activists snapped up the story and immediately began posting and sharing it on X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook. They passed it along to friends and family with abundance. Unfortunately, they also chose to focus on one aspect of the story in particular, which was that a pediatrician gave a flu vaccine without permission.
Why Dr. Switzer Took a Stand
It’s easy to see how a simple mistake can snowball into a wave of misinformation and distrust in the medical industry. Anti-vaccine activists began sending nasty and threatening emails to Dr. Switzer and posting on her social media, telling her that she deserved to receive 10,000 vaccines and asking wildly inappropriate questions.
Dr. Switzer received threatening voicemails, and countless people calling her practice demanded to speak with her. Her office staff grew uncomfortable with the harassment, but there was little anyone could do to prevent it. Most threats, even the disturbing ones, were implied rather than explicit. Because of their vague and sometimes odd nature, the police were unable to stop the barrage of insults and animosity hurled at Dr. Switzer and her practice. Dr. Switzer knew she had to take matters into her own hands.
