Federal Loans Were Given to Anti-Vaccine Groups

     I had very mixed thoughts on the article. The article first talks about how the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) gave more than 850,000 dollars to anti-vaccine organization. One thing that I don't understand is, why is the government giving money to groups seeking to undermine public health during a pandemic. The groups also have been banned from all social media platforms for spreading false information. 

     So far, the vaccine has been considered safe and effective but some American people still don't want to believe it. There was a survey for Americans asking if they will take the vaccine and 40% said no. Groups including Republicans and African Americans are even more skeptical. I can understand that people might think it's to early on to take the vaccine but I don't think it's okay to spread false information about it as an excuse to say no to taking it. 

    The largest loan at 350,000 dollars from the PPP went to Mercola, an organization led by Joseph Mercola, a very well-known anti-vaccine activist and businessman. The left-leaning human rights group Avaaz deemed one of Mercola's groups on Facebook one of the leading "super spreaders" of misinformation about about the coronavirus. 

    The smallest loan, 72,000 dollars, went to the Tenpenny organizations, which is run by Sherri Tenpenny, an osteopathic physician and social media figure who is against vaccinations for children. One of her pages were banned on Facebook due to misinformation. I find it to be strange how a physician is spreading misinformation about the vaccine when she works in the medicine industry. 

    The Children's Health Defense Co., founded by Robert Kennedy Jr., does not oppose the vaccine but does question it. They have questioned if the vaccine has received approval from the food and drug administration, as well as if children should be vaccinated. The group spread a lot of false information in late 2019 about the virus as they then got restricted by Facebook to advertise. In 2020 the group sued Facebook and its fact-checking partners over the ad ban and the debunking of their advertisement. 

    Overall, the anti-vaccine groups are ramping up their tactics to and messaging false info during a time where Americans are trying to get as much information that they need before taking the vaccine. I don't think this is right because it almost feels like they're trying to keep the pandemic going and prevent people from getting the vaccine. I also don't understand why the government is paying these groups when they are supposed to be taking care of the American people. 




     


  

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