Vaccine misinformation fuels ‘purebred’ movement

An anti-vaccination couple refusing blood transfusions for their child, Facebook groups inciting violence against doctors, an organization uniting unvaccinated donors: Disinformation about COVID-19 has spawned the so-called “purebred” movement.

The movement is spreading conspiracy theories based on unsubstantiated claims that receiving blood from people vaccinated against the coronavirus “contaminates” the body.

However, these theories are not based on “any scientific evidence,” he told reporters. AFP Catherine Wallace is an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

“If a man vaccinated donates blood to an unvaccinated person, a person who receives a transfusion does not become vaccinated,” he explained.

This does not prevent Internet users from speaking out in favor of creating blood banks dedicated to people not vaccinated against COVID-19, physicians in North America have also received a request.

newly couple New Zealand she tried to prevent a heart operation needed to save her child’s life on the grounds that she could get blood from a vaccinated donor.

The court temporarily lifted custody of the child to allow the proceedings, but the case became a landmark for anti-vaccine activists.

“Instances like this are spreading like wildfire on both minor and mainstream news sites, and then on social media, drawing attention to anti-vaccine conspiracy theories,” Wallace said.

On private social media groups, “pure blood” advocates promote violence against doctors who treat antiviral vaccines falsely claiming that the vaccinated are dying en masse.

In the pictures published in one of these groups, you can see, for example, a nurse with a syringe, standing in the middle of a field strewn with skulls, a journalist from AFP.

“Favorable”

Based in Zurich, Switzerland, Safe Blood Donation even seeks to connect donors and recipients. not vaccinated.

This association, founded by the Swiss naturopathic specialist George Della Pietra, promises on its website to receive unvaccinated blood, both “fresh” and “canned”, for its clients. It claims to have a presence in Western Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, Asia, and Africa.

“Many scientists and doctors have many concerns about coronavirus vaccines, and they are also convinced that they enter the body through the bloodstream, indirectly, you can say, and stay there,” he said. AFP Safe Blood Donor Officer Clinton Ohlers.

This directly contradicts scientific statements.

“Donated blood from people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine is safe to transfuse,” he said. AFP Jessa Merrill of the American Red Cross.

“Like other vaccines (…), the COVID-19 vaccine is designed to create an immune response to help protect a person from disease, but the components of the vaccine itself are not detectable in the bloodstream,” he added.

Safe Blood members must pay an initial €50 ($54) registration fee followed by a €20 annual subscription, according to their website.

“The safe blood movement is absolutely 100% based on misinformation against vaccines,” Wallace said. “And appealing to people’s fears, unfortunately, is beneficial.”

The search for so-called “purity” is not limited to blood.

Social media posts claim breast milk from unvaccinated mothers, as well as semen from men. not vaccinated, a precious commodity that conspiracy theorists say will be “the next bitcoin”. (AFP)