John Oliver on the non-science of antivaxxers

The host of Last Week Tonight devoted last night’s main segment to the anti-vaccine lunacy and why so many parents are quick to jump onto this particularly terrible bandwagon. Much of it boils down to basic science illiteracy: Those who don’t have a firm understanding of medicine and risk are more liable to be convinced by cranks peddling sciencey-sounding theories than by experts who actually know what they’re talking about.

Oliver takes pains to explain the basics, such as the ridiculous amount of safety research conducted and the importance of herd immunity, and to address some of the more prominent myths about vaccines. But the fact remains, as he also mentions, that no hours-long, point-by-point refutation of every conceivable antivax argument will ever be enough. The layfolk who merely pay attention to the wrong information sources may still be reached, but many antivaxxers are die-hard true-believers, the kind who show up to any vaccine debate with a ready-made list of spurious counter-arguments. These are people who have often been on the receiving end of lectures by medical professionals and who have come away just as benighted as before they began, if not more so (the backfire effect in action). There’s little point in debating people who don’t want an actual debate.

Nonetheless, Oliver’s piece is a good one (as per usual) and is definitely worth setting aside a half-hour for.