Vaxxed II Release Raises Fears

Documentary is produced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., among others
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 31, 2019 2:58 PM CDT
Vaxxed II Release Raises Fears
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is shown after speaking at a hearing challenging the constitutionality of the state legislature's repeal of the religious exemption to vaccination on behalf of New York state families who held lawful religious exemptions, outside the Albany County Courthouse Aug. 14, 2019.   (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

As several US states battle measles outbreaks fueled by anti-vaccination sentiment, there are fears that sentiment could spread with the release of Vaxxed II: The People's Truth. The anti-vaccination documentary, a sequel to 2016's Vaxxed, will be released Nov. 6, the Guardian reports. It will premiere in dozens of venues across the US, and will also tour the country by bus. Producers, including famed vaccination skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are keeping details hush-hush in an attempt to thwart efforts to restrict the film's reach, as opponents attempted to do with its predecessor; indeed, the new movie's tagline is "The film they can't let you see." Newsweek explains that when purchasing tickets on the official website, customers are told the location of the "secret screening" will be emailed to them on the night of the showing.

The Guardian has viewed the film, and calls it a "slickly produced" movie that could easily sway viewers. It peddles the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism, and also claims ("without offering any evidence," per the Guardian) that vaccines caused the deaths of multiple babies, shown in photographs in the film, who died before reaching the age of 2. Medical experts are concerned that if measles levels continue to rise in the US, where the disease was once considered eliminated, tragedy will follow: "If that level rises to 2,000 or 3,000 cases a year we will start to see children dying of measles once again," says one. "That’s the dangerous game that is being played here." This year, 1,250 cases have been seen in the US so far. (More anti-vaccination stories.)

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