Jen Glantz
is a professional bridesmaid (founder of the business Bridesmaid for Hire), and
a fluffy, empty, lightweight influencer and promoter of anti-vaccine-adjacent
nonsense about the flu shot. Glantz, of course, have no knowledge of,
understanding of, or background in any parts of medicine, but in 2019,
she
nevertheless published an article “I Refuse to Get a
Flu Shot, and I Won’t Apologize For It”, which is instructive for its
illustration of the myths, fallacies, misunderstandings, fears and failures of
reasoning that presumably often draw people into antivaccine beliefs. One of her reasons for rejecting the
flu shot was that the 2019 flu vaccine “only has a 17 perfect effectiveness
against the strain known as H3N2”, a claim Glantz clearly doesn’t understand (and which is also inaccurate).
Another reason was side effects, which are rare and mild and incredibly vastly rarer and milder than the side effects of the flu. Yet another, and more important
reason, was toxins; Glantz was concerned about
vaccine ingredients, including (in particular)
formaldehyde; “I would like to avoid any and
all toxins when I can”, said Glantz, unaware – of course – that the dose makes the poison, that the human body produces
millions of times more formaldehyde every day than would be received in any
vaccine, or that apples contain some million times more formaldehyde than
vaccines. But the main reason, of course, is pseudoreligious: vaccines are unnatural: “Staying healthy during flu season is my
priority [it isn’t, but assessing likelihoods and consequences isn’t Glantz’s
strong suit], but I’ve just chosen to do that the natural way. Instead of
injecting myself with toxins, I do things like practice good hygiene, take lots
of vitamins and natural supplements [which aren’t remotely going to help], and rely on my body and it’s
strength to fight off any unwanted bacteria.” Bacteria, viruses … whatever. This has
nothing to do with facts or accuracy.
Diagnosis:
Glantz is presumably a rather typical influencer: She is stupid, ignorant and
poor at reasoning, but supremely confident in her views and supremely willing
to take on any fact or expert if it doesn’t gel with her branding. And her
influence probably isn’t negligible.
Hat-tip:
Michael Simpson @ Skepticalraptor
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