Conspiracy theories, mRNA, covid and autism: Why do so many struggle to get on board with vaccines?

As RFK Jr rips up America's scientific vaccine orthodoxy, what should the church be doing?

The prominent vaccine sceptic turned US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr is hard at work tearing apart America’s vaccine orthodoxy and establishment. For decades now questions have been raised about a supposed link between the MMR vaccine and autism. And the pandemic turbocharged vaccine hesitancy and the anti-vax movement. So what is the evidence that vaccination protects us from disease without causing us harm? Are the side effects actually so rare? Were corners cut by Big Pharma and the medical establishment in the rush to roll out covid jabs? And why do so many, including Christians, find it hard to trust the mountains of scientific evidence which points to the safety and efficacy of vaccination? Is the church especially fertile soil for conspiracy theories and mistrust of science to grow – and if so, should we be worried about this?

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