‘Misinformation is rife’: Readers on why parents are skipping the measles vaccine

Charlotte Cripps’ account of delaying her children’s MMR vaccinations sparked a wide-ranging response from Independent readers.

Many sympathised with her story and praised her bravery in sharing it, noting that even well-educated parents can be influenced by online misinformation and by past controversies, such as those sparked by Andrew Wakefield, the former British doctor who promoted the widely discredited claim that the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism and bowel disease.

At the same time, readers highlighted the serious risks of non-vaccination. Personal stories of measles, rubella, polio, and meningitis showed the potential for lifelong consequences, while many noted that vaccines protect not just children but also those too young or medically unable to be immunised.

Some reflected on past generations, who understood the dangers of preventable diseases because they had seen their impact firsthand.

Commenters also criticised the spread of misinformation through social media, wellness influencers, and political actors, linking vaccine scepticism to a broader distrust of experts and institutions.

While readers acknowledged the challenges of navigating modern misinformation, there was broad agreement that it should be filtered out and children ultimately immunised to keep them and others safe.

Here’s what you had to say:

Overthinking parents

As a retired health visitor, I dealt with many parents like this following the Wakefield furore. It is generally assumed that it is the less educated who fail to get their children vaccinated, but it is often those educated parents who overthink their parenting responsibilities and prefer to listen to conspiracy theories rather than use common sense.

I used to give parents an account written by Roald Dahl about the death of his own daughter from encephalitis to show them the stark reality of neglecting their parental responsibility. People don’t realise that not only is it their own child at risk, but they put at risk children and adults who are immunocompromised and cannot be vaccinated.

It is a social and personal responsibility to immunise children where possible. Interestingly, it was always immigrant families from poorer parts of the world who were grateful to have their children vaccinated, having seen too many children in their communities suffer. If only we could immunise parents against stupidity and self-indulgence.

HappilyRetiredWoman

Understanding vaccine hesitancy

I disagree with the author’s actions but respect her for admitting she was wrong and explaining to the rest of us how vaccine scepticism works to become mainstream and almost respectable. Even hesitancy leads to delays whilst mums think about what is the right thing to do, and then inevitably the child remains unprotected.

We grandparents, friends and others, and most especially the medical profession, need to understand this motivation if babies and children are to be protected, so discussions with parents can happen in an effective way.

In addition, there need to be systems to catch the ‘hesitant’ parent when they miss out on vaccinations, with follow-up appointments with a health visitor where their doubts are taken seriously and discussed in relation to the actual evidence.

Perhaps we need more understanding that mums nearly always are trying to do their best, and there are powerful forces pulling them in harmful directions that need an intelligent strategy if we are to counter them.

Kate

There should be vaccine mandates

A simple conversation with your health visitor, nurse or GP would have been the way to go. My middle child was born just after the Wakefield thing broke, and I was a bit nervous about the MMR, but I spoke to my health visitor and she said that she had never seen a case of MMR harm in the years she had been working with children. That put my mind at rest, and I got my daughter vaccinated.

My son, who is 11 years older, didn’t get the first two whooping cough vaccines because he had seizures after he was born, but when he had gone six months without a seizure, he got the vaccinations.

There should be vaccine mandates for nursery and school, with exceptions only for medical conditions that make vaccines unsafe for that particular child. There shouldn’t be exceptions for belief of any kind – children are individuals with their own rights. They are not the property of their parents, and they have the right to be kept safe and free from preventable illness.

CScarlett

Vaccinated against everything

I was an army brat and was routinely vaccinated against everything there was a vaccine for: typhoid, smallpox, yellow fever… I’m in my early 70s now, and I don’t think they did me any harm. I remember seeing children with leg braces because of polio.

Vaccines don’t just protect your child; they protect those who are too young for vaccines. I contracted whooping cough as a newborn, too young to be vaccinated. I wasn’t expected to live and was given an emergency baptism in hospital by the Army Padre.

I have always been pro-vaccine and made sure my children always had their jabs. I do understand why many people were worried by Wakefield’s claims about MMR. He did a lot of damage and was struck off the UK Medical Register because of it.

RandomName

More critical thinking

A brave article on such a contentious issue, and one that certainly gives some insight into the decision-making processes of the vaccine hesitant.

My own daughter’s vaccination programme was in the heat of the original Andrew Wakefield study debate, and we were told about this by the district nurse. I have a science degree and knew that Wakefield’s sample size was far too small to show statistical significance, so I had no hesitation in having her vaccinated. Neither have I believed any of the bunkum surrounding the Covid vaccine.

But I don’t think you need a science degree to come to these conclusions. Just a bit more critical thinking and a bit less social media.

RickC

Everyone who can should

I’m in my 50s and have deafness from contracting rubella when I was five, which worsened when I caught measles aged six. I don’t know if there wasn’t vaccination when I was small or if my mother didn’t bother. Either way, vaccination is so important, as there are children and people who are unable to be vaccinated because of underlying health issues, so everyone who can should.

The effects of non-vaccination can be lifelong, and in some instances, deadly. All my children have been fully vaccinated to protect themselves and the people who come into contact with them.

Northerners

Misinformation is rife

The anti-vax movement is truly alarming. Middle-class parents may feel they are “informed,” but misinformation is rife, and children suffer the consequences of being put at risk of serious damage by not being vaccinated.

The first vaccine against smallpox was in the 1850s, as it was found that farm workers who had had cowpox were immune to smallpox, so a vaccine was developed. There were some anti-vax views, and the vaccine was made compulsory in 1867.

I think we should be considering this for today’s vaccines rather than parents allowing the spread of disease through misinformation and bad decision-making that affects other children as well as their own.

Astrogenie

Relearning a hard lesson

Many Boomers, as children, would have met others who had been disabled by the so-called childhood illnesses. A former neighbour of mine was blind because of the complications of measles she caught as a child. My father’s best friend, who he went to school with, was unable to walk because of polio.

People had their children vaccinated because they could see the consequences of not doing so around them. Perhaps people need to relearn that hard lesson.

knightmareowl

Backlash against expertise

The anti-vax movement is just one more symptom of the backlash against expertise. Gove didn’t invent it – there has always been an anti-intellectual strain in Britain – but he did, to some extent, mainstream and legitimise it.

Sadly, I see now even the NHS is pandering to this rot. I was horrified last year to discover the “patient knows best” branding in my treatment plan. I’m utterly sick of hearing this sort of nonsense from people who think they know better than qualified medical experts, the Alfie’s Army phenomenon all over again.

PadraigMahone

Wellness industry and misinformation

I blame the so-called ‘wellness’ industry. It’s a swamp of misinformation and has been taken over by the far right, who use it to create rabbit holes to suck people in.

I’d be equally concerned about the rise of fascism as I would be about spreading measles

Tabbers

Far-right exploitation of mistrust

In the early days of Covid, it was fairly easy to trace anti-vax posts on Facebook back to pro-Trump sites in the US, which should have been enough for people to question the motives of the entire movement. They inserted themselves into any group they thought might be vaguely ‘anti-authority’ – vegan groups were a prime target, along with anything a bit ‘alternative’ or ‘natural medicine’-orientated. Obviously, these types of groups comprise large numbers of young people, ripe for political indoctrination. It is to the credit of young people that by and large, and despite the huge efforts made, they have not fallen for it.

Sowing mistrust in science is what the far-right does, and the upside for them is that it makes people vulnerable to manipulation – hence the link between anti-vax, climate denial, and ultimately far-right hate.

Ali446

Some of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.

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