WATCH: John Oliver Tears Apart The Anti-Vaccine Movement

John Oliver, the host of Last Week Tonight, has gone after the anti-vaccine movement. Hard. He dedicated almost 30 minutes of his show to vaccines, which he rightly described as “one of humanity’s greatest accomplishments.” He talked about how people once celebrated vaccines and lined up for them “like an iPhone.”

He tore into the anti-vaccine movement, which is made up of many parents who believe that vaccines cause autism. These fears stem from a now debunked study that showed a link between autism and the MMR (mumps measles rubella) vaccine. The doctor has since lost his license and the article was retracted.

Oliver described him as:

“He’s basically the Lance Armstrong of doctors.”

President Trump himself has expressed doubts about vaccines. He believes that vaccines should be spaced out more. Many parents are doing this as well. However, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has said that this is not recommended because children could contract the diseases in the time between getting the shots.

John Oliver also had some harsh words for Dr. Bob Sears, who has built an empire on spreading skepticism about vaccines. However, he has admitted that his theories are not backed up by peer reviews. He says that he does it to make parents more comfortable to vaccinate. Oliver says:

“Your job is to make sure children don’t get deadly diseases, not to make parents feel comfortable. You’re a pediatrician, not a flask of whiskey tucked into a Baby Bjorn.”

Sears once said that “vaccines don’t cause autism, except when they do.” Oliver fired back with:

“Don’t worry, opportunist quacks writing books that fan the flames of people’s unfounded fears don’t cause a legitimate public health hazard, except when they do.”

He ended the segment on a personal note, saying that parenting is “terrifying.” He talked about his own child who was born prematurely. He said that he is getting his son fully vaccinated on schedule. Here is the entire segment below:

Featured image via YouTube screenshot.

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