Signal boost: Delta Airlines and anti-vaccination propaganda
The Bad Astronomer tells us that Delta Airlines has contracted to show commercials produced by the anti-vaccination group that sarcastically calls itself "The National Vaccine Information Center."
I wasn't sure how best to contact Delta over this, so I used the customer complaint form. This is what I said:
I have used Delta almost exclusively for travel between Europe and the United States since my son began medical school in Prague. I pay for my own and my son's travel back and forth, and also for his travel to other countries and other continents, where he goes to practice his life-saving learning. But I won't be any longer unless I hear that the anti-vaccination ads are removed from your inflight material.
My family has made a great sacrifice to send my son to school to learn to save lives. It's not an exaggeration. I am a widow in a low-paying job. Every penny we spend has to count. And I will not be spending any of my hard-earned money to support an airline which is helping to convince people to put their children at danger of death. Last year at least nine babies died in California alone of pertussis because they were too young for vaccinations and the disease was passed to them from unvaccinated children or adults. Can you see where it might be especially galling for me -- the mother of a young doctor and a caregiver for infants too young for vaccination -- to buy my son and myself tickets to fly on a flight that lies to parents about this?
I can't believe you would take advertising money from these murderers, whose fallacious claims are rooted in the fraudulent claims of a known criminal (Wakefield, who has been stripped of his credentials and fled his home country to live off the fears of his gullible followers here in the US). I'll be telling everyone I know not to buy tickets for your flights until you stop.
I have had otherwise good experiences with your airline and would be more than happy to recommend your services if it were not for this scandalous complicity with murderous fraud.
I maybe did thr wrong thing by focussing on pertussis because the ads are against flu vaccines. However, any equally strong case can be made for flu vaccines. I got both the latest flu and a D-TAP booster yesterday, by the way. How about you? They're being recommended for everyone, now, not just high risk groups and their caregivers.
I wasn't sure how best to contact Delta over this, so I used the customer complaint form. This is what I said:
I have used Delta almost exclusively for travel between Europe and the United States since my son began medical school in Prague. I pay for my own and my son's travel back and forth, and also for his travel to other countries and other continents, where he goes to practice his life-saving learning. But I won't be any longer unless I hear that the anti-vaccination ads are removed from your inflight material.
My family has made a great sacrifice to send my son to school to learn to save lives. It's not an exaggeration. I am a widow in a low-paying job. Every penny we spend has to count. And I will not be spending any of my hard-earned money to support an airline which is helping to convince people to put their children at danger of death. Last year at least nine babies died in California alone of pertussis because they were too young for vaccinations and the disease was passed to them from unvaccinated children or adults. Can you see where it might be especially galling for me -- the mother of a young doctor and a caregiver for infants too young for vaccination -- to buy my son and myself tickets to fly on a flight that lies to parents about this?
I can't believe you would take advertising money from these murderers, whose fallacious claims are rooted in the fraudulent claims of a known criminal (Wakefield, who has been stripped of his credentials and fled his home country to live off the fears of his gullible followers here in the US). I'll be telling everyone I know not to buy tickets for your flights until you stop.
I have had otherwise good experiences with your airline and would be more than happy to recommend your services if it were not for this scandalous complicity with murderous fraud.
I maybe did thr wrong thing by focussing on pertussis because the ads are against flu vaccines. However, any equally strong case can be made for flu vaccines. I got both the latest flu and a D-TAP booster yesterday, by the way. How about you? They're being recommended for everyone, now, not just high risk groups and their caregivers.