Texas-Based Anti-Vaccine Group Got Federal Bailout Money

The pandemic hit the country hard in 2020 and the government tried to get money to businesses that needed it. Instead, we heard about major corporations getting the small business loans and Joel Osteen's megachurch getting millions of dollars. Now we're hearing about some anti-vaxxers groups getting a bunch of federal money during the pandemic.

Timothy Callaghan, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health said:

At a minimum, it’s a mixed message from the government. Those individuals who are hesitant are going to be looking to various pieces of information to help them make this decision...and if one of the key pieces of information coming out is the government funding anti-vaccine groups, it could send a signal to these individuals that maybe they shouldn't be vaccinating.

Informed Consent Action Network is a Texas-based non-profit that is among 5 anti-vaccine groups that received a combined $850,000 in federal loans as a part of the Paycheck Protection Program. Del Bigtree, the founder of Informed Consent Action Network said:

"Just like everybody else, we were trying to keep employees employed instead of putting them on unemployment.

However, the group spends most of its time talking about how dangerous vaccines are and has even been penalized on Facebook for spreading misinformation about the safety of vaccines. Bigtree has also said that Facebook's actions to prevent the spread of misinformation is essentially censorship and is very dangerous.

The other four anti-vax groups that received money are The National Vaccine Information Center, Mercola Com Health Resources LLC, Children’s Health Defense Co., and the Tenpenny Integrative Medical Center.