Grifters, cynics, and true believers: The family tree of vaccine opponents

A review of Thomas Levenson’s book says anti-vaccine ideas are centuries old, dating back to early smallpox inoculation efforts.

The same objections keep reappearing: religious concerns, appeals to nature, and claims that vaccines are unsafe.

The article says modern figures like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recycle these old arguments in contemporary form.

It argues vaccine opposition persists because it blends ideology, misinformation, and profit, not just skepticism.