Summarised by Centrist
Vaccine scepticism has gone mainstream, reshaping political landscapes across the West. Once dismissed as a fringe movement, it is now a powerful force within populist and anti-establishment politics, gaining traction in the US, Germany, and beyond.
The appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as US health secretary and the Alternative for Germany (AfD)’s strong election performance illustrates how resistance to vaccine mandates has become a rallying point for those who distrust the state and medical institutions.
Now leading the Department of Health and Human Services, Kennedy controls a trillion-dollar budget and 80,000 employees.
In Germany, the AfD has capitalised on the backlash against COVID-era restrictions, branding vaccine mandates as state overreach. “Vaccines are a massive encroachment on people’s bodily autonomy,” insists AfD health spokesman Martin Sichert. This message has broadened the party’s appeal beyond its traditional nationalist base, attracting disaffected voters who distrust elites.
Across Europe, figures like Romania’s Călin Georgescu and UK Reform Party leaders campaign on vaccine scepticism alongside nationalist and populist narratives. In the US, Republican-led states are rolling back vaccine requirements, and childhood immunisation rates are dropping.
