In the MAHA-verse, ex-Bernie die-hards and conservative moms find a political home

On certain subjects, it hardly sounds like John Kilian and Allison Cecil are part of the same political movement.

Kilian, a retired IT professional and nurse in Middletown, Conn., spent part of 2021 analyzing Covid immunization data for the U.S. Army, and he could clearly see the benefits. He’s worried about the vaccine hesitancy that led to the measles outbreak in 2019, and as he put it, it’s “a highly contagious disease and the risk-reward ratio favors vaccination.” He’s planning to get a flu shot. “The last time I got the flu was the last time I did not get a flu shot,” he said. 

Cecil, a middle school teacher in Owensboro, Ky., is skeptical about the ingredients in vaccines. If she were to have another kid today, her answer to a number of recommended early-childhood shots would be “heck no.” Others, she’d have to think more about. She wouldn’t want her baby to get measles, but she also wouldn’t want to inject the child with substances she doesn’t trust the government to fully vet. “You can always vaccinate, but you can’t unvaccinate,” she said.

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