Houston dedicates day to government disinformer
The City of Houston has declared October 25th “Dr. Peter J. Hotez Day” after a “medical expert” who heavily spread government misinformation throughout the pandemic.
Dr. Peter J. Hotez is Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine. He is also the Director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine. He is also co-inventor of a COVID-19 recombinant protein vaccine technology owned by Baylor College of Medicine (BCM).
Hotez is perhaps best known for his aggressive promotion of vaccines despite their poor safety data. But in addition to promoting vaccines, Hotez also launched a campaign to silence those who refuse injections.
In an academic article in January, Hotez declared anyone who questions the safety and efficacy of vaccines as antisemitic.
“More and more, the antivaccine framework is now heavily imbued with the imagery of Nazi era atrocities and relies on discrediting, humiliating, or threatening scientists and physicians, including many who are Jewish. Antiscience has become an opportunity to openly and brazenly express anti-Semitic tropes and beliefs,” Hotez wrote.
Hotez also perpetuated a conspiracy theory in which “antivaccine groups and political extremists” are joining forces to form an “evil empire” bent on destroying healthcare.
Nevertheless, "The City of Houston honors and commends Dr. Peter J. Hotez for his dedication to medicine and improving the lives of countless people around the world,” said the city in a statement last week, according to the Houston Chronicle. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston Health Department honored Hotez at the Texas Vaccines for Children Summit last week, along with city workers who made efforts to vaccinate children.
Two weeks earlier, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) awarded Hotez the Anthony Fauci Courage in Leadership Award “for his efforts to uphold and speak to scientific truths.”
“The Anthony Fauci Courage in Leadership Award is given in recognition of the values and attributes that Dr. Fauci has exhibited throughout his career, courage in leadership in speaking scientific truth, perseverance in the face of opposition, and serving as a change agent for healthcare and patients around the world,” said Texas Children’s Hospital.
Hotez responded to the honor by saying he also works “to counter antivaccine activism. As a parent of an adult daughter with autism and intellectual disabilities, I worked to debunk vaccine and autism links, and more recently its expanding influence during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
But in June, when Hotez was offered to debate Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr and podcast host Joe Rogan on the subject of vaccines, he refused. Despite his claims of “countering vaccine activism,” Hotez declined to even consider a discussion, even after he was offered thousands of dollars in donations to the charity of his choice.
