This is one of the reasons we are now having trouble with eliminating polio in Pakistan[0], and are now seeing a resurgence[1].
It turns out that, when military forces pose as humanitarian workers distributing vaccines, eventually people figure that out and end up distrusting - or even attacking[2] - real humanitarian workers distributing vaccines.
(It doesn't help that similar rumors existed previously, about sterilization efforts being conducted under the guise of vaccination. But let's not forget that the reasons those rumors are credible is that the US has done similar things in the past, including against its own citizens
[3]!)
The White House recently announced that they are ending spying through vaccination programs[4], though my belief is that it really has more to do with acknowledging that the tactic itself is no longer effective (as you point out), rather than a true admission of how deplorable the effects on public health are.
It wouldn't surprise me if Obama using vaccines as part of secret assassination campaigns was also hurting coverage in the US.
Is there any good research on the causes of the vaccination gaps here? Most of the pro-vaccine organizations claim that the main/only reason people avoid vaccinations is because they (falsely) believe that vaccines are the cause of the autism epidemic, but this seems like pharma propaganda to discredit anyone who is skeptical of any vaccine for any reason.
Oh for heaven's sake. You don't have to look very hard on the internet to hear anti-vaxxer's arguments straight from the horse's mouth, although in my experience anyone who expresses disagreement with such arguments in a context where they are seriously entertained will be quickly labelled as a shill for the pharmaceutical industry.
> Most of the pro-vaccine organizations claim that the main/only reason people avoid vaccinations is because they (falsely) believe that vaccines are the cause of the autism epidemic
Neat, a recursive strawman. Is there a word for that?
Anyway, I don't know if you count the CDC as a 'pro-vaccine organization' but they are aware of and have responses to multiple misconceptions about vaccines.
It turns out that, when military forces pose as humanitarian workers distributing vaccines, eventually people figure that out and end up distrusting - or even attacking[2] - real humanitarian workers distributing vaccines.
(It doesn't help that similar rumors existed previously, about sterilization efforts being conducted under the guise of vaccination. But let's not forget that the reasons those rumors are credible is that the US has done similar things in the past, including against its own citizens [3]!)
The White House recently announced that they are ending spying through vaccination programs[4], though my belief is that it really has more to do with acknowledging that the tactic itself is no longer effective (as you point out), rather than a true admission of how deplorable the effects on public health are.
[0] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/health/cia-vaccine-ruse-in...
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poliomyelitis_in_Pakistan
[2] http://www.rferl.org/content/feature/24803587.html
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment
[4] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-27489045