Doctor Spreads COVID Vaccine Misinformation

The Biden administration has come down hard on vaccine misinformation, but one

Florida doctor has seemingly gone to great lengths to perpetuate it.

360's Randi Kaye now with the story, the hunt to find him,

and the reasons behind

his actions.

He is the ultimate super-spreader, not of the coronavirus, experts say,

but of misinformation about COVID-19. His name is Dr.

Joseph Mercola.

It is very likely that most people in America, if not,

you know, the

vast majority of people in America, have seen misinformation that

has originated with this super-spreader of

lies and misinformation.

That's exactly why the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a non-profit

tracking misinformation about COVID online, put Dr.

Mercola, an osteopathic physician, at the top of its

disinformation dozen. A list of 12 people, the group says,

were the source for sharing 65% of all

anti-vaccine messaging on Facebook and Twitter from February

1st through mid-March. We tried to track down Dr.

Mercola to ask him about the misinformation he's been posting,

like masks may not work, vaccines could be dangerous, and

vitamins C and D can prevent or treat the

coronavirus. We first tried to find him at his office

in Cape Coral,

Florida, outside Fort Myers. Yes. I'm looking for Dr. Joseph Mercola.

He's not here.

Not here. Next stop, more than 220 miles away,

Ormond Beach, Florida, which Dr. Mercola calls home.

We found his house behind a large gate and tried making contact through the

security access pad. Later, we spotted Joseph Mercola

riding his bicycle. Once he stopped, we thought this was our opening to

get some answers as to why he's pushing false claims about masks and

the vaccine. How are you?

Good.

I'm Randi Kaye with CNN.

Can we ask you a couple questions?

No.

We just want to talk to you about vaccines and what you've been saying about

them. Do you feel responsible for people who

didn't get vaccinated,

possibly got sick and died 'cause of what you told them

about the vaccines?

So despite all his bravado online, Mercola suddenly had

nothing to say. Though after we emailed him questions,

he responded

saying, "I encourage every person to fully educate

themselves to make

individual decisions about medical risk-taking." Throughout the

pandemic, he's been quite outspoken.

I wanted to go back to this, the, the cert- the reason why the

mask may not work.

In his email to us, Mercola challenged any suggestion that he

belongs on a disinformation list.

Still, by fueling the narrative that vaccines are dangerous, who

knows how many of his followers chose to skip the vaccine.

What Mercola hasn't made clear to his followers is that according to the

CDC, the vaccines are safe and effective.

Though he told us via email that over 400,000 adverse

events and 6,000 deaths from the COVID-19 vaccines have been

filed, a majority of which were filed by medical

professionals. To be clear, the FDA has not established a

causal link to these deaths.