No, those idiots decided that before COVID, because according to their independent research (conducted by watching youtube videos of fake doctors) vaccines can cause autism.

Oh the joys of government school defunding.

Decided is a strong word, more like ramped up cyclones of misinformation and continued to double-down, but you're not wrong.

The wild thing is, much prior to the pandemic, I associate not vaccinating with the hippy dippy alternative medicine vegan crowd.