Taylor Winterstein is an Australian-Samoan online influencer and conspiracy theorist best known for her public anti-vaccination stance. Winterstein has been heavily criticised in several South Pacific, and Australasian countries for her anti-vaccination rhetoric and her seminars have been called "irresponsible" by the Australian Medical Association and a "public health threat" by the Samoan Ministry of Health. She claims she has not encouraged non-vaccination, rather, "informed consent" and "freedom of choice".
Personal life
Winterstein was born in Australia, and her hometown is Campbelltown, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. She married Australian rugby league player Frank Winterstein in 2013. The couple have three children and in late 2019 the family moved to Toulouse, France for two years.
Her relationship with her husband, who previously played in the NRL, has allowed her to gain a substantial following as a social media influencer. She has said that there is a "strong core group" of anti-vaxxers in the NRL, but during the 2020 NRL season the Gold Coast Bulletin reported this was not the case as "most of the anti-vax players said they weren't really anti-vax but were still getting around to it".
Online influencer
Winterstein brands her website and internet influence business as the "Tay's Way Movement". As of December 2019, she had over 22,000 Instagram followers. Winterstein claims: "I know for a FACT there are MANY high profile, 'influencers' on social media among the sport and wellness industry, who do not vaccinate their children but won't publicly share their beliefs."
Online, Winterstein offers opinions on nutrition, medicine, home births, and the alleged dangers of 5G radiation and of vaccinating children. In one of her online programs ("An Hour of Power with Tay"), she asks her followers to "explore different options on how to build your child's immune system naturally". In March 2019, Instagram placed restrictions on her account and her social media accounts were restricted by Facebook in a crackdown to prevent dangerous and misinformed anti-vaccination messages. Winterstein's online group of followers have a history of online abuse toward journalists who report unfavourably on her.
In 2019, The Australian newspaper suggested that Winterstein is getting traction with her health messages "because she's a WAG - the wife of an NRL player". Her current business 'Tay's Way Moment' was established in 2017, before this Winterstein operated a business called 'Taylor'd Tans'.
Anti-vaccination activism
Winterstein says that the "mainstream media constantly slander, dehumanise and degrade" anti-vaccine "footy wags" such as her. Despite having no degree or qualifications, she claims she has done her "own research on vaccines" on the internet, and that she had "vaccinated" her son "at least six times a day with breastmilk". Due to her belief that vaccinations cause allergies, Winterstein prefers to call herself an "ex-vaxxer," and has chosen not to vaccinate her two boys, aged 10-months and 3-years old.
In 2018, Winterstein was selected as the "Australian face" and ambassador of the second tour of the anti-vaccination film Vaxxed. British anti-vaccination campaigner Polly Tommey, one of the producers of the film, announced Winterstein and her twin sister Stevie Nupier would be the "glamorous, young, intelligent women to take on and lead the people of Australia". Winterstein said: "I've dedicated years into my own vaccine research, meeting with politicians, connecting with practitioners and listening to parents".
Winterstein urges parents to question the safety of childhood vaccinations and says parents are being bullied and pressured by GPs to give their children vaccinations. She says she is a "big believer that you do not need a qualification to know how to critically think for yourself".
Melbourne surgeon John Cunningham, who was awarded an Order of Australia for his work promoting vaccinations, said Winterstein represented the "sinister version of the modern mumtrepreneur". He said her efforts to hitch onto the anti-vaccination crowd were morally corrupt. Brad McKay, a Sydney GP, accuses her of propagating rumours and anti-science information.