EDITORS:

The following story will move Monday as this week’s Tuesday Spotlight, a feature showcasing the best off-the-news enterprise in the AP report:

VIRUS OUTBREAK-ANTIVAX REBRANDING

Before the pandemic and anti-masks protests, vaccine opponents were working on a rebranding effort that moved their messaging away from the science of vaccines and toward a rallying cry of civil liberties and medical freedom. Now, experts say their messaging matches conversations taking place today around COVID-19 — and has critical implications for the public-health sector. A new analysis from several institutions has found that as conversations around vaccine safety decreased, discussion around civil liberties increased with public Facebook pages framing vaccines as an issue of values, civil rights and freedom from government overreach. By Beatrice Dupuy. UPCOMING: 830 words, photos.

—The AP