Mostly seen online, this derogatory epithet is used to describe people who fully support vaccines and believes they are the ultimate Covid cure. The term has appeared online since at least August 12, 2021 when a Twitter user going by the name “Arkad The Covid Survivor” defined vaxtard as “a person who wants to force the mRNA injection on EVERYONE, regardless of their current age, health, lifestyle, natural immunity or personal beliefs, for a illness with a 99% survival rate.“
The following month, RealJason, an Urban Dictionary contributor, submitted a definition for vaxtard as “someone who naively believes that the COVID vaccines are the ultimate cure and will make COVID disappear. Despite the fact that these vaccines are entirely experimental and are seeing a rapid decline in efficiency over time.“
Although the term is not popular enough to be picked up in Google Trends, it did appear as a meme on the website America’sBestPics.com. The meme also appears on T-shirts sold by a few apparel websites.
Social Media Trends as of May 7, 2022
Facebook #vaxtard: people are posting about this
Instagram #vaxtard: 14 posts
Sources:
Arkad the Covid Survivor. [@KounterPoint]. (2021, August 12). What’s your definition of #vaxtard? Twitter. https://twitter.com/KounterPoint/status/1425681166774902790.
“Vaxtard” meme. Aamericasbestpics.com. 5 Feb. URL: https://americasbestpics.com/picture/today-s-new-word-vaxtard-person-who-thinks-covid-vaccine-9cD5rXPD9?s=cl.
“Vaxtard.” Urban Dictionary. URL: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Vaxtard.