Misinformation related to vaccination

Misinformation related to vaccination and immunization circulates in mass media and social media.[1][2] Intentional spreading of false information and conspiracy theories have also been propagated by the general public and celebrities. Misinformation related to vaccination fuels vaccine hesitancy and thereby results in disease outbreaks.[3] Although opposition to vaccination existed for centuries, the internet and social media has recently facilitated the spread of vaccine-related misinformation.[4] Unsubstantiated safety concerns related to vaccines are often presented as scientific information on the internet.[5]

Extent

A survey by the Royal Society of Public Health found that 50% of the parents of children under 5 years old regularly encountered misinformation related to vaccination on social media.[6] On Twitter, bots were found to spread misinformation related to vaccine safety. Bots masquerade as legitimate users, thereby creating false equivalency that there are nearly equal number of individuals on both sides of the debate.[7] The accounts created by bots also use compelling stories related to anti-vaccination as clickbait to drive up their revenue and expose users to malware.[7]

An analysis reveals that anti-vaccine community absorbs individuals who were previously interested in alternative medicine or conspiracy theories.[8] Another study showed that a predisposition to believe in conspiracy theories was found to negatively predict the intention of individuals to be vaccinated.[9]

Spreading vaccine misinformation can lead to financial rewards where posts on social media can be monetized by asking for donations or fundraising for anti-vaccination causes.[8]

The World Health Organization has classified vaccine related misinformation into five topic areas. These are: threat of disease (vaccine preventable diseases are harmless), trust (questioning the trustworthiness of healthcare authorities that administer vaccines), alternative methods (such as alternative medicine to replace vaccination), effectiveness (vaccines do not work) and safety (vaccines have more risks than benefits).[4]

Vaccination causes idiopathic illnesses
  • Vaccines cause autism : The scientifically established consensus is that there is no link between vaccines and autism.[10] None of the vaccine ingredients, including thiomersal, were found to cause autism.[10]
  • Vaccines can cause the same disease that one is vaccinated against : To make vaccines safer than the disease, the bacteria or virus is killed or weakened. Therefore, the bacteria or viruses in the vaccine cannot attack the immune system of a healthy individual.[11]
  • Vaccines cause harmful side effects and even death : Vaccines are very safe. Most adverse events after vaccination are mild and temporary, such as sore throat or mild fever, which can be controlled by taking paracetamol after vaccination.[11]

Alternative remedies to vaccination

Responding to misinformation, individuals may resort to complementary or alternative medicine as an alternative to vaccination. The individuals who believe in this narrative view vaccines as 'toxic and adulterating' while seeing alternative 'natural' methods as safe and effective.[12] Some of the misinformation circulating around alternate remedies for vaccination are as follows:

  • Eating yoghurt cures human papillomavirus:[4] Eating any natural product does not prevent or cure HPV.
  • Homeopathy can be used as an alternative to protect against measles: Homeopathy has been shown to be ineffective against preventing measles.[13]

Vaccination as genocide

Misinformation that forced vaccination could be used to 'depopulate' the earth circulated in 2011 by misquoting Bill Gates.[14] Vaccines have falsely been claimed to intervene with the genetic material and alter human DNA.[15]

Vaccine components contain forbidden additives

Anti-vaxxers emphasize that the components in vaccines such as thiomersal and aluminum are capable for causing health hazards.[16] Thiomersal is a harmless component in vaccines, which is used to maintain its sterility and there is no known adverse effects due to it.[17] Aluminium is included in the vaccine as an adjuvant, and it has low toxicity even in large amounts.[16] Formaldehyde included in some vaccines is in negligibly low quantities and it is harmless.[16] Narrative that COVID-19 vaccines contain haram products were circulated in Muslim communities.[18][19][20]

Vaccines are part of governmental/pharmaceutical conspiracy[21]

The Big Pharma conspiracy theory, that pharmaceutical companies operate for sinister purposes and against the public good, has been used in the context of vaccination.[22]

Vaccine preventable diseases are harmless

There is a common misconception that vaccine preventable diseases such as measles are harmless. However, measles remains a serious disease, which can cause severe complications and even death. Vaccination is the only way to protect against measles.[13]

Personal anecdotes about harmed individuals

Personal anecdotes and sometimes false stories are circulated about vaccination.[23] Misinformation has spread claiming that people died due to COVID-19 vaccination.[24]

Vaccine preventable diseases have been eradicated

Vaccination has enabled the reduction of most vaccine-preventable diseases. However, some of them are still prevalent and even cause epidemics in some parts of the world. If the community is not protected by vaccination, the disease could quickly spread from country to country.[11] Vaccines just do not protect an individual, but also causes herd immunity if sufficient number of individuals in the community have taken the vaccine.[25]

Other conspiracy theories

Conspiracy theories such as polio is not a real disease, but symptoms that were called polio are actually due to DDT poisoning were circulated in social media.[4] Another conspiracy that NASA is releasing balloons filled with chemicals, which results in symptoms like polio was also noted by a study.[4] A video shared over 8,300 times on Facebook claims that a microchip present in vaccination syringes "would give officials information on who has and has not been vaccinated".[26][27]

Impact

Fuelled by misinformation, anti-vaccination activism is on the rise in social media and in many countries.[28]

Research shows that viewing of a website containing vaccine misinformation for 5–10 minutes deceases a person's intention to vaccinate.[5][29] A 2020 study revealed that there is a significant relationship between organising as a group on social media and casting doubts in public about vaccine safety. The same study found a substantial relationship between foreign disinformation campaigns and declining vaccination coverage.[30]

In 2003, the rumors about polio vaccines intensified vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria and led to a five-fold increase in the number of polio cases in the country in a span of three years.[31][32]

Measures against misinformation

Several governmental agencies, such as the Center for Disease Control of the USA and National Health Service of the UK have dedicated webpages for addressing vaccine related misinformation.[33][34] In 2020, Facebook announced that it would no longer allow anti-vaccination advertisements on its platform.[35] Facebook also said that it will elevate posts from the World Health Organization and UNICEF, in order to increase immunization rates through public health campaigns.[35] Twitter announced that it will require users to remove tweets that spread false information about vaccines and put a warning label in tweets containing disputed or unsubstantiated rumours about vaccination.[36] TikTok announced that it will start directing people to official health sources when they search for vaccine related information.[36] YouTube has removed over 700,000 videos containing misinformation related to COVID-19, including that of COVID-19 vaccination.[36]

Research shows that science communicators should directly counter misinformation because of its negative influence on silent audience who are observing the vaccine debate, but not engaging in it.[37] The refutations to vaccine related misinformation should be straightforward in order to avoid emphasising misinformation.[37] It is useful to pair scientific evidence with stories that connect to the belief and value system of the audience.[37]

References
  1. "Misinformation about the vaccine could be worse than disinformation about the elections". POLITICO. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. "Facebook banned big anti-vaccination pages. Researchers warn it's too little, too late". NBC News. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  3. Wiysonge, Charles Shey; Wilson, Steven Lloyd. "Misinformation on social media fuels vaccine hesitancy: a global study shows the link". The Conversation. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  4. Hoffman, Beth L.; Felter, Elizabeth M.; Chu, Kar-Hai; Shensa, Ariel; Hermann, Chad; Wolynn, Todd; Williams, Daria; Primack, Brian A. (10 April 2019). "It's not all about autism: The emerging landscape of anti-vaccination sentiment on Facebook". Vaccine. 37 (16): 2216–2223. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2019.03.003. PMID 30905530. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  5. Betsch, Cornelia; Renkewitz, Frank; Betsch, Tilmann; Ulshöfer, Corina (26 March 2010). "The Influence of Vaccine-critical Websites on Perceiving Vaccination Risks" (PDF). Journal of Health Psychology. doi:10.1177/1359105309353647. PMID 20348365. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  6. Burki, Talha (1 October 2019). "Vaccine misinformation and social media". The Lancet Digital Health. 1 (6): e258–e259. doi:10.1016/S2589-7500(19)30136-0. ISSN 2589-7500. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  7. Broniatowski, David A.; Jamison, Amelia M.; Qi, SiHua; AlKulaib, Lulwah; Chen, Tao; Benton, Adrian; Quinn, Sandra C.; Dredze, Mark (October 2018). "Weaponized Health Communication: Twitter Bots and Russian Trolls Amplify the Vaccine Debate". American Journal of Public Health. 108 (10): 1378–1384. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2018.304567. PMC 6137759.
  8. "Normalization of vaccine misinformation on social media amid COVID 'a huge problem'". ABC News. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  9. Bertin, Paul; Nera, Kenzo; Delouvée, Sylvain (2020). "Conspiracy Beliefs, Rejection of Vaccination, and Support for hydroxychloroquine: A Conceptual Replication-Extension in the COVID-19 Pandemic Context". Frontiers in Psychology. 11. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.565128. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  10. "Autism and Vaccines | Vaccine Safety | CDC". www.cdc.gov. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  11. "Vaccines and immunization: Myths and misconceptions". www.who.int.
  12. Attwell, Katie; Ward, Paul R.; Meyer, Samantha B.; Rokkas, Philippa J.; Leask, Julie (January 2018). ""Do-it-yourself": Vaccine rejection and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)". Social Science & Medicine. 196: 106–114. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.11.022. hdl:2328/37725. PMID 29175699. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  13. "Addressing misconceptions on measles vaccination". European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  14. "False Bill Gates 'depopulate with vaccines' news a conspiracy theory classic - Australian Associated Press". AustralianAssociatedPress. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  15. "No, COVID-19 Vaccines Do Not Change Human DNA". www.boomlive.in. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  16. "How a Vaccine Is Like a Banana — and Why That's Good". Time. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  17. "WHO | Statement on thiomersal". WHO. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  18. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/indonesia-battles-spread-of-vaccine-misinformation/2124319. Retrieved 30 January 2021. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. Good, Richard (22 January 2021). "Concerns grow COVID vaccine misinformation campaigns targeting Muslims". euronews. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  20. "Covid: Fake news 'causing UK South Asians to reject jab'". BBC News. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  21. Kata, Anna (28 May 2012). "Anti-vaccine activists, Web 2.0, and the postmodern paradigm – An overview of tactics and tropes used online by the anti-vaccination movement". Vaccine. 30 (25): 3778–3789. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.11.112. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  22. Rauhala, Emily. "The pandemic is amplifying the U.S. anti-vaccine movement — and globalizing it". Washington Post. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  23. Kata, Anna (28 May 2012). "Anti-vaccine activists, Web 2.0, and the postmodern paradigm – An overview of tactics and tropes used online by the anti-vaccination movement". Vaccine. 30 (25): 3778–3789. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.11.112. ISSN 0264-410X. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  24. "Nurse who fainted after COVID-19 vaccine shot is not dead - Australian Associated Press". AustralianAssociatedPress. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  25. "What Would Happen If We Stopped Vaccinations? | CDC". www.cdc.gov. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  26. Staff, Reuters (14 December 2020). "Fact check: COVID-19 vaccine labels would not microchip or track individuals, but serve logistical purpose". Reuters. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  27. Alba, Davey; Frenkel, Sheera (16 December 2020). "From Voter Fraud to Vaccine Lies: Misinformation Peddlers Shift Gears". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  28. DiResta, Renée (20 December 2020). "Anti-vaxxers Think This Is Their Moment". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  29. Chou, Wen-Ying Sylvia; Oh, April; Klein, William M. P. (18 December 2018). "Addressing Health-Related Misinformation on Social Media". JAMA. 320 (23): 2417–2418. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.16865. ISSN 0098-7484. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  30. Wilson, Steven Lloyd; Wiysonge, Charles (1 October 2020). "Social media and vaccine hesitancy". BMJ Global Health. 5 (10): e004206. doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2020-004206. ISSN 2059-7908. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  31. "Vaccine Hesitancy, an Escalating Danger in Africa | Think Global Health". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  32. Wiysonge, Charles Shey. "How ending polio in Africa has had positive spinoffs for public health". The Conversation. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  33. "Why vaccination is safe and important". nhs.uk. 31 July 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  34. "Questions and Concerns | Vaccine Safety | CDC". www.cdc.gov. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  35. Isaac, Mike (13 October 2020). "Facebook Bans Anti-Vaccination Ads, Clamping Down Again". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  36. Lerman, Rachel. "Vaccine hoaxes are rampant on social media. Here's how to spot them". Washington Post. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  37. Steffens, Maryke S.; Dunn, Adam G.; Wiley, Kerrie E.; Leask, Julie (23 October 2019). "How organisations promoting vaccination respond to misinformation on social media: a qualitative investigation". BMC Public Health. 19 (1): 1348. doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7659-3. ISSN 1471-2458. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
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