Anti-Vaxxers Flood Social Media With Misinformation
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2020-12-15 13:26:22
About the Author
As the Covid vaccine enters the final lap, the anti-vaxxers (as those who are against vaccination are called) have renewed their campaign to rubbish vaccines in general and the Covid vaccine in particular. From spreading misinformation about the alleged harmful health effects of vaccines to inciting people based on their religious beliefs, these anti-vaxxers have taken over social media and are uploading alarming videos and posts to 'educate' people about the 'ill-effects' of vaccination.
In this digital age, when many people get all their 'news' and 'information' from the WhatsApp (or Facebook, YouTube, Telegram etc.) university, and most of them cannot separate the grain from the chaff, the anti-vaxxers have managed to influence many (who are small in numbers now but growing), even educated and otherwise reasonable people, to develop a strong dislike for vaccination. Although social media sites have started removing such content from their platforms, the damage has been done.
Some anti-vaxxers are saying that Covid-19 is nothing but influenza and vaccination is not needed. They say that it is a conspiracy of the international drug companies to release a vaccine and make money. They claim that vaccines contain harmful ingredients that make people sick. But Professor Raghavan Varadarajan of the Molecular Biophysics Unit at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore has given a point by point scientific rebuttal of their claims.
Professor Varadarajan says that neither do vaccines contain mercury, aluminium, pig or money or human fetal tissues nor do they cause autism or changes in human DNA. He has also clarified that although the Covid virus has mutated, it will not lower the efficacy of the vaccines being tested. He also says that the speed at which the Covid vaccine was developed does not mean that it is unsafe as no protocols were bypassed and safety was not compromised.
People should not get taken in by the misinformation being spread against the vaccines in social media. If they are educated, they should make independent inquiries and talk to people who know, like their doctor for instance. Believing what people with dubious credentials are posting on social media will only harm them and their families.
