We need herd immunity against COVID-19 vaccine misinformation

Misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccines can negatively impact public confidence in immunisation uptake, a new UNSW Sydney study, published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, revealed: e.g., over 103 million people globally liked, shared, retweeted or reacted with an emoji to misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines. In 2020, a social media post claiming, “a new vaccine for COVID-19 will alter a person’s DNA and result in them becoming genetically modified” was circulated on Facebook accounts in Australia. Up until August 21, 2020, this false claim had attracted 360 shares and was viewed 32,000 times. The study examined content between December 2019 to November 2020 which included news articles, social media posts, online reports and blogs. Associate Professor Holly Seale from UNSW Medicine & Health’s School of Population Health and senior author of the study said the misinformation being shared by family members, friends and other people in the wider community...