Pins & Needles: Vaccine Misinformation

OK, so now we got past the misinformation about the election (almost). Now we are fighting fake news about COVID and the new vaccines. A recent Guardian article (Nov 11, 2020, “”We must prevent a vaccine infodemic…”) calls it the “infodemic.” Taking advantage of sloppy communications at the White House, the new vaccines have been taken up by the anti-vaxxers. They stridently say, "No one is going to take them as safe.”

We see figures in the US of 40% to 60% saying they may not take a shot. WHO found that 35% of adults in the UK are opposed to taking a vaccine for COVID. So now it is governments’ job to persuade people that it is safe, that it has been tested, and that it will prevent you from getting COVID. Did you know that vaccines were first administered in 1840? Yes, misinformation campaigns are effective and lethal.