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The
COVID
Mis
Information
The MISINFORMATION
Jennifer Rainey from the Denton Country Public Health Department battles a virus and misinformation from those receiving the COVID vaccine. Many people have lined up at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth to receive the sought-after vaccine to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Texas has administered just over 10.5 million doses of the COVID vaccines as of March 29. Almost 4 million Texans have completed the total dosage of vaccines, and just over 7 million have had at least one of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The number of those receiving the vaccine could be higher; some have decided not to get the vaccine due to misinformation found online and in social media. Theories people have heard behind this decision have varied.
What Others Have Heard
Aubrey resident Henry Medina, 31, says, "You're chipped, and you're gonna have a GPS on you and know everything about you."
"You're chipped, and you're gonna have a GPS on you and know everything about you." – Henry Medina
Medina says he has been getting information from morning shows like the Today Show with Hoda and Jenna and claims he has seen this information from multiple sources.
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Others, like Andrew McCaslin, a University of North Texas Freshman, say, "My roommate was worried about infertility." This is a concern for many younger recipients of the vaccine. A recent news release from Feb 5, 2021, from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine says, "As experts in reproductive health, we continue to recommend that the vaccine be available to pregnant individuals. We also assure patients that there is no evidence that the vaccine can lead to loss of fertility."
Social media is a place where ill-conceived theories about the virus and the vaccine spread. An August 2020 survey conducted by The Covid States Project at covidstates.org found there was misinformation ranging from "rinsing your nose with saline prevents COVID-19" to "there is a cure for the coronavirus withheld from the public." Furthermore, the data showed that the people who believed this ranged from 18 years to over 65 years old. 25% of people ages 18 to 24 thought that taking antibiotics is effective in treating the virus, 25% of people ages 25 to 44, 23% of ages 45 to 64, and 20% age 64 and up thought "it was a weapon from a Chinese lab." This disinformation has the highest percentage in the survey and causing tensions in the Asian communities countrywide. The misinformation circulating on social media has individuals making decisions based on unreliable information.
Social Media
and Online
Some safety concerns of the COVID vaccine are fueled by activists like Del Bigtree, the Informed Consent Action Network CEO. Bigtree, a producer on shows such as Dr. Phill from 2007-2008, and The Doctors from 2010-2015, started researching vaccines and founded the group in 2013.
Bigtree leaps to some big conclusions with isolated data, "let's say roughly 5% of the population of Texas has been vaccinated with a vaccine, but the drop in infection rates is like a 50% drop or more and continuing to drop, those numbers don't equate."
The Anti-Vaxxers
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*Data in this map retrieved from covidstates.org
This disinformation has been what Rainey has been trying to fight through social media and other avenues; she says, "I know that it's really easy to see a meme or a graphic on social media and take that as the truth, but sometimes, they just aren't. "
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This information has been difficult to fight due to the growing number of those concerned about pregnancy. Rainey, who is currently pregnant in her second trimester, has received the vaccine and believes that it will help fight against the virus and protect her new baby. Rainey says,
"The vaccine shows efficacy and shows promise in stopping the spread of COVID. So, we'll stop the spread of that short COVID, the normal COVID. That also means [fewer] individual[s] should be impacted by long COVID as well."
In the second survey by covidstates.org in August 2020, data shows that the majority of the people in the U.S. are "extremely likely" to get the vaccine. Some people have been anxiously awaiting this vaccine. Others feel that creation of the vaccine has been hurried, but they feel the safety of getting the vaccine is a higher priority to get back to normal.
The Misinformation War
"We would encourage them to look to reputable sources, whether it's the CDC, or the World Health Organization, the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania has some really easy to understand, and educational information."
– Jennifer Rainey
Businesses in the retail and service industry have been patiently waiting to expand back to full capacity; still, some people are reluctant to get the vaccine based on false information online. Rainey says, "We would encourage them to look to reputable sources, whether it's the CDC, or the World Health Organization, the Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania has some really easy to understand, and educational information."
Charles E Burkett
