Be vaccine misinformation undermine efforts immunize drivers#

Be vaccine misinformation undermine efforts immunize drivers#

It recommended priority groups should include health and care workers and other high-risk occupations such as teachers, bus drivers and retail workers, as well as vulnerable groups in crowded situations such as the homeless and people in prisons. The report also said governments should plan now for a “phased and ethical” vaccine deployment based on transparent principles that are “sufficiently debated with the public to build understanding”. “We must learn from lessons of history and move away from the one-way provision of information and instead generate an open dialogue that addresses misinformation and does not dismiss people’s real vaccine concerns and hesitancy,” Mills said. Opinion polls carried out before and during the COVID-19 pandemic across many countries show that confidence in vaccines is volatile, and that political polarization and online misinformation are likely to affect rates of uptake. The success of vaccination programs is contingent upon irrefutable scientific safety data combined with high rates of public acceptance and population. To achieve the estimated 80% of uptake of a vaccine required for community protection, we need a serious, well-funded and community-based public engagement strategy,” said Melinda Mills, an Oxford University professor and expert in demographic science who led the report. “Vaccines and vaccination are two very different things. It said an “open dialogue” is critical to building public support for COVID-19 vaccination, and called for a “frank conversation” to manage public expectations that life will not immediately get back to normal when vaccines arrive. The surgeon general also called on tech companies to “tweak their algorithms” to avoid amplifying misinformation.LONDON (Reuters) – An 80% uptake of a COVID-19 vaccine may be needed to protect communities from the novel coronavirus, but volatile levels of misinformation and vaccine mistrust could undermine efforts to tackle the pandemic, British scientists said on Tuesday.Ī report by scientific institutions the British Academy and the Royal Society found that, in part due to circulating misinformation and behavioural factors, around 36% of people in Britain say they are either uncertain or very unlikely to agree to be vaccinated against COVID-19. “If someone you care about has a misperception, you might be able to make inroads with them by first seeking to understand instead of passing judgment,” he said. He also encouraged people to engage with friends and family on the issue.

He said, “If you’re not sure, don’t share.” Murthy called on the public to verify accuracy of information they receive by checking with trustworthy and credible sources. The surgeon general suggests misinformation is often framed in a sensational or provocative manner, which makes it spread more easily on social media platforms that use algorithms rewarding “likes” and comments or reactions to material that is posted. He says people who share misinformation often do so out of confusion or honest efforts to get the facts. Murthy differentiates between misinformation, and disinformation, which is wrong information spread intentionally for financial gain or political advantage, for example.

The surgeon general said misinformation also has led to harassment and violence against public health workers, and other professions seeking to communicate or enforce public health measures. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports about one-third of U.S. He points to a recent study showing that even brief exposure to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation has made people less likely to want to get vaccinated, at a time when the U.S. In Murthy’s advisory, the first he has issued since taking office earlier this year, the surgeon general calls health misinformation “a serious threat to public health” that can “cause confusion, sow mistrust, harm people’s health, and undermine public health efforts.”

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued a public health advisory Thursday urging the public to help limit the spread of misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, which he says has led to the slowdown of the U.S.