With a number of potential vaccines for Covid-19 now imminent, there are increasing concerns that misinformation online could turn some people against being immunized.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says the world’s not only fighting the pandemic, but also what it calls an “infodemic” – where an overload of information, some of it false, makes it difficult for people to make decisions about their health.
And it’s trying to answer people’s concerns about the vaccines – as well as helping people evaluate the information they see on social media.
Nina, who is 21 and lives in London with her 82-year-old grandmother, is one of those who has concerns,
She says she has “mixed feelings” about Covid vaccines.
Nina, who is a freelance producer, isn’t sure yet if she’ll be vaccinated in the future. But she thinks the amount of information around makes it harder to understand the science behind the vaccines.
“Obviously like everyone I want this virus to go away as quickly as possible,” she says.
“But at the same time, I’m not sure how much I trust the vaccine yet, because it’s happened so quickly.”
And her view is partly coloured by what she sees on social media, although she also says she seeks out information from “traditional” news sources.
“There are quite a lot of opinions flying around on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. I think people are very easily influenced by that,” she says.
Oscar Hodgson, a trainee solicitor who is taking part in a coronavirus vaccine trial at Imperial College London, says: “It’s often very difficult with the amount of information that we are being bombarded with to make sense of what you should be doing.”
But he adds: “I think a vaccine is one of the only ways out of the situation if we want to get away from endless lockdowns and curfews.”
-BBC
