COVID-19 Continues: Pandemic vs. Infodemic
The American pharmaceutical company Pfizer has teamed up with Germany’s BioNTech to produce a vaccine with the highest efficacy rate of 95 percent against COVID-19. However, as promising as it sounds, the Social Weather Survey has reported that 34 percent of Filipinos answered “probably” in getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Independent’s global survey said that 14 percent would outrightly refuse the vaccine, and an additional 14 percent would hesitate.
Dr. Albert Bourla, chair and CEO of Pfizer, wrote in an open letter his concern for the billions of families worldwide in potential danger from being infected when an individual decides not to get vaccinated.
The World Health Organization (WHO) called on governments worldwide to provide accurate information about COVID-19 vaccines, which is essential to gain the public’s trust in combating vaccine hesitancy.
Earlier this year, researchers from the University of Cambridge identified a “clear link” between the spread of conspiracies and vaccine hesitancy for COVID-19. Dr. Sander van der Linden, one of the authors, told Independent that “Certain misinformation claims are consistently seen as reliable by substantial sections of the public. We find a clear link between believing coronavirus conspiracies and hesitancy around any future vaccine.” Dr. Linden continued that governments and technology companies must improve digital media literacy and flagging false claims to combat vaccine hesitancy, “… Otherwise, developing a working vaccine might not be enough.”
The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene may not focus on vaccine hesitancy. Still, its research elaborated that the ‘Infodemic’ or misinformation and conspiracies found on social media relating to COVID-19 caused nearly 800 deaths and 6,000 hospitalizations worldwide.
WHO coined the term Infodemic as “an overabundance of information — some accurate and some not — that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it,” to classify the features of rumors, stigma, and conspiracies during public health emergencies.
The Infodemic on COVID-19 consists of conspiracies such as the virus being manufactured in a lab in Wuhan. This conspiracy appeared more convincing when a Chinese Virologist’s research claimed that genetic evidence showed that the SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, was manufactured in a lab instead of emerging naturally from animal spillovers. The National Geographic and the Independent reported that almost 30% of Americans and 45% of Britons believed this. Some conspiracists claimed that COVID-19 is a Chinese weapon for global biological warfare. While others believe Bill Gates and the “New World Order” created the virus. 5G technology is also rumored to be spreading the virus. And some conspiracists further asserted that Hydroxychloroquine is a cure for COVID-19 despite numerous reported deaths.
While COVID-19 cases continuously increase this month, with 70 million infected globally due to natural transmission, the virus could increase because of vaccine hesitancy, resulting from misinformation. “It is spreading faster than the virus,” the World Health Organization even said.
However, conspiracists are not the only perpetrators of the Infodemic; even the most trusted authorities and institutions are also guilty of the Infodemic.
Almost 30 scientists worldwide have called out WHO for insisting that the virus was not airborne and could only be transmitted via droplets. Recently, WHO finally admitted that airborne transmission is possible, as evidence shows in some instances. This is only one out of more misleading and contradictory information W.H.O. has published that caused global confusion.
W.H.O. praised China when its COVID-19 cases lowered for its ‘expert’ pandemic response. However, Taiwan, which took immediate actions before China and had the lowest infection rates despite being one of the earliest countries infected, was deprived of WHO from its global information networks since China blocked the island from joining the organization.
A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman repeatedly claimed without evidence that COVID-19 originated in the US. Meanwhile, former US President Donald Trump also confidently declared that the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology instead but did not provide any evidence. WHO was also convinced that the outbreak originated from Wuhan and when they requested to take part in its investigations, China was offended and refused.
In this troubling time, interventions from health and fact-checking agencies, both national and international, should be more evident. Not only should they identify elements of COVID-19 Infodemic but also develop appropriate risk communication. ‘Self-correcting’ may also be necessary to win back the people’s confidence and faith when publishing factual and context-appropriate information.
It seems that the Infodemic is becoming a big war to fight along with the COVID-19 pandemic. If the governments and institutions worldwide continue to point fingers and refuse to “get it together,” how can they expect the public’s trust in handling this global health issue? Until then, COVID-19 only continues.