“COVID-19 vaccines can change the genetic composition in humans who receive it, with the possibility of turning heterosexual people into homosexuals,” an Iranian cleric said. This is just one of the many misconceptions being spread around to world to create hurdles in the vaccination drive, which may damage generations to come.
As the COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out, coronavirus skeptics have taken to social media to share their anti-vaccination credo. Having spent 2020 warning that the coronavirus was a ‘plandemic’ conspiracy, the mass vaccination rollout has now become the focus.
Anti-vaccination opinions date back to the 18th century and the discovery of the first smallpox vaccine. In the US, religious leaders condemned them as ‘the devil’s work.’ The modern anti-vaccine movement was born in 1998 when a British study by Andrew Wakefield linked the MMR vaccine to autism.
In India, a local party leader suggested the vaccine may be used for population control by making people impotent. Thousands of people believed a conspiracy theory that suggested Bill Gates, the principal founder of Microsoft Corporation, had planned to use a potential COVID-19 vaccine to implant microchips to monitor the movement of billions of people.
In Pakistan, this apprehension comes with an additional layer of mistrust. According to a Bloomberg report, several Pakistani citizens who refuse to take the vaccine, showing similar reluctance that they have shown in vaccination of their children against polio. They term the vaccination drive a plot against Muslims.
This is why we are still struggling to eradicate polio. Afghanistan and Pakistan are now the only countries in the world where the disease is found. And this is embarrassing. The basic and the most important source of disinformation is social media. We don’t research or study the misconceptions.
These misconceptions are not only in Pakistan but around the world. Even there are organizations that promote COVID conspiracy theories in the UK. The organizations include: Stand Up X, Stop New Normal and Save Our Rights UK. These groups seek to generate money, often through donations.
Doctors around the world have confirmed that we all can and must receive jabs of COVID-19 jabs. All the components that go into vaccines are heavily tested to be sure that everything that is in there is safe for humans.
Before they’re ever given to a human, they were tested on animals. And only then do they go into humans where they test in clinical trials with tens of thousands of people receiving the vaccines eventually before they’re authorized for use in the general public.
We will all come across information and disinformation and cannot always tell what is true and what is not. If you see a headline or social media post about the COVID-19 vaccine that seems sensational or that you’re unsure is credible, pause for a minute.
So before sharing, pause and see if you can do some of your own research to find out whether or not it’s true. Vaccine misinformation is not going away anytime soon. Expect this to go on for many months going forward. Trusting your healthcare provider and experts in the field is incredibly critical right now, even more so than ever.
