The Infodemiology Brief —

New and old childhood immunizations come under fire

With a new school year and respiratory disease season rapidly approaching, vaccinations of all kinds are under attack online. Opposition to school vaccine requirements continues to grow as two presidential candidates recently promoted myths about routine vaccine safety. Adding to this false narrative are vaccine opponents who are using a medical error to sow doubt about the safety of pediatric RSV immunizations. Meanwhile, a high-profile COVID-19 diagnosis and new COVID-19 vaccine recommendations stirred up old false claims about vaccine effectiveness. 

For even more resources, check out the menu above for real-time insights, training resources, and more. Specifically curated for people working in health care and public health, these links provide actionable content to help navigate today’s information landscape.

Trending narratives from the past month 


Anti-vaccine and school vaccine mandate posts go viral nationwide
In early July, anti-vaccine accounts began circulating an “explosive report” online, claiming that the risks of childhood vaccines outweigh the benefits. The “report” is actually a blog post that repeats myths about vaccine safety and inaccurately argues that vaccines are unnecessary because “childhood diseases are no longer a threat.” A few weeks later, a video encouraging parents to skip vaccines and explaining how to get nonmedical exemptions for school immunizations racked up millions of views across multiple social media platforms. Another video, a leaked recording of former President Donald Trump speaking to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. questioning childhood vaccine safety, also went viral this month. Read the fact checks here and here.

Recent news stories fuel misleading claims about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness
On June 27, the CDC recommended updated COVID-19 and flu vaccines for people 6 months and older for the fall and winter. Many vaccine opponents took to social media to criticize the recommendation, arguing that the vaccines are unsafe and no longer necessary. These critics were emboldened by President Biden’s COVID-19 diagnosis in mid-July, which they claim is evidence that vaccines don’t work. The claims recycle previously debunked talking points about COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness. Notably, the negative vaccine narratives that flourished during the pandemic may be impacting flu vaccine uptake as well. Read the fact checks here and here.

Vaccine opponents falsely claim that RSV immunizations are unsafe for infants and children
Vaccine opponents are using reports of the death of two infants, allegedly due to tragic medical errors, to falsely claim that RSV immunizations are dangerous. According to VAERS reports, the infants were supposed to receive a pediatric RSV immunization but were mistakenly given an adult RSV vaccine. The CDC had previously issued an alert to health care providers to take care to avoid such an error. A July 8 article from a prominent anti-vaccine organization falsely suggested that the infants died after receiving the pediatric RSV immunization, insinuating that the pediatric dose is dangerous. The article spurred some to call for pediatric RSV immunization to be removed from the childhood schedule. Read the fact checks here and here. 

What you might say in response


Childhood vaccines are safe, and school vaccine requirements protect children from preventable and potentially life-threatening diseases.

  • Extensive research and safety monitoring worldwide have consistently shown childhood vaccines to be safe and effective. 
  • Ironically, vaccines have so successfully reduced the incidence and severity of many childhood diseases that some people incorrectly believe that vaccination is no longer necessary. 
  • School immunization requirements protect students and their communities from the spread of debilitating and deadly diseases like measles and whooping cough. The growing resistance to school immunization requirements and rising vaccine exemption rates increase the likelihood of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. 

Getting updated vaccines for COVID-19 and the flu is the best way to protect yourself and your family this respiratory disease season. 

  • According to the CDC, COVID-19 hospitalized 900,000 people and killed 75,500 people in 2023, while the flu killed nearly 45,000 people in the 2023-24 flu season. Vaccines are the best protection against both diseases.
  • Although a COVID-19 surge can happen at any time, fall and winter are optimal times for respiratory viruses to spread. FLiRT variants have already driven up COVID-19 infections nationwide this summer, a trend that could continue in the colder months.
  • Getting updated flu and COVID-19 vaccines dramatically reduces the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, complications, and death. Vaccination is particularly important for high-risk populations, including older adults, pregnant and immunocompromised people, and infants and young children.

RSV immunizations have been rigorously tested and found to be safe for infants, who are at high risk of severe illness and death from the disease.

  • The claim that pediatric RSV immunization harmed infants is false and based on a misrepresentation of unverified reports to the federal vaccine monitoring system. The deaths were not linked to pediatric immunization but to the infants incorrectly receiving an adult RSV vaccine.
  • The CDC monitors vaccination administration errors and warned health care professionals in January about the potential for confusion about the different RSV immunizations for young children, pregnant people, and older adults.
  • The pediatric RSV immunization is safe, and no deaths or other safety concerns were reported in clinical trials.
  • RSV hospitalizes tens of thousands of children and kills hundreds of children under 5 every year. Immunization is 80 percent effective against severe illness and almost 100 percent effective against hospitalization.

What we’re reading

Studies and trainings

Interested in learning more about how to debunk false claims with patients? Check out the new Infodemiology Training Program. In videos that range from 5 to 10 minutes each, the program introduces health care providers to the basics of infodemiology and provides you with actionable skills to help improve patient care. Get started today.

Quick response media assets

Below, we've provided a social media asset in English and Spanish. Use these assets on social media to fight false claims and help provide your network with accurate information. Just right-click the asset, or press and hold on mobile to download.

Proposed caption: 
Many deadly diseases that were once a “normal” part of childhood are largely wiped out thanks to vaccines. But now, the anti-vaccine movement is encouraging parents to use non-medical vaccine exemptions to get around school vaccine requirements—a practice that increases disease outbreaks. This puts kids at risk: Rising vaccine exemption rates have been linked to devastating outbreaks of measles, mumps, and whooping cough. 

Publicación propuesta:
Muchas enfermedades mortales que alguna vez fueron una parte “normal” de la infancia han sido eliminadas gracias a las vacunas. Pero ahora los opositores a las vacunas alientan a los padres a utilizar exenciones de vacunas no médicas para evitar cumplir con los requisitos de vacunación escolar, una práctica que incrementa los brotes de enfermedades. Esto pone a los niños en riesgo: Los índices en aumento de las exenciones de vacunas se han vinculado a brotes devastadores de sarampión, paperas y tos ferina.