CDC vaccine recommendations spark online conversations
Viral posts this week highlighted the backlash to pediatric COVID-19 vaccines and falsely claimed that Dutch courts indicted Bill Gates over COVID-19 vaccines.
Viral posts this week highlighted the backlash to pediatric COVID-19 vaccines and falsely claimed that Dutch courts indicted Bill Gates over COVID-19 vaccines.
This week, the CDC’s recommendations for additional immunizations for older and immunocompromised individuals garnered a mixed response online. In addition, in a widely circulated social media post, a physician discussed being the target of online harassment for talking about COVID-19 vaccines for children. Meanwhile, a viral—and completely baseless—conspiracy theory is circulating that Bill Gates will face criminal charges in the Netherlands for allegedly lying about COVID-19 vaccine safety.
Regionally, conversation centered around the repeatedly debunked and false correlation between sudden infant death syndrome and infant and toddler vaccinations.
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What’s trending nationally in vaccine conversation:
On October 23, the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, ACIP, met to discuss several vaccines. The committee voted to lower the recommended age for pneumococcal vaccination eligibility from 65 to 50 and to recommend an additional dose of the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine for older adults and immunocompromised individuals six months after the first dose. Some social media users applauded the committee for simplifying COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for older adults by recommending two doses six months apart. Vaccine opponents were critical of the recommendations and complained about the need for multiple vaccine doses. One post demanded that the CDC “please stop poisoning vulnerable elderly people.”
On October 22, a physician with a large online following described being harrassed across social media platforms after posting about vaccinating her child against COVID-19. The post was viewed over 2 million times and received nearly 80,000 engagements. Other health care providers shared similar experiences of trolling and harassment from vaccine opponents, including receiving hate mail and death threats. Several vaccine opponents replied to one post from a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases about the importance of vaccines for children to argue against vaccines for children.
A conspiracy theory is circulating in multiple languages across social media platforms that Bill Gates will face trial in the Netherlands over his claims about COVID-19 vaccine safety. The apparent source of the claim is a far-right website known for publishing hoax stories and fringe conspiracy theories. A clip of former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeating the baseless claim at a conservative event has been widely circulated. Some posts also claim without evidence that Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla has also been indicted. The top five posts about the conspiracy theory have nearly 10 million views and 400,000 engagements. Similar conspiracy theories about Gates being indicted or arrested for his vaccine work have circulated online for years.
Read the fact checks:
- Healio: CDC recommends 2nd COVID shot for some, lowering age for pneumococcal vaccination
- CDC: 6 Things to Know about COVID-19 Vaccination for Children
- Lead Stories: Fact Check: Bill Gates Was NOT Indicted In Netherlands — Judge Only Ruled On Jurisdiction In Civil Case
What’s happening in the Northeast:
In an effort to educate children about the importance of vaccines, a group of Pennsylvania State University students hosted a Vaccine Field Day at a local elementary school. The event included games to educate attendees about vaccines and debunk vaccine myths and provided free vaccine vouchers for families. In response to social media posts about the event, some criticized it by saying families had been “lured” and “fooled” to vaccinate through games and free food.
What’s happening in the South:
In June, Louisiana passed a resolution requiring the state health department to compare the last 10 years of SIDS cases with infant vaccination history. Recently an anti-public health activist group posted a social media clip promoting the passing of this resolution. Comments on the post supported the resolution, with users falsely claiming that SIDS occurs following vaccinations and calling for similar investigations in other states, including Texas and Florida.
What’s happening in the Midwest:
A recent social media post described the Iowa SIDS Foundation’s efforts to promote safe sleep practices amid a reported rise in SIDS cases. In response, commenters falsely linked the rise in cases to vaccines. Commenters erroneously correlated the two by misleadingly pointing to vaccine inserts, which list adverse events after vaccination but don’t list SIDS as a side effect. Other social media users also claimed that mothers are “gaslighted” when raising concerns about a possible vaccine connection.
What’s happening in the West:
A social media user in California claimed—without evidence—that her daughter recently found out that she had been vaccinated without consent in 2020 during an unrelated medical procedure. The mother claims her daughter learned she had unknowingly received vaccinations against COVID-19 and “others” she’s “never even heard of” after receiving copies of her past medical records. The post received over 14,000 responses, including similar claims of being offered vaccines during unrelated medical procedures. Some responses also encouraged the original poster to sue the provider and used the example as a reason for their lack of trust in the medical system.
Recommendations brought to you by the health communication experts behind Infodemiology.com.
Recommendations for public health professionals
Each week the Infodemiology.com team will provide messaging recommendations in response to some of the trending narratives outlined above. These helpful tips can be used when creating content, updating web pages and FAQs, and to inform strategy for messaging about vaccines.
New immunization guidelines can cause confusion and may offer opportunities to explain how vaccines keep vulnerable populations safe. Messaging may emphasize that the CDC’s new recommendations are based on data showing that older adults and immunocompromised people are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 and pneumonia and make up the majority of hospitalizations and deaths from the diseases. Explaining that vaccination significantly reduces the risk of COVID-19 and pneumonia is recommended.
Vaccine opponents often prey on parents’ concerns to convince them to deny their children life-saving vaccines.
Debunking messaging may emphasize that research has consistently shown that COVID-19 vaccines are safe for children as young as 6 months and that vaccination during pregnancy protects infants in the first six months of life. Talking points may also highlight that COVID-19 vaccination reduces children’s risk of hospitalization, long COVID, and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, a serious potential complication of COVID-19.
Anti-vaccine conspiracy theories frequently attempt to discredit the safety of vaccines and the motives of those who fund, develop, promote, or distribute vaccines. Debunking messaging may explain that the hoax story about Bill Gates being indicted for lying about COVID-19 vaccine safety is designed to create hesitancy. Messaging may emphasize that COVID-19 vaccines have been rigorously tested and that real scientific evidence has repeatedly shown that COVID-19 vaccines are safe.
Interested in recommendations tailored to health care providers? Click here.