Video calls promoting COVID-19 vaccines “the most evil thing ever done”
A right-wing political commentator claims that governments encouraging vaccination after “the mRNA vaccine was shown not to stop transmission” was “the most evil thing ever done.”
Recommendation: These types of posts attempt to undermine the public’s perception of the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and may promote distrust in guidance from government and public health officials. Messaging may emphasize that vaccine manufacturers and health authorities didn’t claim that COVID-19 vaccines prevent transmission before their authorization because there wasn’t evidence to support that claim. However, in the months after the vaccines’ rollout, global studies confirmed that vaccines reduced transmission against early COVID-19 variants through Delta. The vaccines became less effective against transmission over time as SARS-CoV-2 continued to mutate, producing more infectious variants. Because COVID-19 vaccination still works to protect against severe illness, hospitalization, death, and long COVID, the CDC recommends the updated COVID-19 vaccine for everyone 6 months and older.