Fighting Misinformation

The Truth Can Save Your Life

Today, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy released his first surgeon general’s advisory (at least the first of this iteration of his service as Surgeon General). It is entitled Confronting Health Misinformation. It may be the most critical weapon against COVID-19 since the vaccine rollouts.

Hyperbole? Perhaps. But dramatic increases in COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are tracking with a significant drop off in vaccinations. Let’s examine some of the reasons behind the drop off in vaccinations.

There are still places in the United States where it is difficult for people to access vaccinations. Rural areas with less access to health care overall face more difficulty in finding the vaccine. Lower-income communities - urban and rural - with less public transit also find it difficult.

Vaccine hesitancy remains a problem, particularly among African Americans who remember a devastating history of using African Americans for medical experimentation without their consent - or even knowledge - and ongoing disparities in how African Americans are treated by non-African American physicians. Others report hesitancy because none of the available vaccines have yet received full Food & Drug Administration approval.

Many workers are reluctant to obtain vaccinations because they fear side effects severe enough to require them to miss work. Those considered “essential” workers are, ironically, also those who are less likely to have paid time off. This fear persists even though only 25.4 percent of recipients have reported experiencing serious side effects.

The above factors are not uncommon when people are introduced to a new medical test or therapy. Two issues, however, are unique to the COVID-19 vaccination - politicization and the rapid spread of misinformation.

Evidence of the politicization can be found in the rates of vaccination in states that voted for Joe Biden in 2020 versus those who voted for Donald Trump. The 20 states with the highest vaccination rates are so-called “Blue” states; 19 of the 21 states with the lowest rates are “Red” states.

A study published in April by researchers at University of California San Diego’s Rady School of Management found that Republicans have grown more skeptical of COVID-19 vaccines — as well as other inoculation, including the flu shot. This reveals a nexus between political affiliation and a greater likelihood of consuming misinformation. In other words, sources considered right-wing are more likely to disseminate misinformation, leading to greater vaccine avoidance among those who consume those sources. Among the most prolific - a small number of Facebook content providers.

The Surgeon General’s advisory is designed to counter the misinformation that threatens Americans’ health. It is a concise, user-friendly, and effective step in the right direction.

As the report states, “We are all still learning how to navigate this new information environment. But we know enough to be sure that misinformation is an urgent threat, and that we can and must confront it together.”