Do more to battle fake news on vaccines, say experts – Free Malaysia Today

Medical experts say efforts to counter falsehood on the Covid-19 vaccines are insufficient. (AP pic)

PETALING JAYA: Several medical experts have attributed some Malaysians concerns over vaccine safety to falsehood spread through social media.

They commended the government for its efforts to inspire confidence in Covid-19 vaccines, but said conspiracy theories and fake news had somewhat dampened the effect of those efforts.

Dr M Murallitharan, the director of the National Cancer Society, said one of the most common misconceptions was that there were bound to be side effects from vaccines produced in just a few months.

Those holding this belief would wait for large numbers of other people to get inoculated before getting themselves immunised, he told FMT.

He said the government had done quite a bit to counter the myth, but added that there had been an underestimation of the power of social media to push false narratives.

Murallitharan said efforts to counter myths about vaccines were important because the more we inoculate, the safer it will be.

Dr Sharifa Ezat Wan Puteh, a professor of health economics and public health at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said the governments efforts against the spread of falsehood were apparently not sufficient.

She called for the enactment of laws to prevent people from promoting false claims about vaccines, such as they could lead to autism or death.

Previously, Malaysia saw a rise in polio and diphtheria because people were hesitant to get vaccinated, she said.

This was why it was important for the government to explain potential side effects, how to resolve them and where to go for questions and post-vaccination complaints.

But the effects of not getting vaccinated also need to be explained, she said.

Dr Muhammad Yusri Musa, the president of the Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia, said Putrajaya had not done enough to counter the myths.

The common myths associated with vaccines, he said, included genetic modification, theories relating to an Israeli agenda and allegations that vaccines contain non-halal and dangerous substances.

Vaccine myths are quite prevalent in society, but the majority of the population are not affected by it, he said.

But he said it was vital to address these issues to ensure the take-up rate of vaccines was good.

Dr Sibrandes Poppema, the president of Sunway University, said some people were underestimating the danger of the virus, some were overestimating the risks of vaccination and some did not understand that vaccination was to protect society and not just the individual.

Some, he said, believed that the Russian and Chinese vaccines might not be sufficiently effective and others believed in fake news about hidden intentions of the vaccination effort.

The truth of the matter is that all approved vaccines have been shown to prevent serious disease and have been demonstrated to be safe through rigorous clinical trials in different countries, he said.

Poppema, a specialist in immunopathology, noted that Putrajaya and various experts had repeatedly debunked these myths.

But, he said, the onslaught of fake news, including statements by those claiming to be physicians and experts, makes it necessary to redouble our efforts to not only fight the Covid-19 pandemic but the fake news pandemic as well.

He said it was essential to keep providing reliable information with the first batch of vaccines set to roll out.

The vaccination strategy will work only when more than 75% of the population are vaccinated, he said. Otherwise, the virus will smoulder and new variants may develop.

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Do more to battle fake news on vaccines, say experts - Free Malaysia Today