Stopping Misinformation about COVID-19 Vaccines
"Vaccinations are slowing compared to where we were a year ago. This is because of many factors, including that most people who wanted the vaccine have been vaccinated, and those who remain unvaccinated are hesitant due to the misinformation around them.
We believe that Californians have a right to make decisions for themselves based on accurate, timely, and reliable information. If your community feels inundated with information, you’re not alone. There are many platforms where misinformation is spread–social media, news outlets, word of mouth. With so many conflicting and confusing messages we come across, it can be hard to know what information to trust.
As a trusted messenger in your community, we look to you to share information that your community, social circle, co-workers, and family can trust. Let’s explore some of the major topics that have slowed the acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines, and the trusted information you can reference when addressing these concerns."
Mis-, Dis- and Malinformation
Misinformation: False or misleading content that is shared without the intent to harm, confuse, or trick the audience
- Example: Sharing a news article in your family's group chat without reading the full article or checking the sources
Disinformation: False or misleading content shared on purpose with the intent to harm, confuse, or trick the audience
- Example: Sharing a YouTube Short from Saturday Night Live about the number of people who get COVID-19 infection after getting vaccinated, but claiming it’s from the CDC
Malinformation: Information that may be technically or partially true but used selectively or without context with the intent to harm, confuse, or trick the audience
- Example: Sharing a statistic about the number of people who get COVID-19 infection after getting vaccinated, pulled from an article that was citing the statistic about the total number of people who have gotten COVID-19 infection since 2020
Key Topics Influenced by Misinformation
Many of the most enduring and persuasive myths seek to exploit and deepen public apathy toward COVID-19 vaccines. To this end, these myths tap into one underlying question:
Is the COVID-19 vaccine necessary?
...for children?
Children are at risk of getting serious infection by COVID-19.
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COVID-19 is a childhood illness. COVID-19 has become one of the top five leading causes of death in children, and vaccines make these deaths preventable. Vaccines are the reason diseases aren’t normally a leading cause of death.
The vaccine is effective at preventing serious outcomes of COVID-19.
The vaccine is safe to give to kids as young as 6 months.
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The COVID-19 vaccines for children have the same active ingredients as the vaccines given to adults, but at a smaller, age-appropriate dose. The smaller doses were rigorously tested and found to create the needed immune response for each age group. Children under age 12 and infants/toddlers under age 5 receive decreasingly smaller dosages than adults ages 18 and older.
Children are at greater risk of complications from COVID-19 infection than from vaccines.
...with prior infection?
The vaccine is a safer way to build immunity against COVID-19 infection, even after infection.
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Getting vaccinated is the safest way to protect against the worst outcomes of COVID-19, including hospitalization, long COVID, Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), and death. The vaccine is a safer way to teach your body how to fight the virus because it causes a more predictable immune response than getting COVID-19 infection and risking a wide range of potentially severe outcomes.
The vaccine is an effective way to build immunity against COVID-19 infection, even after infection.
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Viruses constantly change through mutation, and sometimes these mutations result in a new variant of the virus. Because viruses mutate and other factors, no vaccine can be 100% effective at preventing infection. Reinfection is possible, and therefore everyone should get vaccinated. Immunity from prior infection is helpful, but it doesn’t mean you are safe from the worst outcomes of COVID-19, that the protection will last a long time, or that the next infection will be less severe.
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Immunity against disease and infection naturally wanes over time. A booster dose is a normal part of most vaccine series to ensure a person maintains optimal immunity against infection from a disease. Booster doses enhance protection against severe COVID-19, restoring immunity that might have faded since initial doses. The FDA may authorize new booster doses as emerging data shows that a specific group of people may be likely to benefit from an increase in protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 and its known variants.
