The problem is recurring: A vaccinated public figure catches COVID-19, and social media is flooded with claims that it proves that immunization against the coronavirus does not work.
In the United States, the celebrities involved include White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and comedian Chris Rock, who were infected with the virus, as well as the former secretary. of State Colin Powell, died of complications from COVID-19.
News of their SARS-CoV-2 infection each time triggered a deluge of false information online.
The cases of infections from vaccinated people come as no surprise and do not mean that the vaccines are not effective, according to US health officials. But claims to the contrary may erode public confidence in these public health measures, crucial as children aged 5 to 11 can finally access vaccines in the United States.
“Each contamination of a vaccinated person reinforces the doubts of people who are worried about the effectiveness of vaccines,” said Andy Carvin, of the scientific digital research laboratory of the Atlantic Council, a think tank based in Washington.
By announcing to have been declared positive, Jen Psaki attributed Sunday to the vaccine the lightness of its symptoms, which did not prevent a user from seeing there “the living proof that the vaccine does not work” with its 12,000 subscribers. on Twitter. And he was far from the only one to say that.
Similar allegations followed the announcement of the contamination of MM. Kavanaugh and Rock, and that of General Powell’s death, despite his suffering from multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer that experts say affects the immune system and limits vaccine effectiveness. .
“Not a magic shield”
The number of vaccinated continues to increase, and with it should also increase the number of cases of COVID-19 – including the most serious – in the immune population, which makes the fight against this disinformation all the more vital.
“Vaccination is great technology, but it’s not a magic shield,” says Devon Greyson, who conducts public health research at the University of British Columbia.
The authorities must therefore better define what the public is entitled to expect from vaccines, benefits or limits, adds Yotam Ophir, specialist in disinformation in health and science at the University of Buffalo.
Another problem, he said, is that “humans tend to pay attention to cases [de COVID-19] striking. You don’t really know how to think by numbers or statistics, you usually think in terms of stories that are easy to tell ”.
The media account does not generally concern “all the people who have been vaccinated and are in good health”, he emphasizes.
“Putting out fires”
The press coverage of Colin Powell’s death has been “particularly disappointing,” according to Nina Jankowicz, a disinformation expert at the Wilson Center Think Tank.
“From the media coverage I have observed, even by serious media in our country […] many did not mention secretary cancer [d’État Colin] Powell, ”which allowed disinformation to spread quickly, she says.
For Andy Carvin of the Atlantic Council, the frenetic pace to which the media are subjected clashes with the need for contextualization.
Deciding which case of personality infected despite having been vaccinated to cover potentially sets the stage for a storm of disinformation, and it “has become a matter of journalistic ethics,” he said, adding that “reporters and the media in general need to be creative in the way they present ”these cases.
For Yotam Ophir, disinformation in matters of health should be combated by public policies, because “we are extremely dependent on the goodwill of private companies like Facebook and Twitter” in this field.
“Right now we are putting out fires,” he says. “It’s a battle you can’t win. At some point we will have to find a more general solution. “