Jen Psaki, Brett Kavanaugh, Chris Rock and Colin Powell. What do they have in common? Having caught the coronavirus while being vaccinated, resulting in torrents of social media posts that question the vaccine’s effectiveness.
In the United States, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh and comedian Chris Rock, who were infected with the virus, as well as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, death from complications related to Covid-19.
“Living proof that the vaccine does not work”
News of their SARS-CoV-2 infection has triggered a deluge of false information online each time. 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 having tested positive, Jen Psaki attributed Sunday to the vaccine the lightness of its symptoms, which did not prevent a user from seeing “living proof that the vaccine does not work” with his 12,000 subscribers on Twitter. And he was far from the only one to say that. Similar allegations followed news of the contamination of Brett Kavanaugh and Chris Rock, and of General Powell’s death, despite the latter’s suffering from multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer which, according to experts, affects the immune system and limits vaccine effectiveness.
“Not a magic shield”
The number of vaccinated continues to increase, and with it should also grow the number of Covid-19 cases – including the most serious – in the immune population, making 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 striking (Covid) cases. You don’t really know how to think in terms of numbers or statistics, you usually think in terms of easy-to-tell stories. 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 that I have observed, even by serious media in our country (…) many did not mention the cancer of Secretary (of State Colin) Powell”, which allowed the misinformation to spread quickly, she said. For Andy Carvin of the Atlantic Council, the frenetic pace to which the media are subjected conflicts with the need for contextualization.
Deciding which case of personality infected while being vaccinated to cover, potentially paving the way for a storm of disinformation, “has become a matter of journalistic ethics,” he said, adding that “journalists 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. “