When the first coronavirus vaccines were rolled out last week, healthcare workers across the country took to social media to express their joy. Now those posts are being targeted by anti-vaxxers.
As the Press Herald points out, the effort to distribute the vaccine to the population faces the headwinds of the anti-vaxxer movement, along with those who aren't necessarily anti-vaccine, but who are wary of the coronavirus vaccine's rushed production.
"After getting beat up for ten months in the pandemic, now they're getting beat up on social media for making a choice that could save hundreds of thousands of lives," said Dan Weberg, head of clinical innovation at Trusted Health.
According to the Press Herald's Sarah Frier, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube "are starting to reckon with the role they've played in the persistent popularity of vaccine skepticism."
"Twitter said that starting this week, it will remove any content that spreads vaccine-related conspiracies or false and widely debunked claims about the shot's effects," writes Frier. "By early next year, the company may label incomplete or out-of-context vaccine information with a link to information from health authorities."
Many healthcare workers knew their posts would be targeted by anti-vaxxers, and the anti-science sentiment has grown despite social media platforms' efforts to clamp down on disinformation.
"I know for a fact I'll have a hard time convincing families with this COVID vaccine," she said. "I can barely get them to take the flu shot that's been around this long." pediatric nurse Ashley Sayles said.
Read the full article over at the Press Herald.
