Swayed by disinformation

THOUGH Gerry Casida is on the priority list for a free Covid-19 vaccine in the Philippines because of his asthma, he’s isn’t planning to get the shot any time soon. A video he found on social media of a woman claiming vaccines are being used for genocide helps explain why.

“I’ve read a lot of posts on Facebook about how many died in other countries because of vaccines, and how that’s being concealed,” the construction worker, 43, from Manila said.

“My mum also consulted a folk healer, who said the vaccines could affect my heart.”

Millions of people like Casida in some of the worst Covid-19 hotspots in South-East Asia are swayed by disinformation on social media from both local sources as well anti-vaccination movements in the United States.

Those false claims are fuelling vaccine hesitancy in some pockets of the region, undermining efforts to vaccinate some of the most vulnerable people in Asia and end a pandemic that has stalled the global economy.

Despite some of the highest rates of new cases in the world, recent surveys have shown vaccine resistance is prevalent in the region.

In the Philippines, 68% of the people are either uncertain or unwilling to take the shots, according to polling company Social Weather Stations.

A third of Thais have doubts or refuse to be vaccinated, according to the Suan Dusit Poll, while a separate survey in Indonesia showed a fifth of the population hesitating.

Anti-vaccination propaganda is a big reason for that hesitancy, which has further slowed takeup in countries already struggling with limited supplies.

Less than 10% of the population in Thailand and the Philippines have received even one shot.

“This infodemic has shifted now, and the focus is misinformation on vaccines. It’s about instilling fear in people,” said Melissa Fleming, the United Nations’ under-secretary-general for global communications in May.

Even in Singapore, which has largely contained the spread of the virus, the young and educated succumb to fake news, said Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease physician at Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital.

“Some of the stories get amplified more, but the reasons are pretty much the same,” he said.

To combat vaccine hesitancy Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to jail those who refuse vaccines.

Others are taking a quirkier approach to encourage vaccinations.

A district in northern Thailand started raffling off cows in mid-June as an incentive. In rural Indonesia, vaccinated residents got free chickens, while a city in the Philippines is giving away a house.

Educating vaccine recipients and even medical practitioners is the best tool to fight hesitancy, said Leong. — Bloomberg