Polio vaccine in the crossfire of misinformation

A health worker (right) marking the finger of a child after administering polio vaccine drops during a polio vaccination door-to-door campaign. Health authorities on Aug 25, 2020 declared the African continent free of the wild poliovirus after decades of effort, though cases of vaccine-derived polio are still sparking outbreaks of the paralysing disease in more than a dozen countries. — AFP

LIBREVILLE: As scientists around the world rush to find a vaccine to stem the spread of Covid-19, another deadly disease, polio, has become the latest target of misinformation campaigns online.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) celebrated the announcement on Aug 25 that Africa had eradicated the wild poliovirus – a landmark in a decades-long fight against the crippling disease.