Myths and conspiracy theories on vaccines and COVID-19: Potential effect on global vaccine refusals

I Ullah; K S Khan; M J Tahir; A Ahmed; H Harapan

doi:10.1016/j.vacun.2021.01.001

Myths and conspiracy theories on vaccines and COVID-19: Potential effect on global vaccine refusals

Vacunas. 2021 May-Aug;22(2):93-97. doi: 10.1016/j.vacun.2021.01.001. Epub 2021 Mar 11.

Authors

I Ullah^{1

2

3}, K S Khan⁴, M J Tahir^{5

6}, A Ahmed⁷, H Harapan^{8

9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Kabir Medical College, Gandhara University, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan.
² Undergraduate Research Organization, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh.
³ Naseer Teaching Hospital, Peshawar 25000, Pakistan.
⁴ Dow Medical College, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi 74200, Pakistan.
⁵ Ameer-ud-Din Medical College, Affiliated with University of Health and Sciences, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
⁶ Lahore General Hospital, Lahore 54000, Pakistan.
⁷ School of Pharmacy, Monash University, Bandar Sunway 47500, Malaysia.
⁸ Medical Research Unit, School of Medicine, Indonesia.
⁹ Tropical Diseases Centre, School of Medicine, Indonesia.
¹⁰ Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Banda Aceh 23111, Indonesia.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

The current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is one of the international crises and researchers are working collaboratively to develop a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. The World Health Organization recognizes vaccine hesitancy as the world's top threat to public health safety, particularly in low middle-income countries. Vaccine hesitancy can be due to a lack of knowledge, false religious beliefs, or anti-vaccine misinformation. The current situation regarding anti-vaccine beliefs is pointing towards dreadful outcomes. It raises the concern that will people believe and accept the new COVID-19 vaccines despite all anti-vaccine movements and COVID-19-related myths and conspiracy theories. This review discusses the possible detrimental impacts of myths and conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 and vaccine on COVID-19 vaccine refusals as well as other vaccine programs.

La pandemia actual de COVID-19 (enfermedad por coronavirus de 2019) es una crisis internacional y los investigadores están trabajando conjuntamente para desarrollar una vacuna efectiva contra ella. La Organización Mundial de la Salud reconoce la renuencia a la vacuna como una de las principales amenazas para la seguridad de la salud pública, particularmente en los países con bajos ingresos medios. Dicho rechazo a la vacuna puede deberse a falta de conocimiento, falsas creencias religiosas o desinformación acerca de la anti-vacunación. La situación actual con respecto a las creencias apunta a resultados terribles. Suscita la inquietud de que las personas crean y acepten las nuevas vacunas frente a la COVID-19 a pesar de todos los movimientos anti-vacunación y los mitos y teorías conspiradoras relacionados con esta enfermedad. Esta revisión trata sobre el posible impacto perjudicial de los mitos y teorías conspiradoras relacionados con la COVID-19 y el rechazo a la vacunación frente a la misma, así como a otros programas de vacunación.

Keywords: Anti-vaccine; COVID-19; Conspiracy; Myths; Pandemic.

Publication types

Review

Abstract in English, Spanish

Publication types

Abstract
in English, Spanish