SAEM PULSE | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
Addressing the COVID-19 INFODEMIC
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By Michael A. Gisondi, MD Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. Surgeon General, recently described health misinformation and disinformation as a public health crisis. His comments were made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the staggering number of unvaccinated Americans to date. Vaccine hesitancy is fueled in large part by online misinformation and disinformation about vaccine safety and side effects, most notably on social media platforms. Misinformation greatly affects vaccination rates across the country, but especially among certain populations and states. Social media
companies actively seek to remove clearly false or misleading information about COVID-19 from their platforms, and they pair warnings with sound science and public health messaging. However, this reliable health information about the COVID-19 vaccine is drowned out by the overwhelming and growing amount of misinformation online, leading to an infodemic.
An “infodemic” is defined by the World Health Organization as “too much information, including false or misleading information in digital and physical environments during a disease outbreak. It causes confusion and risktaking behaviors that can harm health.” The deluge of information during an infodemic leads to widespread mistrust of health authorities, undermining
