Several conspiracy theories about the covid-19 vaccines continue to grow on social media platforms.
Even as governments across the world are trying their best to promote vaccines, the misinformation campaign continues to grow at a rapid pace targeting vulnerable people.
One of the most popular conspiracy theories with regards to the coronavirus vaccines was that Bill Gates was making huge profits from the development of covid-19 vaccines.
In this regard, many people linked this theory with the earlier rumor that the covid-19 was manufactured to help the big businesses make money from the public.
Conspiracy Theories Surrounding Covid 19 Vaccine Still Continues On Social Media
However, the fact remains that neither Bill Gates nor his Foundation are connected in any way with the covid-19 vaccines. Several people are against the lock down and they feel that the governments are trying to restrict their freedom during this pandemic situation.
Some of them are working in the unorganized sector and are in severe crisis as the lockdown has affected their earnings for the last few months.
Given this vulnerable situation, they are easy targets for the anti-vaxxers and it becomes an effortless task for them to promote conspiracy theories.
Several fringe events have been organised across the US and elsewhere in the world to protest against the covid-19 vaccines. According to the conspiracy theories, the vaccines can cause infertility in the long run.
However, scientists across the world have condemned such rumors and said that there was no evidence to prove that the covid-19 vaccine affected fertility in either men or women.
The World Health Organisation also warned the governments against such fringe groups as this can lead to a lower rate of vaccination across the country.
When people believe that covid-19 is a hoax, they will not take precautionary measures and this can lead to an increased number of hospitalizations.
Not only that, but such people will also be averse to taking the vaccine and this can reduce the effectiveness of the mass vaccination program.
The World Health Organisation and other health institutions feel that it is essential to provide accurate information to the public so that such disinformation campaigns can be controlled in an effective manner.
If the people do not trust the vaccine, it will hamper the collective response to the virus and the situation cannot be brought under control in the near future.
Some of the popular misinformation videos that claimed covid-19 was created in a lab to make profits were shared 20 million times on social media last year. Several Facebook pages and Groups were created to share such misinformation and it became viral in no time.
Several analysts feel that conspiracy theorists make money by promoting such theories among the vulnerable people. Such conspiracy theorists usually wait for exploiting World events so that they can connect to a larger audience within a short duration of time.
In most cases, the theories will be very simple and it offers an alternative look into reality. As the common public may not have the intelligence or the time to evaluate the facts in some cases, they are likely to believe the theories if it suits their version. Given the situation, it is almost impossible to control the conspiracy theories in the future.
However, the government should take proper initiative with regards to debunking those theories so that the public can gain confidence about the vaccine in future.
Apart from that, people who make baseless claims about the side effects of vaccines should be punished according to law.
Social media companies also have a big responsibility in this regard. The social networking platforms should also be held accountable if they are promoting such misinformation campaigns.
Several social media companies have said that they will take appropriate action in this regard and control the spread of information regarding covid-19 vaccines.