KUCHING, Nov 9: All quarters must come together to stem the spread of misinformation on Covid-19 booster shots, as fake news spreads just as fast as the virus.
According to Julian Tan, who is special assistant to Democratic Action Party (DAP) Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen, the spread of fake news pertaining to the booster shots is worrying — particularly misinformation on the ‘mix and match’ (heterologous) method for those who have received the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for their first and second doses.
“We were even contacted by individuals from abroad asking for help as many of their parents who were vaccinated with Sinovac here decided to ditch their appointments for the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot after receiving false information of its safety.
“This goes beyond just spreading lies as it rides on the fear it generates by raking in millions of advertising money when users visit websites dedicated to spreading such misinformation.
“Based on the Global Disinformation Index, European fake news sites alone earn around USD75 million, including those peddling fake news about the coronavirus. If we include sites from other countries, the amount could be even more than that,” he said in a statement issued today.
Tan went on stress on a few important points regarding the effectiveness and importance of the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot that goes with the Sinovac vaccine.
He said that according to a report by the South China Morning Post on Sept 8, a study from China (Beijing) suggested that using different Covid-19 vaccines for booster shots may be more effective than receiving the third dose of Sinovac vaccines.
He also cited another report from South China Morning Post dated Nov 5 that said that Hong Kong is urging people within the high-risk group — particularly those with compromised immune systems, those aged 60 and above, and frontliners — who have received Sinovac jabs to opt for the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot to ensure better protection.
“The latest study from Turkey showed that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, when used as the third dose, showed a significantly higher level of protection compared to the third dose of Sinovac (South China Morning Post, Nov 4).
“The same study also showed that 95 per cent of participants who received the Pfizer-BioNTech booster shot had antibody levels above the ‘maximum measurable tier’ compared to only 8.2 per cent for those who received Sinovac as a booster shot.”
Tan then added that Thailand and Indonesia also use the ‘mix and match’ method whereby Sinovac, when complemented with other vaccines, showed higher efficacy levels.
“A recent Thai study showed that antibodies in those fully vaccinated with Sinovac declined by half every 40 days due to the more infectious Covid-19 Delta variant. A lab study reported by Reuters also showed that antibody levels declined by below a key threshold from around six months after the second shot.
“The latest report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) suggested that the Sinovac vaccine was 51 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic disease, on par with the 63 per cent efficacy reported for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Both are lower than the 90 per cent and higher efficacies of the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech. It is important to note that all vaccines are still 100 per cent effective at preventing severe disease and death.”
Therefore, Tan urged the government to step up its efforts to curb the spread of fake news pertaining to booster shots by educating the public and debunking misleading information via methods such as SMS, infographics, and short videos.
“The public must be able to share the information easily across social platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, and Telegram. We need to have a dedicated website and WhatsApp group where users can share fake news they’ve come across and websites that promote fake news must be identified and blocked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
“As responsible citizens, we should also stop spreading fake news which can cause fear. Let us not put others’ lives in danger by causing vaccine hesitancy. We may potentially save the lives of others and our loved ones.” — DayakDaily
