Vaccination How to deal with misinformation and hoaxes that arouse anxiety?

[NHK] While vaccination with the new coronavirus is progressing, many people have anxiety and doubts about vaccination. Focusing on SNS, ...

While vaccination with the new coronavirus is progressing, many people have anxiety and doubts about vaccination.

Unfounded information and hoaxes are seen and spread around SNS.

How can we deal with this false information?

On the 15th, a symposium on countermeasures was held online.

We introduced the measures taken by major Internet operators to deny incorrect information and provide scientifically-based information.

“Number of posts on Twitter has increased eight times in the last four months”

At the symposium, Associate Professor Shinichi Yamaguchi of the International University pointed out that the number of Twitter posts on vaccines has increased eight-fold from April to this month, and hoaxes and unfounded information are also increasing.

While the hoaxes such as "becoming infertile" and "rewriting genetic information" are spreading by hitting the vaccine, information that denies the hoax by sending an article in which the media performed a fact check to verify the authenticity. Introduced the case where the information spread, and emphasized the importance of centralized transmission of correct information.

Next, I will introduce the measures taken by Internet operators, and the person in charge of Twitter will put a mark called "label" on posts that are misleading about the new corona, and will not be able to reply, retweet, or like. I introduced that it has been introduced.

In addition, the person in charge of LINE reported that the information from the official account of the national and local governments was sent directly to the user so that accurate information could be accessed.

Professor Kutsuna "Information from the correct source such as the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare"

Regarding vaccine information, Professor Kenji Kutsuna of Osaka University, who specializes in infectious diseases and disseminates information online, said, "It is important to get information from the correct source, such as the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. I want to reduce the number of people who believe in hoaxes as much as possible. "

Minister Kono "Misunderstanding of young people I am very worried about excessive anxiety"

Kono, the minister in charge of regulatory reform, sent a video message to the symposium, saying, "Incorrect information about vaccines is circulating around the Internet. It is clear that young people are very worried about misunderstandings and excessive anxiety. It is important to firmly deny incorrect information and disseminate the correct information. "

On top of that, "wrong information may cause more anxiety by writing the title of the person who sent the information in a higher class than it actually is, or by writing" Get the secret document of the pharmaceutical company secretly ". We would appreciate it if you could inoculate the drug after considering it based on the correct information. "

Case of "hoax"

As the vaccination of the new coronavirus progresses, unfounded false information and hoaxes are being seen mainly on the Internet.

There is a lot of false information such as “Vaccination makes you infertile”.

Antibodies made with the vaccine are said to have a negative effect on the placenta, but experts familiar with the new corona vaccine say that the antibodies do not attack the proteins involved in the placenta, which is incorrect information. ..

The Minister for Regulatory Reform, who is in charge of the vaccine, also emphasizes that there is no scientific evidence that this vaccine will cause infertility.

There is also false information such as “miscarriage if you hit the vaccine during pregnancy”.

Regarding this, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has stated on a website that summarizes information on the vaccine for the new corona, "There is no increase in miscarriage among those who have been vaccinated."

According to the results of a group study by the CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, the percentage of miscarriages and stillbirths among more than 35,000 vaccinated pregnant women and the percentage of babies born prematurely or underweight are the new corona. It was no different from the rates reported in stillbirths before the spread of the virus.

There is also false information that "when a vaccine is given, components remain in the body for a long period of time and the genetic information is rewritten."

Regarding the Pfizer and Moderna messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines currently being inoculated in Japan, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said on its website, "The mRNA to be injected is not degraded in a short period of time and incorporated into human genetic information." As a result, it denies the information that the genetic information is rewritten.

There was also false information that “the elderly were infected with the new corona by the vaccine and died one after another at the elderly facility”.

The vaccine being inoculated does not contain the virus itself, and the vaccine does not infect the new coronavirus.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, "We have not found that vaccination will increase the number of deaths due to some kind of illness."

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has spread the case of death after vaccination reported to the national government as "death caused by vaccination" on SNS etc., although it includes cases that occur independently of vaccination. We are calling attention to the fact that there are cases where it is.

There is also a conspiracy theory on SNS etc. that “the vaccine contains microchip and manages people”.

The components of the vaccine are also published on the websites of national health authorities and companies such as the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and the US FDA = Pharmaceutical and Food Administration, and it is clear that they do not contain microchips.

There is also a hoax on SNS that says, “When you hit the vaccine, the magnets will stick together.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has explicitly denied on its website that vaccines do not contain magnetic substances.

Measures for internet operators

Internet operators are taking steps to prevent users from being confused by incorrect information or hoaxes.

Of these, "Yahoo" is on the top page of news called "topics" that many people read.

▽

Articles that verify false information and hoaxes about vaccines and

▽ Medical experts' views and medical commentary. We are actively posting articles that summarize the above, and

are promoting the dissemination of information to directly counteract hoaxes.

In addition, when searching, information sent by public institutions and information with scientific grounds are displayed at the top, so for example, "dead" and "side reactions" are displayed together with "vaccine". If you search with the keyword "", the Q & A site of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and articles that Yahoo independently explained in collaboration with multiple medical specialists how to think about poor physical condition after vaccination are displayed at the top. Will be done.

In addition, if you search with the name of the local government using "vaccine" as a keyword, a special site that summarizes detailed information such as the vaccination schedule and vaccination venue for each local government will be displayed. It is said that it is creating a mechanism that makes it easy to connect to information that has a basis or information that the local government sends.

Yahoo "Communicating reliable information in an easy-to-understand manner"

Yahoo's executive officer, Hiroshi Kataoka, general manager of the media division, said, "As the inoculation gets into full swing, the interest in vaccines is steadily increasing from the search keywords and the number of site views. For general users, vaccines It is very difficult to judge what is correct about information. It is extremely important to put together reliable information and convey the correct information in an easy-to-understand manner. I want to continue. "

Vaccination Approximately 80% of all elderly people finish the first vaccination

Vaccination began in February for medical professionals, etc., and from April, vaccination is also being promoted for elderly people aged 65 and over by the end of this fiscal year.

According to the latest situation as of the 14th, which was announced by the government on the 15th, the number of elderly people who received the first vaccination was 28,134,893 nationwide, accounting for 79.28% of the total number of elderly people.

The number of elderly people who have completed the second vaccination is 18,537,353, which is 52.24%.

In addition, the vaccination status including medical staff and people under 64 years old was 31.59% of the total population as of the 14th, and 19.68% of those who completed the second vaccination. I am.

The total population includes children under the age of vaccination.

These data are based on the number of people entered into the system from each region and may actually be more inoculated and may increase in the future.

Inoculation reservations below "expected" What are the thoughts of the working prime and the younger generation?

On the other hand, in some local governments, the number of jobs and reservations for the younger generation is far below expectations.

In Tosa City, Kochi Prefecture, in addition to the individual vaccinations that have already started, group vaccinations are scheduled to begin on the 24th of this month, and reservations have been accepted since the end of last month.

However, while there is a total of 5,200 people in the mass inoculation, the city's summary shows that reservations are filled for about 1,700 people, which is only 33% of the total. ..

Including those who have already completed individual vaccinations to those who have reserved mass vaccinations, the ratio to the population

is 55% for those aged 60 to 64

, 47.5% for those in their 50s, and

▽ 40

as of the 9th of this month.

33% are in their

teens, 24% are in

their 30s, and 19.2% are in their 19s and 20s

Also, in Niyodogawa Town, Kochi Prefecture, we started mass inoculation for townspeople aged 12 to 59 from the 14th, but the number of reservations is only about 650, which is 58% of the limit for 1100 people. about it.

Kochi Prefecture

analyzes that there

may be some people who are

worried about side reactions and

who think that even if they are infected, the

younger generation will be less

ill

than the elderly

Kochi Prefecture "Situations where there are few people inoculated in the same age group

Tetsuro Ono, director of the Kochi Prefecture Vaccination Promotion Office, said, "I think there are still a few people in the same age group who have been vaccinated. It is up to the individual to decide whether or not to inoculate, but first of all, the correct information on the vaccine. It is important to get to know. "

"Moderna" vaccination target 12 years old and over

Regarding the new coronavirus vaccine developed by the American pharmaceutical company Moderna, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to reduce the age at which it can be inoculated from the current age of 18 to 12 at the beginning of the week.

When the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare approved the Moderna vaccine in May, the age limit for vaccination was limited to 18 years or older due to lack of data on efficacy and safety under 17 years old.

Later, Moderna submitted additional data to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, claiming that it had confirmed efficacy and safety in a clinical trial conducted in the United States on approximately 3,700 people aged 12 to 17 years.

According to the people concerned, the examination has been completed, and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will report to the expert group on the 19th of this month, add it to the target of public vaccination, and use it for vaccination of 12 years or older desired. I am doing it.

In Japan, Pfizer's vaccine has also been reduced from 16 years old and over to 12 years old and over in May.

Over 1000 infected people in Tokyo for 2 consecutive days

In the capital city of Tokyo, which entered the period of the fourth state of emergency from the 12th of this month, the rate of increase in the number of new positives has continued to rise, and experts point out that "the infection is spreading rapidly." I am.

The number of new infections confirmed in Tokyo announced on the 15th was 1,308, exceeding 1,000 for the second consecutive day.

There were 412 more people than Thursday a week ago, with an average of 882.1 people for seven days up to the 15th, 132.9% of the previous week.

“Over 2400 people on average for 7 days after 4 weeks” Expert analysis

At the Tokyo Metropolitan Monitoring Conference held on the 15th, experts analyzed that if the current growth rate continues, it will increase to about 2,406 people, which is 2.94 times the current number, on the 11th of next month, four weeks later.

On top of that, if the spread of infection accelerates due to the effects of mutant viruses, there is strong concern that the third wave of the new year will be exceeded at an early stage.

"The elderly are being suppressed, including the number of seriously ill people." Governor of Tokyo

Regarding this, Governor Koike told reporters at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government on the 15th, "Especially the number of positive people in their 20s and 30s is by far the largest. I think it's the effect of. "

“As inoculation progresses, the number of clusters will decrease further” Kyoto University estimates

In addition, a group of Professor Hiroshi Nishiura of Kyoto University and others has been working on the status of infections nationwide from November to June last year, and the status of vaccination of medical staff starting in February. We analyzed the data to estimate how vaccination of healthcare workers affected the number of clusters of 5 or more.

As a result,

it seems that 1060 clusters were generated at medical institutions and 1631 clusters were generated at facilities for the elderly if there was no vaccination of medical staff, whereas

if vaccinated, at medical institutions. Since it was estimated that there were 896 cases and 1476 cases at facilities for the elderly, the

total was 319 cases, which was a small number.

According to the group, this estimation does not include the effects of priority vaccination for the elderly and vaccination in the workplace, which began after that, Professor Nishiura said, "If the vaccination for the elderly and the general public progresses, The number of clusters should decrease further in the future. It is a tribute to the effectiveness of the vaccine, and it is bright news in the severe infection situation. "