Politicizing Critical Health and Guidance Communications

"Misinformation is an urgent societal concern that affects us all [with its] infodemic [of falsehoods spread as widely and swiftly as COVID-19."

"Misinformation can be a product of systemic failures in science and medicine, and in the communication of scientific knowledge and research findings."

"[Findings that fail to replicate and weak methodologies are among the reasons why] no one study can be treated as definitive."

Council of Canadian Academies

"[Who or what is to blame? A] perfect storm of actors."

Myth and misperception, lies and deception are not new -- they're probably as old as human communication."

"But something different is afoot. [Pundits have labelled ours a] post-truth [era] where the very idea of truth seems to be under attack, and where misinformation is tied in with ideology and identity and arouses great passions."

"[Misinformation matters, because an] abundance of evidence [shows it causes preventable illness, preventable death and makes people] vulnerable to financial exploitation."

"It's pretty clear that tens of thousands of hospitalizations did occur because of misinformation."

"[It matters when political leaders] endorse [and] further promote misinformation. It accelerates the spread, it matters, it makes it harder to correct."

"When it becomes tied up with identity and ideology, political leaders will often look to misinformation as a means of building their coalition. It has become a tool in politics [and a threat to democracy]."

Dr. Alex Himelfarb, professor of sociology, University of New Brunswick, expert panel chair, Council of Canadian Academies

"A lot of people felt abandoned during this pandemic -- public outreach did not reach them; their needs were not met -- and the response was to turn away and reject all public health communications, and even to respond and protest angrily."

Dr. Maya Goldenberg, philosophy professor. expert in vaccine hesitancy, University of Guelph

A protest against COVID-19 vaccine passports and mandatory vaccinations in Vancouver on September 1, 2021. Among the vaccine refusers, 85 per cent believed that vaccine harms are "covered-up" and 73 per cent believed COVID is fake or overblown. Photo by Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

A newly issued report points out that beliefs of exaggeration of COVID-19, or that it is a hoax; that vaccines can alter a person's DNA or cause other "covered up problems" had a cost to Canada of an estimated 2,800 lives, along with thousands of hospitalizations over more than nine months of the pandemic. These are held to be conservative estimates based on models which did not address ripple effects of misinformation like postponed surgeries, medical billings or "the social unrest and moral injury to healthcare workers".

The report outlines that between March and November of 2021, misinformation persuaded up to 2.4 million people to delay or refuse to be vaccinated against COVID in Canada. Had those same individuals been vaccinated on eligibility by the end of November 2021, 198,000 fewer cases of COVID would have materialized; 13,000 fewer hospitalizations, and 3,500 fewer people requiring intensive care.

Conspiracy theories appearing on social media, the politicization of misinformation; a "multi-decades-long decline in trust" in institutions that once were viewed as reliable purveyors of truth, as well as theories that pinpoint blame on on something or someone, all were implicated as additional issues in the spread of misinformation impressing the vulnerable to act in defiance of their best interests. 

The 13-member panel that produced the report Fault Lines set out to estimate the effects of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy; how much more effectively vaccine uptake would have been without the confusing presence of misinformation and what it might have meant for infections and deaths. Under consideration was what would have occurred had the vaccine-reluctant and vaccine-refusers been vaccinated at time of eligibility.

Peer-reviewed publications, government information and statistics all were reviewed and a model plugging in "real world" data on the number of vaccinations, cases, ICU visits and deaths between March 1 and November 30, 2021 were also commissioned. Everyone aged 12 and older over two waves of COVID was tracked by the model. Three different hypothetical scenarios were run.

• What would have happened to vaccination rates and case numbers if the proportion of people who agreed with the statement that COVID-19 is a hoax or exaggerated, (based on an Abacus survey), were vaccinated as soon as they became eligible;
• Another scenario studied case numbers if the proportion that agreed vaccines contain microchips or hidden dangers were vaccinated as soon as they were eligible;
• And a third modelled of what would have occurred if everyone in Canada had been vaccinated when they became eligible.

The analysis led to the conclusion that misinformation contributed to vaccine hesitancy for an estimated 2.35 million people in Canada; had refusers and vaccine-reluctants not delayed or refused inoculation by the end of November 2021, 198,000 fewer COVID cases might have occurred; 13,000 fewer hospitalizations, 3,500 fewer people requiring intensive care, $300 million would have been saved in hospital costs, and 2,800 fewer deaths might have occurred.

Anti-vaccine demonstrators heckle Dr. Joe Vipond, not shown, an emergency room physician, leads a sustained protest against the Alberta government ending COVID testing, tracing, and isolation in Calgary, Alta., Thursday, Aug. 12, 2021. Jeff McIntosh for The Globe and Mail