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By Liam Verster
Spreading scientific, research-based information

ScienceUpFirst campaign to combat misinformation regarding COVID-19, vaccinations

Jan 26, 2021 | 2:24 PM

An independent coalition of scientists, researchers, science communicators, health care providers, and scientific bodies in Canada has launched a social media campaign to help combat misinformation and conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19 and vaccinations.

The ScienceUpFirst campaign officially launched on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on Monday, and is using the social media platforms to share scientific-based and verified information and content regarding the novel coronavirus.

Dr. Krishana Sankar, a biological scientist, science communicator, and steering member of the ScienceUpFirst campaign, says they will begin the campaign by sharing visual and info graph style content, which she says is the best way to catch people’s attention.

“So instead of having long articles, there will be short bits of information, bite-size pieces of information, delivered in visually appealing ways so that people are interested and actually read the types of content that we have,” says Sankar.

She says ScienceUpFirst will also share content from other reputable sources, adding that they will branch out to TikTok and WhatsApp in the coming weeks to expand their reach and types of content they can deliver.

One of the challenges ScienceUpFirst must deal with is getting people out of their echo chambers, so they won’t be constantly bombarded with information, whether it’s factual or false. Sankar says running the campaign on multiple social media platforms will help reach most demographics and help break them out of their echo chambers and provide them with more scientifically verified information.

She adds misinformation surrounding COVID-19 has been a growing concern, and that this coalition will be able to get ahead of some of the big conspiracy theories out there, starting with vaccinations.

There have been claims that the vaccine contains microchips, which Sankar says is untrue, adding that a list of ingredients can be found on the companies websites.

She also says there are unproven claims that the vaccine will make someone sterile, or cause long-term health complications. Though there have been concerns of allergic reactions, there have only been a small number of these instances, all of which involved people with severe allergies.

Another issue they are dealing with is the claim that vaccines are unsafe for pregnant women.

“The risk of pregnant women getting COVID-19 and the devastation it can cause to their bodies is actually quite high. So we know right now that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists have amended their guidelines to include that pregnant women should be able to get the vaccine,” says Sankar.

“So, of course, this decision has to be made between them and their physician, but it’s safer for them to get the vaccine than them risking getting COVID-19.”

She says this misinformation surrounding the vaccines need to be debunked, as many people are becoming uncomfortable or hesitant when it comes to vaccination. Sankar says she understands the concerns surrounding the new type of vaccine, but inoculation is needed in order to stop the spread of the virus.

“The whole reason for the vaccine is so that we can prevent and avoid disease, increase our immunity to the disease, and hopefully help in reducing transmission. So, the more people within the population that gets this vaccine, means that we would sooner be able to see reduction in transmission, and hopefully, be rid of COVID-19 sometime in the near future.”

Other conspiracy theories that need debunking is that masks cause more health problems than they solve, and that the PCR test isn’t able to identify the novel coronavirus. Sankar says both these claims continue to be shared online, despite the being no evidence the masks reduce oxygen intake, or the fact that the PCR test, which she calls the ‘gold standard,’ is designed to test for bacteria in a sample and that cycles do not make a difference in the end result.

Sankar says unproven of drugs or treatments are also abundant and can be dangerous, and points to hydroxychloroquine as an example where lots of people rushed out to get some of the medicine, despite there not being scientific evidence that it worked. In some cases, people became sick because they took unnecessary drugs, and there were even a few deaths linked to hydroxychloroquine.

She says along with putting themselves at risk, some of these theories also open up vulnerable people to infection that could result in death.

Sankar says while there is lots of false information online that they hope to drown out or correct by spreading more scientifically based and verified information.

While ScienceUpFirst is doing its part to fight misinformation, there are also ways for people to verify the content they come across online. She says people should check to see if the information being shared is recent, as the scientific process has lead to many changes in understanding the novel virus in the past year, the information should come from a verified and credible source, and people should check the content with other reputable sources to verify its authenticity.

The ScienceUpFirst campaign, which is run independently by volunteers and has no ties to companies or governments, and Sankar says they just want to spread factual information to help dispel myths, and do not intend to act as a censor.

by Liam Verster