may be misinformation undermine efforts immunize

#MAY BE MISINFORMATION UNDERMINE EFFORTS IMMUNIZE FREE#

That 25 percent can cause a lot of damage - and they are. And in a country as large as ours, that’s 25 percent minority. That’s nearly 80 million Americans not vaccinated. Nearly three quarters of the eligible have gotten at least one shot, but one quarter has not gotten any. Third, if you wonder how all this adds up, here’s the math: The vast majority of Americans are doing the right thing. Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated and mask up, they’re ordering mobile morgues for the unvaccinated dying from COVID in their communities.

#MAY BE MISINFORMATION UNDERMINE EFFORTS IMMUNIZE FREE#

And it’s caused by the fact that despite America having an unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million AmericansĪnd to make matters worse, there are elected officials actively working to undermine the fight against COVID-19. While the vaccines provide strong protections for the vaccinated, we read about, we hear about, and we see the stories of hospitalized people, people on their death beds, among the unvaccinated over these past few weeks. The highly contagious Delta variant that I began to warn America about back in July spread in late summer like it did in other countries before us. We’re in a tough stretch, and it could last for a while. But while America is in much better shape than it was seven months ago when I took office, I need to tell you a second fact. We’re now averaging 700,000 new jobs a month in the past three months. Last week, that grim weekly toll was down 70 percent.Īnd in the three months before I took office, our economy was faltering, creating just 50,000 jobs a month.

The week before I took office, on January 20th of this year, over 25,000 Americans died that week from COVID-19. Today, over 175 million Americans have that protection.īefore I took office, we hadn’t ordered enough vaccine for every American.

When I became President, about 2 million Americans were fully vaccinated. So before I outline the new steps to fight COVID-19 that I’m going to be announcing tonight, let me give you some clear information about where we stand.įirst, we have cons- we have made considerable progress You might be confused about what is true and what is false about COVID-19. Many of us are frustrated with the nearly 80 million Americans who are still not vaccinated, even though the vaccine is safe, effective, and free. It will take a lot of hard work, and it’s going to take some time. If we raise our vaccination rate, protect ourselves and others with masking and expanded testing, and identify people who are infected, we can and we will turn the tide on COVID-19. I want to talk to you about where we are in the battle against COVID-19, the progress we’ve made, and the work we have left to do.Īnd it starts with understanding this: Even as the Delta variant 19 has - COVID-19 - has been hitting this country hard, we have the tools to combat the virus, if we can come together as a country and use those tools. THE PRESIDENT: Good evening, my fellow Americans.

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Office of Science and Technology Policy.Executive Offices Show submenu for “Executive Offices””.Administration Show submenu for “Administration””.1 Reacting to this reality, the World Health Organization added “vaccine hesitancy” to its list of the “10 Threats to Global Health in 2019.” 2 Because high rates of vaccination benefit society and antivaccine misinformation causes harm to the most vulnerable, 1 governments should do more to combat misinformation and communicate the benefits of vaccination. This misinformation contributes to an increase in unvaccinated children and undermining of herd immunity, pertinent to recent measles outbreaks. 1 A 2019 study 1 even found that neutral searches of the word vaccine by a new user with no friends or likes yielded overwhelmingly antivaccine content unsupported by science both on Facebook and YouTube. In fact, half of all parents with children younger than 5 years have been exposed to misinformation about vaccines on social media. These activists use social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, to share misleading information supporting their views on vaccines. The challenges of balancing free speech against harms caused by misinformation on social media are well illustrated by antivaccine activists, who claim that vaccines cause death or other harmful adverse effects against the evidence. Freedom of speech is one of the most fundamental rights in the United States.

May be misinformation undermine efforts immunize