'I saw Facebook posts': Vaccine disinformation endangers millions in Asia

 False claims are fueling vaccine hesitancy in pockets, undermining efforts to vaccinate some of the most vulnerable people in Asia.

Though Gerry Casida is on the priority list for a free Covid-19 vaccine in the Philippines because of his asthma, he’s isn’t planning to get the shot any time soon. A video he found on social media of a woman claiming vaccines are being used for genocide helps explain why.

“I’ve read a lot of posts on Facebook about how many died in other countries because of vaccines, and how that’s being concealed,” the construction worker, 43, from Manila said. “My mom also consulted a folk healer, who said the vaccines could affect my heart.”

Millions of people like Casida in some of the worst Covid hotspots in Southeast Asia are in no rush for inoculation or just saying no, swayed by disinformation on social media from both local sources as well anti-vaccination movements in the U.S. Those false claims are fueling vaccine hesitancy in some pockets of the region, undermining efforts to vaccinate some of the most vulnerable people in Asia and end a pandemic that has stalled the global economy.

Despite some of the highest rates of new cases in the world, recent surveys have shown vaccine resistance is prevalent in the region. In the Philippines, 68% of the people are either uncertain or unwilling to take the shots, according to polling company Social Weather Stations. A third of Thais have doubts or refuse to be vaccinated, according to the Suan Dusit Poll, while a separate survey in Indonesia showed nearly a fifth of the population hesitating.

Anti-vaccination propaganda is a big reason for that hesitancy, which has further slowed takeup in countries already struggling with limited supplies. Less than 10% of the population in Thailand and the Philippines have received even one shot.

“It is a polluted media landscape,” Melissa Fleming, the United Nations’ under-secretary-general for global communications, said at a virtual forum in May. “This infodemic has shifted now, and the focus is misinformation on vaccines. It’s about instilling fear in people.”