Feb. 10, 2021
With misinformation continuing to undermine public confidence in the Covid-19 vaccines, WebMD has launched the WebMD Covid-19 Vaccine Misinformation Center to help combat inaccuracies with facts. The Center will provide reliable vaccine resources and online tools to help consumers make informed decisions, driven by science.
The Center features articles and videos on topics including vaccine myths and how they take root, public health challenges and the role of social media in misinformation. Medscape, a division of WebMD Health Corp. and a provider of medical news and information for healthcare professionals globally, will feature content and resources at its Covid-19 Resource Center, including vaccine overviews, late stage vaccine development updates and news on vaccine research.
“While reports show increasing receptivity to getting a Covid vaccine, about one-in-five Americans still say they are not planning to get one, or would only if required,” says John Whyte, MD, WebMD’s Chief Medical Officer. “The issue of vaccine hesitancy is also of particular concern in communities of color, which have been disproportionately impacted by the virus.”
Joining Forces with HealthGuard
WebMD and Medscape have also joined with corporate, nonprofit and media leaders in a global public service campaign, VaxFacts, to identify and counter misleading vaccine information. Led by HealthGuard, the campaign features a browser extension that flags health hoaxes, provides credibility ratings for hundreds of websites, and guides users to sources that offer trusted information. The tool is a new service from NewsGuard, developed by two veteran journalists in 2018 to combat misinformation in the news. So far, HealthGuard has flagged nearly 400 websites for publishing misinformation and myths about COVID-19 vaccines.
Other Articles to Explore
In an interview on Dr. Whyte’s video series, Coronavirus in Context, Steven Brill, the co-CEO of HealthGuard said, “When you take all those issues of unreliability and trustworthiness….and combine that with the subject of healthcare, all those dangers (of misinformation) multiply.”
Click HERE for Dr. Whyte’s interview with Brill.
