A Guide to Combat COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories

The World Health Organization warned in February 2020 about the presence of an “infodemic” developing in parallel with the Coronavirus pandemic, where health information competes against a “tsunami” of misinformation, making it impossible for health officials to combat. There is a proven link between COVID vaccine conspiracies and conservatives, and belief in vaccine conspiracy theories is often correlated with acceptance of other conspiracy theories, like Q-Anon and a belief that COVID has artificial origins.

This means that organizations desiring to combat the spread of misinformation require strategic communications to inform the public about science, casting a wide net to debunk conspiracies generally, as they are often intersectional and anti-science. As vaccine conspiracy theories have been allowed to propagate online, vaccine hesitancy has become a socially identifiable subgroup with other norms and shared interest, often overlapping with conservative politics. Due to the nature of conspiracy theories, it is impossible to predict in advance which ones will gain traction, as they are completely made up to begin with. Many of them are politically motivated, originating from Donald Trump or people connected to him, like Steve Bannon, started to distract the public from the administrations failure to contain the virus.

The best defense against conspiracy theories is to teach the public how to spot a conspiracy theory and protect themselves. The difference between a real conspiracy and a conspiracy theory is that a real conspiracy is uncovered by conventional cognition and investigative reporting—usually someone examining data and realizing something doesn’t look right. This is how Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair, and the VW emissions scandals were all discovered.

By contrast, a conspiracy theory is often incoherent, immune to evidence or relies on an absence of proof, and is generally characterized by an overriding suspicion connecting random dots. Inoculating the public on how to spot a conspiracy theory is the best defense to stopping them in their tracks.

Many of the vaccine conspiracy theories are fueled by a lack of information about vaccine ingredients. This can be countered through a public awareness campaign explaining how the vaccines are made.

The following is a survey of common conspiracies related to COVID-19 and the upcoming vaccines and a science-based refutation of the misinformation:

Conspiracy: The vaccines were developed too quickly to be safe

Fact: Vaccine makers did not cut corners on safety and efficacy, that is why it has still taken as long as it has to bring a vaccine online. Rather, they are saving time by reducing procedural and bureaucratic hurdles. Normally, every part of the process and manufacturing stages happen one-at-a-time, usually taking ten years. Instead, the vaccine makers are thinking ahead and conducting Phase 1 & 2 concomitantly (Phase 3 is safety and efficacy) and signing manufacturing contracts ahead of time to condense the time required to roll out a vaccine. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: Medical examiners are artificially inflating COVID deaths

Fact: Autopsies are guided by scientific methodology. Coroners test for COVID to track spread, but only mark deaths attributable to the disease. If a body tests positive for COVID-19, but died of a gunshot wound, that person's death is classified as a homicide. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: States get more stimulus money if they report more deaths

Fact: No such arrangement exists. Doctors in some states do receive a higher Medicare reimbursement rate for treating COVID patients, equivalent to about 20%. This is only for Medicare reimbursements and unrelated to stimulus funds. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: Hospitals receive more money when they report a COVID death

Fact: According to the American Hospital Association, U.S. hospitals have lost over $206 billion due to COVID, and hospitals that are the hardest-hit actually received less CARES act reimbursement per capita. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: Called “The Great Reset,” banks are using COVID to force a cashless society and fabricated or deliberately caused the coin shortage

Fact: The coin shortage occurred due to the disruption in personal spending habits, as people didn’t want to exchange cash. The move toward a cashless society predates COVID, and is driven by mobile and electronic payments, not the pandemic. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: COVID was bio-engineered in a lab

Fact: Scientists have examined the structure of the virus and it is 100% naturally occurring. No parts of the virus were spliced from another known disease. This conspiracy theory can be traced to the “Rule of Law Society,” founded by Steve Bannon. A study in the UK found the number of people who said they would take the vaccine increased from 66% to 88% when they learned COVID has natural origins and was not manufactured in a lab. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: an mRNA vaccine will alter our DNA

Fact: It is impossible for mRNA to change DNA as it is created from DNA to attach to ribosomes and create a full protein. mRNA is only the instruction to create a protein, not the instruction to create DNA. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: The COVID vaccine is a cover to implant tracking microchips activated by 5G towers and cause depopulation

Fact: Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines use lipid (fat) nanoparticles (between 1 and 100 nanometers) to enter a cell and convert to a protein, not microchips or nanobots. The only thing depopulating the world are deaths from COVID. This conspiracy theory is traceable to an article in the medical journal Science Translational Medicine which detailed the theoretical possibility for “quantum dots” to be delivered into the skin to record vaccinations. Scientists have only tested this theoretical technology in rats. The 5G conspiracy theory is linked to a mystery Twitter account @5GCoronavirus19, now blocked, which published over 300 tweets in seven days, tagging President Trump and gaming the social media site’s algorithms to enhance their visibility. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: You won’t really have free choice to get a vaccine since airlines are conspiring to require proof of vaccination before allowing travel

Fact: Proof of vaccines has always been a travel requirement to enter certain countries. Most recently, Americans once had to show proof of their polio immunization. Many countries mandate additional vaccinations that are not standard in the US before granting a visa. Ultimately, there is no policy change here, and it is an effective measure to prevent importing or exporting new infections. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: The side effects from the vaccine might be worse than COVID

Fact: Nobody who received the COVID vaccine has died, whereas COVID has killed over 250,000 Americans. 2% of people who receive a vaccine will develop mild symptoms for 12-24 hours as their immune system overreacts, and those symptoms go away. [SOURCE]

Conspiracy: The vaccine is unsafe for kids and pregnant women

Fact: it doesn’t appear that children were a part of any vaccine study, so the vaccine won’t be approved for children until more studies are completed. It’s unethical to experiment on pregnant women and so they won’t be included in studies until later. [SOURCE]