Covid denialists hamper efforts to fight pandemic
WITH Covid-19 misinformation and denialism hampering the vaccination roll-out, the latest anti-vaccination protest has resulted in opposing sides wrangling on social media.
On Saturday, nearly 100 anti-vaccination and Covid-19 denialists protested against the vaccine outside Groote Schuur Hospital.
After being hospitalised with Covid-19 and pneumonia in December for nearly two weeks, local resident Kouthar Davids took to social media and conducted television interviews to raise awareness of the virus. Davids was the youngest person with Covid-19 to be admitted to hospital at the time.
On Saturday, outside the medical facility, Davids firmly stated that she did not believe the virus is real, prompting a severe online backlash over the back-pedalling.
Meanwhile, in a statement, local community radio station Radio 786, which Davids had frequently presented on, denied that Davids had a show or regularly featured on the station.
“Radio 786’s commitment remains to allowing a fair spread of information, reflecting the realities of the world we live in. Our standards are decided by a carefully considered code, premised on truth and accuracy,” read the statement.
Davids was reached for comment but did not respond.
Infectious diseases specialist and deputy head of the Groote Schuur Hospital Department of Medicine, Professor Graeme Meintjes said if one million people were vaccinated, fewer than five people would develop life-threatening complications.
“These very rare side-effects include anaphylaxis (a severe allergic reaction), blood clots, and inflammation of the heart. There are treatments for these side-effects and that’s one of the reasons why it is important that the medical profession and public are aware of these extremely rare side-effects,” said Meintjes.
Tygerberg Hospital paediatric infectious disease specialist Dr Lisa Frigati said the point of vaccination was to reduce the chances of hospitalisation and death after contracting the virus.
“Ideally, we would like a vaccine that also stops us from getting infected with the coronavirus but, until then, the benefits of reducing severe disease and not dying, and decreasing the burden on hospitals, is why you should be vaccinated,” said Frigati.
Dr Frigati said that just because the vaccine was developed quickly, did not mean it wasn't safe to use.