//Misinformation around COVID-19, vaccines an ‘urgent threat,’ surgeon general says
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Misinformation around COVID-19, vaccines an ‘urgent threat,’ surgeon general says

Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, called on social media companies and politicians to take more responsibility, saying misinformation threatens the nation’s health. Covid infections have doubled nationally across the county in just the last three weeks and 45 states are seeing rising Covid-19 infections. To combat the misinformation, a new advisory has been issued to combat Covid Vaccine misinformation; read it here.

“Millions of Americans are still not protected against COVID-19, and we are seeing more infections among those who are unvaccinated,” he said at a press briefing in the White House.

“What we know from polls is that two-thirds of people who are not vaccinated either believe common myths about the COVID-19 vaccine or think some of those myths might be true,” Murthy explained, citing a recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey. “Myths like you can get COVID from the vaccine, which is absolutely not true.”

“Simply put, health misinformation has cost us lives,” he said. “Nearly every death we are seeing now from COVID-19 could have been avoided.”