Flawed scientific papers fuelling Covid-19 misinformation
Inaccurate information about vaccines is especially dangerous at a time when uptake of the shots has slowed in the United States
By Manon Jacob
July 30, 2021 04:54 BST
Scientific studies with poor methodology and inaccurate findings are exacerbating a Covid-19 misinformation crisis that is discouraging vaccination and putting lives at risk.
The intense public interest in the pandemic and divisive debate in the United States over how to address it facilitates the spread of faulty research papers online, including by vaccine opponents. And even if a study is retracted, it is too late. Once the paper is published, the damage is irrevocable, said Emerson Brooking, resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council s Digital Forensic Research Lab, which focuses on identifying and exposing disinformation.
Africa.com
Headlines / July 30, 2021 July 29, 2021 / 4 minutes of reading
The RBM Partnership to End Malaria welcomes the announcement today of a major project by kENUP Foundation and BioNTech to develop the first mRNA-based prophylactic malaria vaccine.
Supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the European Commission and European Investment Bank, and international partners, the project aims to use mRNA technology as part of an initiative aimed at expanding vaccine development for, and manufacturing capacity across Africa, to fight malaria, a disease that ravages the continent each year.
Welcoming the news,
Dr Abdourahmane Diallo, CEO of the RBM Partnership to End Malaria, commented: “Today’s announcement to develop an mRNA-based, highly effective preventative malaria vaccine to protect people of all ages marks a major step toward developing game-changing technology for malaria eradication. The malaria figh
New Initiative Underway To Boost Fight Against Malaria In Africa africanexaminer.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from africanexaminer.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Adam John Ritchie should be celebrating.
For years, as a project manager at the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute, he worked to make vaccines for a dollar or two a dose for the globe. The pandemic was his big break, as the university teamed up with Anglo-Swedish pharma giant AstraZeneca to develop one of the world s first coronavirus vaccines.
But over a year and an extra 25 kilos later,
Ritchie says, the jab s ill-fated rollout has taken its toll.
“I m broken,” he said. “Colleagues are broken; we re all broken.” He had already cried once on the day he spoke with POLITICO earlier this month.