Posts spread false claims about COVID-19 vaccine safety

Several social media users in English and Spanish posted videos of a press conference in South Korea in which the speakers made false claims about COVID-19 vaccine safety. According to the videos’ subtitles, the people in the press conference claim that “no one has suffered more than the families of victims who died or were injured” from COVID-19 vaccines and that the government “downplayed” its side effects. Social media users in both English and Spanish echoed the claims made in the video.

Risk level: Medium

Recommendation: These types of posts may discourage patients from getting the updated COVID-19 vaccine. While South Korean health authorities did find rare cases of myocarditis and pericarditis following mRNA vaccines, the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency said there’s been “no meaningful rise in total deaths” in the country following COVID-19 vaccination. Dozens of studies over the last three years show that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and that myocarditis is far more common after a COVID-19 infection. Staying up to date on COVID-19 vaccines is a safe way to prevent myocarditis.