COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy

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In many countries a variety of unfounded conspiracy theories and other misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines have spread based on misunderstood or misrepresented science, religion, and law. These have included exaggerated claims about side effects, misrepresentations about how the immune system works and when and how COVID-19 vaccines are made, a story about COVID-19 being spread by 5G, and other false or distorted information. This misinformation, some created by anti-vaccination activists, has proliferated and may have made many people averse to vaccination.^[1] This has led to governments and private organizations around the world introducing measures to incentivize or coerce vaccination, such as lotteries,^[2] mandates,^[3] and free entry to events,^[4] which has in turn led to further misinformation about the legality and effect of these measures themselves.^[5]

In the US, some prominent biomedical scientists who publicly advocate vaccination have been attacked and threatened in emails and on social media by anti-vaccination activists.^[6]