TikTok creators fight disinformation about Covid-19

Illustration from the article titled Do you want to know what Covid-19 vaccine trials look like?  There is a TikTok for that

Photo: Denis charlet (fake pictures)

The TikTok short viral video app (which not banned yet, by the way) becomes the unlikely new home for creators who claim to have first-hand experience with the covid-19 vaccine and expert testimonials from ongoing vaccine trials.

A search of the hashtag #CovidVaccine, which has nearly 40 million views, shows several videos of scientists and doctors debunking disinformation campaigns about the virus, as well as participants in the covid-19 vaccine trials sharing their experiences, finally week. NBC News report.

Ashley Locke, a 29-year-old who claims her AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial began Nov. 16 in Nashville, Tennessee, has garnered millions of views for her videos documenting the process. A message from her receiving her first injection as part of the study was 2.8 million views only

, although you might want to ignore it if the needles make you nauseous (I really felt my stomach turn at the sight). She won’t know if this injection was the real vaccine or a placebo until the study is over, but she told NBC she was busy answering the flood of questions and comments about the trial that she had received in the meantime.

“I’ve seen people post TikToks on different trips they take, like trips to lose weight or move to a new school and things like that, so I thought this vaccine trial was one thing. interesting. I’ll post about it, ”Locke said in an interview with the outlet. “Maybe some people find this interesting.”

AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company whose name I can’t read without hearing their “AstraZeneca can help…” commercial line in my head, is developing the vaccine with researchers at the University of Oxford. Your vaccine has been shown to be 70% efficient

in protection against the virus, although it was recently revealed manufacturer error in phase III trials, he raised concerns about the reliability of these results.

It is one of three experimental vaccines that have reportedly shown promising results in recent weeks, as well as those developed by biotech companies Moderna and BioNTech, the latter working with drugmaker Pfizer.

As NBC points out, other TikTok users They also posted videos claiming to share their own experiences of testing the covid-19 vaccine. Experts have also started to intervene, with doctors Yes scientists post videos that demystify common vaccine misinformation and compare the differences among some of the vaccine trials.

Dr Kate Bredbenner, a biomedical scientist specializing in biophysics, posted a video on November 11, which has already garnered 3.6 million views, where he explains how Pfizer’s experimental vaccine would affect the novel coronavirus. She told NBC that while some anti-vaccines have popped up here and there to leave nasty comments, for the most part her comments section is filled with curious users just trying to find out more.

“It makes me feel good. People really have real conversations and people ask questions, and I think that’s something magical, ”Bredbenner said in an interview with the outlet.

In Locke’s video of his first injection, he said he would have regular checkups and blood tests for the next two years to watch for side effects. She told NBC that she plans to tape a question-and-answer session with the doctors about the trial the next time she returns.

“I spoke with the communications director [of Clinical Research Associates]. Next time I come in, I will be able to ask some of the questions that I cannot answer. I’m going to be able to ask my doctors and hope to have them in my videos so that they are a little more informative and answer some of these scientific things that I don’t know, but in a way that is clear and easy for our audience. . “Said Locke.

TIC Tac did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.

The coronavirus pandemic has been going on for much longer thanAs most people anticipated, especially in the United States, where basic science and health precautions have become political issues, it’s no wonder people are eager to find out how we can beat this. To date, there have been more than 62 million cases of coronavirus and 1.4 million deaths worldwide, including more than 266,000 in the United States alone, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins.

When you can actually get the vaccine is another question. TuesdayUS Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar said a COVID-19 vaccine could be distributed “soon” after the Food and Drug Administration approved its emergency clearance, which could arrive as soon as possible. like December 10. Pfizer announced last week that it would seek emergency approval for its vaccine, which appears to be 95% efficient

in disease prevention as tested by the company. So a vaccine in time for Christmas isn’t entirely out of the question, but since 2020 it’s so far away, I would take this timeline with a colossal grain of salt.

[NBC News]

.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *