Search

Social media users in Kenya are discussing reports that international aid cuts and their government’s failure to fulfill  its co-financing agreement with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization may lead to vaccine shortages and a “vaccination crisis.” Some posts criticized the government’s “reckless failure” and alleged mismanagement of funds, while others argue that vaccines are unnecessary or dangerous “bioengineered stuff.” Multiple posts claimed that the vaccine shortage is “good” and promoted the conspiracy theory that Bill Gates uses free vaccines to influence the country.

In a recent social media post, a parent describes his experience refusing polio drops for his child. He claims the polio worker returned to his house with police officers who pressured him to vaccinate his child. The post questions why polio workers force parents to vaccinate and accuses the government of ignoring other public health issues. Responses to the post label the incident “state terrorism,” with some calling for a social media protest. Several comments suggested that forced polio vaccinations are part of a global conspiracy to harm Pakistani children.

A forum user asked for help debunking false claims about vaccines, stating that a friend sent them evidence that “most, if not all, vaccines are bad.” The user cited a cVDPV outbreak in Sudan as proof of the claim. The user and several commenters mistakenly believe that the oral polio vaccine is linked to polio outbreaks in people who are vaccinated.

A video on social media discusses an Indonesian Islamic clerical council’s 2018 ruling that vaccines contain ingredients that are not halal (permissible in Islam). The ruling was linked to a decline in vaccination rates and a measles outbreak that killed 72 children. The account sharing the video alleges that the public has been misled about vaccines’ safety and religious permissibility. The post falsely suggests that many vaccines contain monkey cells and that the polio vaccine contains the virus SV40. Responses to the video argue that vaccines’ status in Islam is “unclear” (syubhat) and that vaccines are not “good or pure” (tayyib) due to their alleged “dirty” origin.

Concerns and conspiracy theories about the importance of polio vaccines and the motivations of internationally funded campaigns circulated online. In Pakistan, news that nearly 42,000 parents in Karachi refused polio drops for their children drew mixed responses. While some criticized those who refuse to vaccinate, many argued that Pakistan has bigger priorities, such as access to clean water, air quality issues, and other diseases. Some posts accuse Bill Gates of using polio vaccines to control the population, while others promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, including claims that polio vaccines are part of a Jewish conspiracy (yahudi sazish) to harm children. 
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, responses to an article about efforts to deliver polio vaccines to displaced children were overwhelmingly anti-vaccine. Posts called the polio vaccine a “hoax,” falsely claimed that other countries don’t have door-to-door vaccine campaigns, and cast doubt on the safety of donated vaccines. 

A police officer guarding a polio team in Bajaur was shot and killed, leading to protests due to the failure to arrest the killer. The protest reportedly closed the main highway as participants demanded the arrest of those responsible for the killing and called for the improved safety of polio workers. Several social media users posted identical messages calling for a focus on peace instead of polio, claiming that no one dies from being unvaccinated against polio. One post called for protesters to boycott polio campaigns instead of blocking the roads.

On February 18, a police officer protecting polio workers in the Bajaur district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was shot and killed by suspected militants. Although no one has claimed responsibility, Bajaur has seen similar attacks in the past. In response to the attack, some social media users called for an end to door-to-door vaccination campaigns to reduce security risks. Others suggested ending all anti-polio work and expressed doubt that polio will ever be eliminated. Several posts questioned whether polio vaccination efforts are risking the lives of police officers, claiming without evidence that vaccination campaigns have “orphaned more children” than they have saved from polio.

On February 14, Pakistan’s National Institute of Health confirmed the detection of wild poliovirus in eight districts: five in Balochistan province and three in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The samples were collected between January 15-24. However, reports of the samples were overshadowed by a video clip spreading across social media of a child refusing polio drops and telling polio workers to “respect the name of Allah and leave here.” The video has been viewed thousands of times, with most responses expressing amusement. One post claims that the child “needed something from the Quran” to send polio workers away.