The Health Misinformation Monitor: Vaccine Misinformation Spreads as Children Head Back to School

Health officials are urging everyone aged 6 months and older to get updated COVID-19 vaccines this autumn, but online misinformation could limit uptake. After the FDA approved booster vaccines, over half of online content mentioning the vaccines included falsehoods. Misinformation also emerged about specific vaccines, including false claims about the effectiveness of Novavax’s non-mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. Negative political rhetoric, including from Donald Trump, is further complicating the vaccine discussion and potentially undermining trust in vaccination efforts.