Dr. Anthony FauciThe director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said on Saturday that based on today’s vaccine misinformation, it is unlikely to eradicate smallpox and polio in the United States.
“If we see resistance to vaccines in certain media… if we have false information that is spreading now, we may still be infected with smallpox, and we may still be infected with polio in this country,” Fu Qi said.tell CNNJim Acosta in an interview.
“If we had this situation decades ago, I’m sure that our country will still have polio.”
Fauci’s remarks came as the White House stepped up its opposition to false information about the coronavirus vaccine on social media.
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The US Department of Health warned on Thursday that misinformation has become a “serious threat to public health” and called for Facebook Failure to adequately prevent the spread of false information about COVID-19.
president Joe Biden It said on Friday that social media platforms like Facebook are “killing” by spreading vaccine misinformation. “They are killing people-I mean they really, look, our only epidemic is people who have not been vaccinated,” the president told reporters.
White House Press Secretary Jean Psaki It also criticized social media platforms for not doing enough to resolve misinformation. “Why don’t we all participate in a process that helps provide accurate information?” she said.
Facebook rejected the Biden administration’s allegations in a statement on Saturday. “President Biden’s goal is to vaccinate 70% of Americans by July 4. Facebook is not the reason for failing to achieve this goal,” said Guy Rose, the company’s vice president of integrity. Wrote in a blog post.
He also pointed out that the data showed that Facebook’s American users’ hesitation about vaccines has decreased by 50%, and 85% of them said they have been vaccinated or want to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Ross said: “These and other facts are very different from what the government has promoted in recent days.”
The more virulent Delta variant of the coronavirus has caused the number of cases and deaths to rise again after six months of steady decline. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Last Friday reported that new cases have surged by nearly 70% in the past week, and the number of hospitalizations has increased by 36%.
Health officials have stepped up efforts to encourage vaccination, because the surge seems to be worse in areas with low vaccination rates. However, there has also been an increase in new cases in New York and Los Angeles. According to reports, these two states have achieved Biden’s July 4th goal of vaccinating 70% or more of adults with at least one shot.
“This is becoming an unvaccinated epidemic,” said Dr. Rochelle Varensky, director of the CDC, on Friday. “If you are not vaccinated, you are at risk.”
Weekly newspaper Contact the White House for comments.
