Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
How To Win Anti-Misinformation Strategies About Vaccines On Social Media
The battle over misinformation amid the Covid-19 pandemic has pitted health experts, parts of the public, and the leaders of online platforms against one another. So far, one social media giant seems to be winning the fight against falsehoods: Pinterest. (Brodwin, 9/21)
Confidence in potential COVID-19 vaccines is slipping, with only 51 percent of Americans in a new poll saying they would get聽a聽vaccine if it was available today, compared to 72 percent who said the same four months ago. The roughly half of Americans who said they'd get a vaccine includes 21 percent who said they would 鈥渄efinitely鈥 get one, compared to 42 percent that said the same in May, according to聽a poll from the Pew Research Center. (Hellmann, 9/18)
As trust in federal health agencies has withered over the last few months, a group of Black physicians has been working on an antidote: creating their own expert task force to independently vet regulators鈥 decisions about Covid-19 drugs and vaccines as well as government recommendations for curbing the pandemic. Organized by the National Medical Association 鈥 founded in 1895 as an answer to racist professional societies excluding Black doctors 鈥 the committee is meant to safeguard against any unscientific guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration. (Boodman, 9/21)
In front of baskets of tomatoes and peppers, near a sizzling burrito grill, the 鈥減romotoras鈥 stop masked shoppers at a busy Latino farmers market: Want to test a COVID-19 vaccine? Aided by Spanish-speaking 鈥渉ealth promoters鈥 and Black pastors, a stepped-up effort is underway around the U.S. to recruit minorities to ensure potential vaccines against the scourge are tested in the populations most ravaged by the virus. (Neergaard and Narancio, 9/18)