Over the course of April, English-language media coverage related to vaccines revolved around three key themes: opposition to “vaccine passports” in the US, the safety of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness in younger adults.
Coverage of vaccines generally peaked on April 13, following the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration’s joint recommendation to pause the J&J vaccine’s rollout because of a possible link to rare blood clotting disorders.
Two other spikes occurred on April 1 and April 7. The first spike coincided with the introduction of a bill aimed at banning “vaccine passports” in the US, while the second spike coincided with efforts by Republican governors to oppose potential “vaccine passport” mandates. Positive clinical trial results for a new malaria vaccine along with the CDC and FDA’s recommendation to resume rolling out the J&J vaccine on April 23 also generated significant media attention.
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Source: Vaccine Misinformation Insights Report: April | First Draft