Cindy Otis, VP of Analysis weighs in on COVID-19 vaccine disinformation and QAnon.
“Since QAnon is essentially a choose-your-own-adventure, followers are cherrypicking false vaccine narratives as they wish, resulting in multiple interpretations of and explanations for President Trump’s support of the vaccine,” said Cindy Otis, Vice of President for Analysis at Alethea Group, a disinformation investigations and remediation firm. “Some claim that his comments around the vaccine are actually code for other ‘plans’ coming to fruition. Others have announced a willingness to take the vaccine should Trump overturn the election results and take the vaccine himself. Like most conspiracy theorists, QAnon followers can hold completely contradictory ideas and believe them all to be true.”
Otis described the continued proliferation of vaccine disinformation online as “dangerous,” warning that “The prevalence of COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation risks disrupting the vaccine’s rollout, threatening American lives and delaying our economic recovery.”
“Government agencies, health experts, and media outlets must prioritize providing accurate information about the vaccine to inform citizens whose social media feeds are filled with anything but,” she said.
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