Omicron has fueled even more COVID-19 misinformation

PHILADELPHIA — In the days since the new omicron variant of the coronavirus was identified, scientists and doctors worldwide have gone into overdrive to research the variant.

At the same time, they’ve also had to scramble to do something else: Explain to the public that it’ll take time until they know how much of a threat omicron could pose — and fight the confusion, misconceptions, and misinformation prompted by this latest turn in the pandemic.

The emergence of the variant, and its sudden takeover of the news cycle, created a new wave of coronavirus misinformation. Some conservatives immediately began circulating conspiracy theories, including hosts and guests on Fox News and Newsmax falsely claiming it was a hoax devised by Democrats.

Misinformation is “effective because in these moments of uncertainty, as humans we’re looking for answers,” said Claire Wardle, director of First Draft, a nonprofit that helps organizations tackle misinformation, and a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. “And the data takes a few weeks, whereas the conspiracies are there immediately.”

The vaccines have been effective

Omicron’s existence doesn’t mean that the vaccines didn’t work. The vaccines have been proven effective in preventing illness and extremely effective in preventing severe cases, hospitalization, and death.

But as long as the virus is spreading, it can continue mutating. If everyone were vaccinated, the virus wouldn’t be able to easily spread or mutate, and new variants wouldn’t keep emerging. With less than half the global population fully vaccinated, scientists and doctors have said the emergence of another variant had been inevitable.

“The more unvaccinated people, the more likely variants like omicron can take hold in the community,” said Rosemarie Halt, Delaware County’s COVID-19 task force director and chair of its board of health.

That’s one key reason why doctors and scientists have pushed vaccination — and this week, they said it is also the best tool available against omicron until more is known. (The vaccines also continue to protect against delta, which still makes up 99% of cases in the country.)

And despite misinformation popping up on Facebook or Whatsapp, some may heed public health officials’ messages — about 30% of unvaccinated people said they would consider getting vaccinated because of omicron, a Morning Consult poll found this week.

Though omicron is worrisome to researchers because it has many more mutations than previous variants, it’s not yet known whether it is more dangerous. On Thursday, a World Health Organization official said the vaccines were likely to protect against the variant, though scientists still need to find out how much, if at all, protection is lessened.

In the Philadelphia region and elsewhere, officials have told the public not to panic if they’re vaccinated and stressed the importance of getting boosted.

“It is doubtful that the omicron variant would evade the vaccine — at worst, it may be a bit less effective, but this still remains to be seen,” said Montgomery County medical director Richard Lorraine, noting data remained limited about the strain’s severity and transmissibility.

Exacerbating uncertainty

The constantly evolving nature of the pandemic, the lack of a robust public understanding of science, and the fear that has gripped the world for 20 months all make people more vulnerable to misinformation, experts said. That’s exacerbated whenever the pandemic’s course changes and plunges everyone back into the unknown.

“When there’s a vacuum, that’s when misinformation flourishes,” said Wardle.

Even if many don’t believe the misinformation they see on social media, in a group text, or on TV, it can cause an increasing sense of uncertainty, said Katherine Ognyanova, a Rutgers University communications professor who researches misinformation and political mistrust.

And repeated exposure to misinformation can particularly affect populations that are already more likely to be hesitant about getting vaccinated, she said. These include people in Black and brown communities, which have historically been mistreated by health-care professionals, and parents, who naturally worry about their children.

“They aren’t sure what to believe,” Ognyanova said. “We still have a lot of people who don’t know if they’re eligible [for boosters] or don’t know if they need it or aren’t sure it’s effective or are worrying about side effects or parents who are worried about their kids.”

That’s why Ognyanova is most concerned by misinformation that downplays the seriousness of the virus and could influence people to avoid the vaccine or not take preventive measures, such as masking.