A far-right conspiracy article circulating on social media misleadingly claims that 1 in 3 COVID-19 vaccine recipients experience “neurological side effects.” Several popular anti-vaccine accounts shared the article.
The potential for this misleading claim to cause vaccine hesitancy increases its risk. Debunking messaging may explain that the overwhelming majority of the “neurological side effects” reported in the study were mild headaches and drowsiness, and none were severe, lasting, or required hospitalization. Messaging may also note that the study compared side effects across different vaccine types, not between vaccine recipients and unvaccinated controls. Continuing to emphasize that over two-thirds of the world’s population has safely received COVID-19 vaccines with no evidence of widespread health issues is recommended.
