Twitter marks Gustavo Petro’s trill on vaccination and Delta variant as misleading

The controversy raised this Friday by a trill from Senator Gustavo Petro on the vaccination against covid-19 and the Delta variant of the virus, more contagious, reached the ears of the social network itself, which decided to mark this trill as misleading . .

Petro wrote: “Very bad news which implies a total change in health and economic policy. Vaccines are unnecessary for the covid-delta virus, according to early research. It spreads faster. He’s already in Colombia. The debate on health must be relaunched “.

Statement that was immediately questioned by doctors and other health experts who insisted that all vaccines Colombia has today undoubtedly help prevent hospitalization and death of infected Colombians, even if it is the Delta variant.

The social network also cataloged the post and tagged it with the following sentence: This Tweet is misleading. Find out why health officials recommend a vaccine for most people. “

The social network also linked to the post a link that leads to information about the covid-19 vaccination which ensures that trials show vaccines reduce the severity of the disease and its mortality.

“Scientists, doctors and health experts say covid-19 vaccines are almost 100% effective in preventing serious illness and death, according to data from early studies. This includes vaccines with lower efficacy rates, reflecting the efficacy of the vaccine in a controlled environment, and ignoring the ability of the vaccine to prevent serious disease. Infectious disease experts also recommend the vaccine against the virus to reduce the risk of infection and protect against variants, ” it reads on the platform

Petro’s irresponsibility

While it is true that the Delta variant is present in Colombia and in 93 other countries around the world, and yes, it is more transmissible than other mutations of the disease, what is not true is that the vaccines are not effective against it, as Petro said.

Publications in various scientific journals such as The Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine, as well as advertisements from the same pharmaceutical companies, have ensured that the Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, all in stock in the country, are still effective against the Delta variant. The Sinovac vaccine is the only one for which there is no specific information on its effectiveness against the new mutation.

It didn’t take long for the head of Colombia’s National Vaccination Plan to warn that Petro’s comment is dangerous and leads to disinformation towards his more than four million followers on the social network.

“False! There is evidence from several countries that vaccines, although they may reduce their effectiveness, are still very effective in preventing serious illness during the Delta Wave. Delta is mostly a pandemic in my vaccinees. It hurts to misinform. It is to be irresponsible ”, explained Julián Fernández Niño, director of epidemiology at the Ministry of Health. To illustrate his argument, the epidemiologist has published diagrams that show such effectiveness in infections.

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