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Download AudioHealth Director General Ashley Bloomfield says most New Zealanders see past the vaccine misinformation and disinformation coming from a small group of influencers.
Victoria University of Wellington researchers have looked at the growth of disinformation before and after the occupation of Parliament Grounds and how it drove a shift from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine resistance, increased talk of individual rights, and increased targeting of individuals and communities with online and offline harassment.
Dr Bloomfield says the ministry is also monitoring disinformation, but it had little impact on the vaccine campaign.
“It was a roaring success. Over 90 percent of kiwis got double-vaccinated and the number of people and the proportion of people who were actively opposed and who brought into the disinformation was actually very small so there is the challenge – it is for us to be aware of it but just maintain our support and our solidarity for each other and looking out for each other,” Dr Bloomfield says.
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