Rumors about the dangers of vaccines and ginger have become the most popular fakes about COVID-19

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the most popular topics of fake news about coronavirus have been rumors about the dangers of vaccines and pseudo-medical rumors. This is stated in a study by Yandex.Q and specialists from the RANEPA and the National Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Human Potential (available from RBC).

The researchers collected 244 fakes about COVID-19 that have appeared on social networks more than 6 million times since January 2020.

According to analysts, 39% of posts were devoted to the topic of the harm of vaccines, in particular, the fact that vaccination can lead to infertility. This claim has previously been denied by the WHO. Another 23% of the reports were rumors that “folk remedies” like ginger and vodka inhalations helped against the coronavirus, due to which there was a rush for ginger last spring.

The researchers noted that interest in vaccine-related fakes has persisted almost since the beginning of the coronavirus epidemic in Russia, and other rumors, such as folk remedies, have been characterized by undulating popularity.