Russian influence has been in the news before as well. This story also appears in The Hill and the Intelligencer. I read the excellent report in the Times today on page 3 of the Business section.
There’s a pro-vax MD out of Baylor University who got published in Nature saying that:
One campaign implies that it could turn people into monkeys.
This builds on a longer, well-documented history of Russia-sponsored disinformation, presumably to destabilize the United States and other democratic countries. The administration of US President Joe Biden has warned Russian media groups to halt their anti-vaccine aggression
Many far-right extremist groups that spread false information about last year’s US presidential election are doing the same about vaccines.
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This is the call for a totalitarian purge, using the full force of the US government, based on baldface lies.
“RUSSIA, RUSSIA, RUSSIA.” “FAR RIGHT EXTREMIST GROUPS THAT SPREAD FALSE INFORMATION.”
They ALWAYS go back to the same playbook.
and his solution is
“Efforts must expand into the realm of cyber security, law enforcement, public education and international relations. A high-level inter-agency task force reporting to the UN secretary-general could assess the full impact of anti-vaccine aggression, and propose tough, balanced measures. The task force should include experts who have tackled complex global threats such as terrorism, cyber attacks and nuclear armament, because anti-science is now approaching similar levels of peril.”
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Other quotes from the article:
1.”Nearly one billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered in less than six months, but anti-vaccine disinformation and targeted attacks on scientists are undermining progress. These threats must be confronted directly, and the authority and expertise of the health community alone aren’t enough to do this.”
2.”Even before the pandemic, I had a front-row seat to all of this. I have co-led efforts to develop vaccines in programmes, including a COVID-19 vaccine currently being tested in India.”
3.”Teams of experts, including me, began meeting regularly online to discuss how best to amplify evidence-based messages, deliver public-service announcements and address concerns around COVID-19 immunization.”
4.”...when I ask for a more direct way to counter anti-vaccine aggression, I’m told, “that’s not our approach; confrontation gives them a platform and oxygen.” In my opinion, this attitude reflects a time when we had dial-up modems. Today, the anti-vaccine empire has hundreds of websites and perhaps 58 million followers on social media. The bad guys are winning, in part because health agencies either underestimate or deny the reach of anti-science forces, and are ill-equipped to counter it.”
5. the US State Department and the UK Foreign Office have described how Russian intelligence organizations seek to discredit Western COVID-19 vaccines. One campaign implies that it could turn people into monkeys. This builds on a longer, well-documented history of Russia-sponsored disinformation, presumably to destabilize the United States and other democratic countries. The administration of US President Joe Biden has warned Russian media groups to halt their anti-vaccine aggression, and announced sanctions tied to disinformation and other behaviour, but we need much more.”
6.”According to the London-based Center for Countering Digital Hate, these are influential groups, not a spontaneous grass-roots movement. Many far-right extremist groups that spread false information about last year’s US presidential election are doing the same about vaccines.”
There’s also a good report on page 3 of the first section of the Times today on how the immunity to the virus given by the vaccine is longer lasting than the natural immunity you get from having had the illness.
It mentions the great senator Rand Paul and posits the view that he is making a mistake by not taking the vaccine if he is basing his decision on the fact that he has had the virus. According to the study, by Michel Nussenzweig, an immunologist at Rockefeller University, the immunity of the combined natural reaction plus the vaccine can even thwart the variants.