Did Political And Media Rhetoric Against Vaccination Cause Additional Deaths?
by Jai Menon - May 3, 2021 11:28 AM
The forces against the BJP (Photo by Arijit Sen/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Snapshot
An example of an anti-vaccine exhortation is a short video which shows a Muslim cleric saying that the vaccine has a 'chip' in it which will 'control your mind'.
Could it be that the steady drumbeat of political, mainstream media and social media rhetoric creating doubt in the public mind about the efficacy of vaccines increased the death-count from COVID-19 in India over the past few weeks?
The answer seems to be: âpossiblyâ. Letâs take a look, drawing on polls conducted between October and April; readers may, of course, draw their own conclusions.