MISINFORMATION IS DEADLY
Government officials have large amounts of indirect influence over public action. However, some policy makers and officials did not take the pandemic seriously in its earlier stages. As more information about vaccines is made public, it is of utmost importance that we actively combat misinformation and learn from our mistakes.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE RESPONSES OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
The U.S.A.In 2020, the United States, under the leadership of President Trump, spiked in COVID cases as their leader claimed wild theories like COVID-19 “was a hoax” and “was nothing more than the flu”. The then-president changed his tone when he contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized. But, the damage was done as the United States still currently leads the world in COVID cases.
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The U.K.U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was initially hesitant to lockdown England when COVID started, but after contracting COVID and surviving a stint in the ICU, he worked to ensure that the U.K. minimized their contraction rate.
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BelarusBelarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, visited a hospital filled with COVID patients, unmasked. He has also been quoted as saying COVID could be cured by “drinking vodka, sitting in a sauna, or working in the fields”. His inability and ignorance plunged Belarus into the deepest depths of the virus, the effects of which are still unknown by the world.
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Brazil |
India |
Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro has long claimed and stated the COVID was a hoax and the Brazilian people shouldn't worry. He too, caught COVID, yet seems to stay firm on his beliefs causing Brazil to lead third in the world for COVID cases.
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While initially Modi, the Prime Minister of India, had successfully shut down the country and contained the amount of cases, the cases skyrocketed at the reopening with a grim 400,000 new cases a day. Modi and his administration often held ‘superspreader events’ with little masks and variants emerged from there.
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