Survey Shows 25% of People in S’pore Believe Fake News About COVID-19 Vaccine

By
Boon Hun
-

Fake news has always existed in Singapore, but during the Covid-19 pandemic, it got worse.

People grew worried when fake news about the first Covid-19 death spread online.

The image of a fine for a man who broke Covid-19 rules to buy BBT was used as a fine for:

  • People visiting their parents
  • Exercising with more than one other family members
  • Caught in a car with a non-household member in a car during a Traffic Police Roadblock
  • Not wearing a mask when outside the house
  • A hawker eating in front of his stall

Even PM Lee wasn’t spared from the onslaught of fake news.

It’s near the end of 2020 now and even the long-awaited Covid-19 vaccine has been administered in some countries but, just like cockroaches, fake news refused to die out.

Survey Shows 25% of People in S’pore Believe on Fake News About COVID-19 Vaccine

According to a survey carried out by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), 1 in 4 people believes that the Covid-19 vaccine alters your DNA.

That’s 25% of the people surveyed.

Associate Professor Edson Tandoc Jr, the survey’s lead researcher, said that they collected these responses as part of a larger survey which keeps track of the behaviour of a group of Singapore residents over the years, hoping to understand their information behaviour.

While the results of the larger survey will only be out next year, he and his team decided to analyse the vaccine-related questions, given its importance in Singapore’s current climate.

999 people, with an average of 40 years old, were polled in the survey.

Slightly more than half (51%) are male.

Older People More Susceptible To Fake News

Similar to before Covid-19, the survey found that older people are more vulnerable to fake news.

It was equally concerning that, despite all the experts and news outlets coming out to debunk the myths, that one-quarter of people surveyed are still swayed by fake news and conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 vaccines, especially at such an important time.

But that doesn’t mean younger people know better.

News Sources

According to a separate study led by Prof Tandoc and researcher James Lee Chong Boi, young Singaporeans typically get their news about Covid-19 from WhatsApp or social media earlier in the pandemic.

This led to young people continuing to believe that Covid-19 is risky for the older generation, but not them.

Findings from the research seem to indicate that young adults overconfident in both their abilities to sniff out fake news, as well as the risk level of the coronavirus.

Then, the focus was on figuring out how to convince younger Singaporeans to take protective measures even though they don’t believe that the coronavirus will affect them.

More Than Half Will Take The Vaccine

The survey also found that about 55% are willing to be vaccinated.

11% says that they will not get vaccinated while 34% of the respondents are still undecided.

This shows, Professor Tandoc says, that even though some respondents believe the fake claims about Covid-19 vaccines, they are still willing to consider getting vaccinated.

On a separate note, he added, there are more factors at play, other than the fake news, that is affecting people’s willingness to get vaccinated, and it’s something they have to find out.

On a final note, if you want to get the latest, most accurate information on Covid-19-related matters, your best bet is to check out the Gov.sg website, or subscribe to the Gov.sg Telegram Channel.

Featured Image: angellodeco / Shutterstock.com

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Boon Hun
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