Performing a Covid ‘exorcism’, Chile’s Sinovac woes and anti-lockdown violence in Montreal
Welcome to the Infodemic and, if you just joined us, thank you for signing up! We are tracking how disinformation surrounding the coronavirus crisis is reshaping our world. It’s reporter Isobel Cockerell here, taking over from Natalia for the week. Here are the narratives, both real and fake, that have grabbed our team’s attention this week and deserve yours.
Who should this week’s Infodemic prize go to? I vote for the faith healer who visited a closed Covid ward in a major hospital in Peshawar. Accompanied by his armed guard and entourage, he blew air onto patients in an effort to rid them of the virus by “exorcising” it from their bodies. Doctors and staff reportedly did not intervene.
The trend of dressing up as your grandparents to jump the vaccine queue is spreading: two pseudo-abuelos, aged 30 and 35, were arrested in Mexico this week after their suspiciously youthful voices were clocked by officials. They were so desperate for a jab that they had even dyed their eyebrows and hair snowy white.
Clouds are gathering over Chile’s use of China’s Sinovac vaccine as it battles a Covid-19 surge. The country has so far been the golden child of Latin America’s vaccine rollout, with 39 in every 100 people immunized, one of the world’s highest inoculation rates. But as cases spike, some are looking askance at Chile’s reliance on Sinovac, particularly after the head of the Chinese CDC admitted the efficacy of the shot is “not high”. After global media jumped on this rare admission, he quickly reversed his own statement, saying it was a “misunderstanding.” The revelation also prompted Chilean authorities to defend their use of the jab. Further complicating matters is a recent study by the University of Chile, which found Beijing’s vaccine to have an efficacy rate of 54%.