The Cost of Misinformation

The Canadian bill for misinformation during the pandemic is out and it’s steep.

Last month, the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA)* released their report on the socioeconomic impacts in Canada of science and health misinformation (1,2,3).

Here is a summary of their findings

Over 2.35 million of people living in Canada could have been vaccinated if they did not believe the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax or less serious than it was because of misinformation. If that many more people would have been vaccinated as of the end of November 2021, we could have avoided (1,2):

• 198,000 COVID cases
• 13,000 hospitalizations
• 3,500 visits to the ICU
• 2,800 deaths

These extra hospitalizations and ICU visits are estimated to have cost us nothing less than $299 million. Vaccine misinformation has put a huge strain on our healthcare system, contributed to new variants and has slowed our economic recovery (1,4). This might seem like a lot, but the real numbers are expected to be much higher as this report only looked at the misinformation impact from March to November 2021 (1,3).

Now more than ever, we need to learn how to recognize misinformation. By learning misinformer tactics you create cognitive antibodies and resistance against future misinformation exposure. You can learn more about misinformer tactics on our website (5).

When you see misinformation online, take a screenshot of it and then share it with your circle. Never share misinformation directly as it can increase its reach in the algorithm. Sharing verified information from trusted and credible sources also helps!

*The CCA is a not-for-profit organization that provides independent, science-based reports for the public. This report was conducted and written by a panel of 13 independent experts from all over Canada and was peer-reviewed before being published (1,6).

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Last month, the CCA (@cca_reports) released their report on the socioeconomic impacts in Canada of science and health misinformation.

Conclusion: the Canadian bill for misinformation during the pandemic is steep.#ScienceUpFirst

[1/2] pic.twitter.com/pNTLyiZaKI

— ScienceUpFirst | LaScienced’Abord (@ScienceUpFirst) February 8, 2023

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