Fire starters and careless conclusions

All it takes is a spark and you could burn down a large forest. And just like dry leaves and tinder, a gossip or, as in the song made famous by the late George Michael, “Careless Whispers” can ruin lives or scare people into panic.

If fire starters and careless whispers can cause harm, another form is what I call “careless conclusions,” arrived at by media outlets who want to get a scoop or get one over the competition or well meaning individuals who simply share or repost stuff without thoroughly considering the consequences.

Last week, a friend who is slightly a hypochondriac went on one of our Viber group chats and shared what looked like a social media post of  a foreign media news outlet. The post featured an image of COVID-19 vaccines of AstraZeneca.

Below the image the text stated: “AstraZeneca is withdrawing its COVID-19 vaccine worldwide just months after admitting it could cause a rare but dangerous side effect.”

The post or report did not categorically state that the pullout was because of a rare but dangerous side effect. It did not report many people getting sick or because of serious public health crisis. I never even saw or heard the alleged admission on the part of AstraZeneca so I was not sure about the accuracy of the statement.

But what I discovered was that the post really scared people in our Viber group who had been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Within minutes several guys posted that they and their family members were all vaccinated with the AstraZeneca brand, followed by the hands in prayer emoji.

The fear and anxiety were imaginable if not palpable. Who would not be concerned, given the suggested potentially dire outcome? After a few minutes, I decided to jump in and simply head off the worry and fear by responding:

“Guys, recalls are part of precautions to limit risks & compliance with international regulations. The cases of adverse reactions are so far limited in numbers (based on the word rare). Just watch your health & consult your family physician.”

Once the whole thing died down and lives went back to normal, I called my contacts in the pharmaceutical industry association a.k.a PHAP. The person promised to send