KAL, cartoonist extraordinaire for the Economist, tackles the issue of a vaccine for the coronavirus which has stolen many of our plans this year, and many, many lives around the world, in this cartoon for the Baltimore Sun.

The vaccine arrives, delivers by a white knight on his trusty steed, marching towards the city visible on the horizon, which is being devoured by the enormous monster disease.

But wait! What is in the way of the rescuer?

It is the anti-vaxxers.

It could have been predicted, in fact all the way back in May (and earlier), as it was clear that there was some very disturbing conspiracy theories being perpetuated about the virus. The really quite ridiculous beliefs of people, largely in Western democracies, that there was some new world order which was trying to inject us all with some sort of controlling software or tracing device or something else mad started to pervade online conversations. For quite nebulous reasons this always seemed to involve the world’s most generous philanthropist, Bill Gates too. The saddest thing about this is that he was quite correct in his 2015 TED talk which warned of the spread of a deadly disease in the wake of the Ebola epidemic and the role that technology could play in tackling it.

Despite numerous fact-checking, well-documented investigations into these conspiracy theories, because the ‘mainstream media’ has also become mistrusted, the facts are being ignored. Some communities have always mistrusted vaccines, and for decades even the most important, run-of-the mill vaccines given in childhood have been subject to lies about them, because of dubious claims regarding the side-effects.

Now, with a number of vaccines rushed through because covid-19 is the deadliest, most-prolific coronavirus seen to date, the anti-vaxxers and people who no longer have faith in their national institutions are turning their backs in droves.

This threatens all of our abilities to fight and eliminate the virus. Without around 80% of people receiving it and building some sort of immunity, society will not be able to reopen, and the days prior to 2020 will remain a distant dream.

Facebook has been one of the easiest vehicles for anti-vaxxers to make their case heard, and since the beginning of the pandemic, whilst governments and campaigners have been calling upon the site to do something tangible to stop the spread of fake news for years, the behemoth has finally launched initiatives to remove misleading content.

Twitter announced at the start of the pandemic that they would remove content relating to misinformation about the virus. They stayed true to their word in July, when President Trump retweeted information which stated there was a cure for the virus, when there wasn’t, and it was removed. Of course, the 45th President of the United States has been a source for much of the misinformation and cultural wars waged by groups who think the virus is a hoax. Trump was even diagnosed with the virus, and just days later appeared in public, with apparently no regard as to whether he would be contagious or not.

However, since 8 December in the UK, over 137,000 people have had the first of the vaccines to be approved, created by Pfizer/BioNTech. Most of them will have been in their eighties due to risk-profiling, and since there doesn’t appear to have been a large resistance to the vaccine by the octagenarians it does seem to suggest that this group have been rather untouched by the theories that are being shared. It would appear that the number of people with Facebook accounts in this demographic is far smaller, with the entire over 65 population only having 9.5% of all UK Facebook accounts. According to Hootsuite, 80% of Twitter’s global population is under 50.

It won’t be for a long time that people who are caught by misinformation are eligible for vaccination, but when they are, in the UK at least, it would seem there will be some reluctance. YouGov’s survey from 11/12 November shows that 81% of people say they are likely to have the vaccine if they are over 65, 70% of the 50-64 age bracket would do so – and in line with social media accounts – this drops to 58% for the 25-49 age bracket. Of some cheer is the youngest age group, 63% of the 18-24s would be willing to receive the vaccine. It’s still too low, but it’s good to see the younger generation is less affected by false claims than their parents.

Just yesterday, President-elect Joe Biden had his first shot live on TV. His age bracket, as well as President Trump’s, puts them within the group who will be next to get the vaccine in the US after healthcare workers. (Vaccines have also been offered to inoculate all Congress members). Of course, Trump has not yet has his. Likely, this will continue down new partisan lines; whilst Mitch McConnell, leader in the Senate for the Republicans has had his and recommends the wearing of masks, Trump’s supporters aren’t necessarily Republicans. They are the worried, disenfranchised many, and Biden and the group of Washington-based politicos having their shots is not likely to quell much fear over vaccines.