A popular social media account repeated the myth that an “untested” polio vaccine funded by Bill Gates left over 490,000 children in India paralyzed. Although the post is about the oral polio vaccine, it includes a video about a different conspiracy theory claiming that an HPV vaccine injured thousands of girls in India.

Several social media posts about polio campaigns in the Democratic Republic of the Congo received negative comments about polio vaccines. Some posts called polio vaccines “poison.” Other commenters say that the vaccines are not needed because children survive without them and the disease is “almost nonexistent.”

On April 6, Gaza’s Health Ministry warned that Israel is blocking polio vaccines from entering the region, putting over 600,000 children at risk. In response, many commenters called for an end to the blockade, while other posts claimed that polio vaccines are “toxic” and unnecessary during the conflict.

A recent social media post announced a polio vaccine campaign for children up to 14 years old in Tshopo, Democratic Republic of the Congo. In response, some commenters asked why older children needed polio vaccines. One post claimed polio vaccines kill children, and another called polio vaccination “a hoax.”

Several U.S.-based social media accounts, including one known for promoting anti-vaccine falsehoods, have shared a recent interview between a known conspiracy theorist podcaster and a U.S. physician. The physician repeats multiple unfounded claims about polio that have been repeatedly debunked, including that it is caused by the pesticide DDT, that poliovirus itself is “mostly harmless,” and suggesting that increased sanitation, not vaccines, led to polio’s decline. Some posts garnered significant engagement, with one receiving 2,000 comments and another accumulating 25 million views. While some comments echoed anti-vaccine claims and warned people against vaccines more generally, several criticized the podcaster and his anti-vaccine, so-called “junk science” claims.

U.S. and French-based social media accounts shared a video interview with a known French anti-vaccine advocate on a site with a history  of promoting anti-vaccine conspiracies. The posts claim that the interviewee, a retired French physician, is “raising the alarm” about a heightened risk of cVDPV2 at “10 times the rate of WPV” through the oral polio vaccines allegedly promoted by Bill Gates and WHO. Responses to the posts were both in favor of and against the physician, and some also criticized Bill Gates’ and so-called Western “experiments,” repeating the debunked myth that Gates used vaccination efforts as a forced depopulation plan. One response from a user claiming to have worked for “UNICEF/CDC/WHO vaccination campaigns” sowed doubt about vaccination efforts. However, overall the posts have had relatively few engagements and are being shared mostly in the United States, France, and Canada.

A video that is trending across multiple social media platforms claims to show a young child who was severely injured by a polio vaccine. The most popular post received over 70,000 engagements, including nearly 5,000 responses. Many comments argued that vaccines are unnecessary because God gave humans “perfect” bodies that can create vaccines. Other posts expressed concern about vaccine safety, claimed that children receive too many vaccines, and boasted about their unvaccinated status.

A social media post with nearly 2,000 engagements claims watermelon seeds can cure polio and many other diseases. Several responses suggest that seedless watermelon is promoted to keep people unhealthy.

Social media users in Kenya are discussing reports that international aid cuts and their government’s failure to fulfill  its co-financing agreement with the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization may lead to vaccine shortages and a “vaccination crisis.” Some posts criticized the government’s “reckless failure” and alleged mismanagement of funds, while others argue that vaccines are unnecessary or dangerous “bioengineered stuff.” Multiple posts claimed that the vaccine shortage is “good” and promoted the conspiracy theory that Bill Gates uses free vaccines to influence the country.

A forum user asked for help debunking false claims about vaccines, stating that a friend sent them evidence that “most, if not all, vaccines are bad.” The user cited a cVDPV outbreak in Sudan as proof of the claim. The user and several commenters mistakenly believe that the oral polio vaccine is linked to polio outbreaks in people who are vaccinated.