Search

On December 13, the New York Times reported that a lawyer associated with the nominee for U.S. health secretary petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 2022 to revoke its approval of the inactivated polio vaccine. The lawyer reportedly assisted the nominee, who is a prominent anti-vaccine figure in the U.S., in screening candidates for roles in the Department of Health and Human Services. The story trended in the U.S. and worldwide, with many people criticizing efforts to weaken confidence in a trusted vaccine. Several U.S. politicians who previously expressed anti-vaccine sentiments attempted to distance themselves from criticism of the polio vaccine. However, some social media users defended the nominee, falsely claiming that the polio vaccine was not safe and wasn’t properly tested.

On December 13, the New York Times reported that a lawyer associated with the nominee for U.S. health secretary petitioned the Food and Drug Administration in 2022 to revoke its approval of the inactivated polio vaccine. The lawyer reportedly assisted the nominee, who is a prominent anti-vaccine figure in the U.S., in screening candidates for roles in the Department of Health and Human Services. The story trended in the U.S. and worldwide, with many people criticizing efforts to weaken confidence in a trusted vaccine. Several U.S. politicians who previously expressed anti-vaccine sentiments attempted to distance themselves from criticism of the polio vaccine. However, some social media users defended the nominee, falsely claiming that the polio vaccine was not safe and wasn’t properly tested.

Reports are circulating online about several groups of people who are boycotting polio vaccination campaigns in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. One boycott was organized by tribal leaders in Lakki Marwat in support of the families of the factory workers kidnapped by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan group. The tribal leaders also threatened to hold widespread protests and block a gas pipeline into Punjab until the abductees were returned. Other groups proposed boycotts to pressure the government to restore access to electricity and gas. Finally, local news outlets reported that female polio workers in the province were conducting a boycott, a claim that the workers disputed as baseless and a conspiracy to create a rift between them and the government.

On January 20, President Donald Trump signed an executive order withdrawing the U.S. from WHO, raising concerns about impacts on funding for global disease prevention, pandemic preparedness, and polio eradication. Several social media posts from East and West African countries discussed how the withdrawal may impact the continent. Many posts suggested that this is a wake-up call for African nations to be less dependent on international aid. While some posts expressed concern about how low-income nations will be affected, other users praised the withdrawal. Posts called WHO “the greatest enemy to man,” corrupt, and “satanic.” Claims also circulated that all vaccines are dangerous and unnecessary.

On January 22, Pakistan confirmed its first polio case of 2025 in Dera Ismail Khan. Half of the cases recorded in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa last year were in the DI Khan district. News coverage of the case highlights the country’s failure to eliminate polio “despite spending billions of dollars” to do so. Many social media users responded to the news by accusing the government of profiting from polio, claiming that the disease will never be eliminated as long as the country receives polio funding. Some posts list polio eradication alongside government corruption and terrorism as threats to Pakistan. Others claim Pakistanis are being targeted for experimentation and extinction.

A political commentator who ran for president during the 2021 Ugandan election claimed in a recent social media post that “so-called vaccines” are being thrown at Africans after they “survived the COVID shots,” listing malaria, mpox, and HIV vaccines. Additionally, the post accuses Bill Gates of being a eugenicist who wants to reduce the global population to one billion. The post received nearly 200 replies, with some questioning how the polio vaccine was developed and claiming that polio is made in a lab. Many responses expressed a general distrust of vaccines, claiming they are “poison” and unnecessary.

Online conversations about global health funding continued in the wake of the U.S.’s withdrawal from WHO and cessation of foreign aid. World leaders, health officials, and aid workers warned that the cessation of funding would have devastating effects on global health, including polio eradication efforts. Some social media users claim the aid did not benefit African people, question why their countries are dependent on aid from the U.S., and accuse their leaders of misusing funds meant for public health. One user dismissed concerns about funding for anti-polio work in Afghanistan and Pakistan as “no problem” because it only affects “terror countries.”