Could antivaxers hinder a potential coronavirus vaccine? | News

To halt the spread of coronavirus, it is estimated that 70 per cent of the population would need to develop immunity, either through vaccination or by recovering from infection.

But groups and individuals opposed to vaccines — “antivaxers” — have been working hard since the early days of the pandemic to push the message that vaccinations are not safe.

Followers of the 147 largest English-language antivaccine social media channels have grown by a fifth since 2019, according to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, a UK-based non-profit organisation.

Trust in vaccinations has fallen since the start of lockdown with one poll suggesting that 15 per cent of people would now turn down a vaccine

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These channels have 49 million followers worldwide, and smaller accounts have a further nine million. The lion’s share of the audience is in the United States but The Times can reveal that at least a million followers

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