Sunderland declares war on anti-vaxxers and their 'comical' theories about covid vaccine

City leaders have backed a call to combat anti-vax conspiracy theories.
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Sunderland City Councillors almost unanimously backed the pledge to ‘actively call out and challenge’ attempts to spread misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic.

But before they could give the green light, they had to see off an attempt to water down the proposal, which one opponent described as an attempt to ‘close-down debate’.

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“We have to do all we can to counter the anti-vaccination movement,” said Cllr Kelly Chequer, who co-signed the motion.

The covid vaccine being administered in SunderlandThe covid vaccine being administered in Sunderland
The covid vaccine being administered in Sunderland

“While the false claims they make are, frankly, comical, my fear is that the spread of misinformation into mainstream and social media could result in fewer people taking up the opportunity to be vaccinated and undermining the programme.”

She added: “It’s very simple, the more people protected against the virus, the less opportunity it has to get the upper hand – protecting more people is the right thing to do.”

Cllr Chequer was speaking at a meeting of the full city council, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.

Health chiefs have previously said the vaccine roll out in Sunderland has had a ‘strong start’.

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However, fears have been raised more may choose to reject offers of a vaccine as the jab is rolled out to younger age groups.

The motion, which was originally proposed by the city council’s ruling Labour Party group, was challenged by UKIP councillors.

UKIP’s Cllr Pam Mann said: “This [motion] is stating that every councillor is obliged to become morally bound to follow this action.

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“This is an autocratic statement which takes no account of an individual’s wishes or opinion or those of the population they represent.”

Green councillor Dom Armstrong claimed UKIP’s proposed changes to the original motion would ‘facilitate anti-vax theories’ and suggested giving councillors licence to promote such claims would be a ‘kick in the teeth’ to the NHS.

The proposed UKIP amendment was defeated by a margin of 3-62, before the original Labour motion was agreed.

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It also asked the Government to start providing far more easy-to-access information on the vaccine programme – and timetable – to provide families, particularly the elderly and clinically vulnerable, with the reassurance that they’ve not been forgotten.

Sunderland City Council COVID 19 Vaccination Programme motion in full:

This council applauds the ongoing heroic effort of our NHS and all our Key Workers fighting to save lives and support the most vulnerable members of our community against the COVID 19 pandemic. In addition, we note the brilliant work of the multinational team at Oxford university and AstraZeneca in developing a COVID-19 Vaccine that has now been approved for use to save lives.

Council further believes that the Immunisation Campaign should be embedded within our local primary care and public health teams, and must work in tandem with an effective test and trace system. The council calls on the Government to fix the malfunctioning NHS ‘Test and Trace’ system, or else give local authorities the power and funding to coordinate test and trace themselves.

This council also acknowledges the real danger to public health posed by the COVID-19 pandemic will remain until all in our community who will medically benefit have had the opportunity to receive the vaccine, and in doing so, will advocate for a vaccination programme within our communities as an urgent priority.

Furthermore, this council agrees that as community champions, individual councillors MUST set a positive example by:

:: Actively promoting the clinical and scientific evidence of the effectiveness of the vaccines available as the only solution to ending this Pandemic.

:: Refusing to propagate conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID19 and vaccination.

:: Recognising such extreme views are a direct threat to the health of the most vulnerable in our community

:: Actively call out and challenge those engaged in promoting such theories and misinformation.

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