COVID-19 Vaccine and Vaccination Misinformation and Disinformation: Repositioning Our Role as Educators in Pandemic Times

Abstract

Accepted: 18 Nov. 2021 We often encounter misleading claims, some of which have potential to influence decisions we make in our daily lives. Many people from all walks of life, even the most schooled, fall prey to the traps of misinformation and disinformation. How do such delusions enter our knowledge base and inform our public opinions and actions? I discuss in this editorial article the bases that underlie the issues of misinformation and disinformation that plague current COVID-19 vaccine and vaccination efforts. Such issues have a philosophical base anchored on the information processing theories and psychological base linked to our cognitive tendencies. I reflect in the end on our primary responsibility as teachers in these issues. I conclude that metacognition or a knowledge of our thinking, if we mindfully dare to pursue it, can help stimulate an enlightened perspective to ourselves that, with our vast influence as educators, may illuminate the perspectives of others.