WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th October, 2020) Facebook banned ads that discourage people from taking vaccines while announcing a separate campaign backing seasonal flu-shot to help mitigate the threat from COVID-19, the company said in a press release on Tuesday.
"Today, we're launching a new global policy that prohibits ads discouraging people from getting vaccinated," the release said. "Our goal is to help messages about the safety and efficacy of vaccines reach a broad group of people, while prohibiting ads with misinformation that could harm public health efforts."
The release cited recommendations from public health experts that a flu shot can help people remain "healthy and safe" during the coronavirus pandemic, even though a COVID-19 vaccine will not be widely available anytime soon.
Ads that advocate for or against legislation or government policies around vaccines - including a COVID-19 vaccine - are still allowed. But the post must include a label informing readers who paid for the ad, the release said.
The release also announced a Facebook collaboration with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to expand vaccine use worldwide.
"Building demand for vaccination in communities worldwide is key to saving lives," UNICEF Senior Vaccine Adviser Diane Summers said in the release. "Our collaboration with Facebook is part of our efforts to address vaccine misinformation and share resonant and reassuring information on vaccination."
Global vaccination campaigns by UNICEF and other health advocacy groups have eliminated deadly diseases such as smallpox and nearly eliminated polio.
However a bogus claim that inoculations against childhood diseases such as measles cause autism have led to vaccine boycotts and epidemics in some regions of the United States.
