WebMD Announces New Effort to Combat Vaccine Misinformation

News provided by

Feb 03, 2021, 11:25 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- With misinformation continuing to undermine public confidence in the Covid-19 vaccines, WebMD today announced that it has launched the WebMD Covid-19 Vaccine Misinformation Center to help combat inaccuracies with facts. The Center will provide reliable vaccine resources and online tools to help consumers make informed decisions, driven by science.

The Center features articles and videos on topics including vaccine myths and how they take root, public health challenges, and the role of social media in misinformation. Medscape, a division of WebMD Health Corp. and the leading source of medical news and information for healthcare professionals globally, will feature content and resources at its Covid-19 Resource Center, including vaccine overviews, late stage vaccine development updates, and news on vaccine research.

"While reports show increasing receptivity to getting a Covid vaccine, about 1 in 5 Americans still say they are not planning to get one, or would only if required," said John Whyte, MD, WebMD's Chief Medical Officer. "The issue of vaccine hesitancy is also of particular concern in communities of color, which have been disproportionately impacted by the virus."

Joining Forces with HealthGuard

WebMD and Medscape have also joined with corporate, nonprofit and media leaders in a global public service campaign, VaxFacts, to identify and counter misleading vaccine information. Led by HealthGuard, the campaign features a browser extension that flags health hoaxes, provides credibility ratings for hundreds of websites, and guides users to sources that offer trusted information. The tool is a new service from NewsGuard, developed by two veteran journalists in 2018 to combat misinformation in the news. So far, HealthGuard has flagged nearly 400 websites for publishing misinformation and myths about COVID-19 vaccines.

In an interview on Dr. Whyte's video series, Coronavirus in Context, Steven Brill, the co-CEO of HealthGuard said, "When you take all those issues of unreliability and trustworthiness….and combine that with the subject of healthcare, all those dangers (of misinformation) multiply."

Click here for Dr. Whyte's interview with Brill: https://www.webmd.com/coronavirus-in-context/video/steven-brill

About WebMD Health Corp.
WebMD Health Corp., an Internet Brands Company, is the leading provider of health information services, serving patients, physicians, health care professionals, employers, and health plans through public and private online portals, mobile platforms, and health-focused publications. The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, Jobson Healthcare Information, prIME Oncology, MediQuality, Frontline, Vitals Consumer Services, Aptus Health, MedicineNet, eMedicineHealth, RxList, OnHealth, Medscape Education, and other owned WebMD sites. WebMD®, Medscape®, CME Circle®, Medpulse®, eMedicine®, MedicineNet®, theheart.org®, and RxList® are among the trademarks of WebMD Health Corp. or its subsidiaries.

About Internet Brands
Headquartered in El Segundo, Calif., Internet Brands® is a fully integrated online media and software services organization focused on four high-value vertical categories: Health, Automotive, Legal, and Home/Travel. The company's award-winning consumer websites are a leader in their categories and serve more than 250 million monthly visitors, while a full range of web presence offerings has established deep, long-term relationships with SMB and enterprise clients. Internet Brands' powerful, proprietary operating platform provides the flexibility and scalability to fuel the company's continued growth. Internet Brands is a portfolio company of KKR and Temasek. For more information, please visit www.internetbrands.com.

SOURCE WebMD Health Corp.