Singaporean Nanyang Technological Expert: COVID Vaccine Conspiracy Theory Is Due To Knowledge Gap

Illustration-(Photo: DOK ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Associate Professor of Disaster Sociology from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore, Sulfikar Amir said conspiracy theories related to COVID-19 vaccination could occur due to gaps in the acquisition of knowledge among people in a country.

"Usually, this happens because of an imbalance or gap in knowledge from a group of people, with facts or reality in front of them," said Sulfikar in the 2022 National Survey Results webinar entitled Young People and COVID-19: We Are Diversified, We Are Hoax Collapse followed in Jakarta, Antara, Wednesday, January 5.

Sulfikar said that conspiracy theories are universal things that do not only occur in Indonesia, but also in countries with higher education, namely the United States, Singapore, Europe and even Australia.

The emergence of conspiracy theories is caused by the knowledge gap possessed by residents in an area that occurs due to several factors, such as the existence of a group of citizens who believe in alternative explanations through mainstream media or the existence of a reality that is happening in front of them, giving rise to a belief.

According to him, inequality is also caused by social divisions that occur in a country. As a result, the information received is dispersed differently or unequally.

In this case, he gave the example of the United States which was divided into two camps due to political divisions. The existence of a society that is divided into Republican and Democratic supporters has a major impact on the vaccination program there. Because people have different opinions on the benefits or safety of vaccines.

Thus, conspiracy theories can occur anywhere and are highly dependent on social conditions or political conditions in a society.

"My advice is that we must always look at the root causes that make conspiracy theories emerge and grow easily in society. So, we can mitigate them more effectively," he said.

A doctor who graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, Gadjah Mada University as well as a volunteer and social media activist who focuses on the spread of COVID-19, Dr. Tirta Mandira Hudhi said the Indonesian people have different conditions, because currently they are smarter in seeking information about vaccinations or COVID-19.

He said that if you look at news topics based on Google Trends data for 2020 published by 10 major media, the most sought after are actually virus variant mutations, how to avoid COVID-19 to getting a complete dose of vaccination.

"I saw myself in Jambi, people wear masks but don't wear helmets. This means that our education is good, they are more afraid of getting COVID-19 than accidents. But what are the positive effects? Even residents already understand the dangers of COVID-19," said Tirta.

Compared to the existence of conspiracy theories, he said, Indonesia should be concerned about the condition of the database of vaccine participants. The existence of a resident who was vaccinated several times revealed a fact that caused the public to know that the data held by the government needed to be examined better.

In addition, he also highlighted several institutions or ministries that discussed COVID-19. In order to minimize the information gap between the people, he suggested that the central information center should only come from one trusted institution so that there is not a lot of different information circulating.

"The delivery of COVID-19 education is by competent people and only in one organization or ministry. If each person gives a statement, what happens is there is an infodemic or a lot of information circulating, so people are confused," he said.