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RUSSIA-VACCINES-CHILDREN
Moscow turns to vampires to boost vaccination rates
MOSCOW, Nov 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Struggling with growing scepticism of
vaccinations, health authorities in Moscow have turned to a surprising ally
for help: blood-thirsty vampires.
A video posted by the Moscow health department this week features a black-
clad, long-haired vampire and his fang-baring young daughter.
During a visit to the doctor, they ask if it is safe for the girl to drink
blood from the unvaccinated.
After suggesting that it would be better not to drink blood at all, the
doctor warns unvaccinated blood could be “very dangerous”, then lays out the
benefits of vaccinations.
“So is this why some parents are rejecting vaccinations?” the vampire
father asks. “To stop us from biting their children?”
The video ends with a message urging parents to have their children
vaccinated.
It was released as city authorities look for ways to boost vaccination
rates. On Thursday local deputies including the head of the city’s public
health committee recommended making vaccinations mandatory.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF warned in July that
vaccination rates around the world have “dangerously” stalled — in many
cases due to increasing suspicion of vaccines.
The WHO also said in August that measles cases were skyrocketing in Europe
and sounded the alarm over vaccination rates.
Russia was among four countries — along with Ukraine, Kazakhstan and
Georgia — that were home to 78 percent of measles cases in the first six
months of 2019.
The “anti-vax” movement has been fuelled by false claims that vaccinations
cause disease or conditions such as autism.
A study out of George Washington University last year found that social
media bots and Russian trolls “spread false information about vaccines”
online in a bid to sow discord in the United States.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1726 hrs