Final Word from Wednesday, May 19, 2021
The EU Commission defines disinformation as "verifiably false or misleading information created, presented and disseminated for economic gain or to intentionally deceive the public." By this definition, even the name of the Czech health ministry's vaccination campaign, "Let's put a period to the coronavirus," is disinformation. The very fact that the EU is already buying vaccines for 2023 shows that not even Brussels believes that getting vaccinated now will put an end to the virus. In one of the ministry's ads, Chair Petr Smejkal of the now-disbanded MeSES advisory council says that if new mutations appear, an effective vaccine can be manufactured within weeks. This is intentionally deceptive, because it would take months for a new vaccine to reach the CR. In another ad, Dr. Pavel Pafko says that inocculation is the "only safe and reliable way to prevent the spread of this disease." This is doubly deceptive, unless respirators are ineffective and unless vaccinated people suddenly cannot be transmitters. After getting noticed by Russia for her disinformation work, EU Commissioner Věra Jourová needs to turn her sights homeward. [ Czech Republic covid-19 European Union misinformation advertisement advertising promtional fake news ]
Glossary of difficult words
verifiably - able to be demonstrated to be true, accurate or justified;
to disseminate - to spread (something, esp. information) widely;
to deceive - deliberately to cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, esp. for personal gain;
to disband - to break up or cause to break up;
to turn one's sights - to turn one's attention or interest.