CORONAVIRUS has been circulating for over 18 months now and the rumour mill has been in over drive.
Many people looking for answers have turned to one TikTok doctor who has helped out with everything from vaccine advice to how to measure the size of a man’s soldier.
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Speaking to The Sun, Dr Karan Rajan said there is a consistent theme from his 4.5 million TikTok followers.
The NHS doctor, who works in general surgery, said he started out on TikTok as a consumer, but soon moved over to the creator side.
It was in February 2020 that he posted his first video on fun medical facts and within hours, he had thousands of views and followers.
Then the pandemic hit and he saw it as an opportunity to help educate people on their health as well as the virus.
He said: “A frequent theme that I see cropping up about coronavirus is that it’s some sort of hoax.
“My belief is that there are actually not a huge number of people that are anti-vax, but they just shout the loudest.
“Often the people who shout the loudest often seem in greater number.”
Millions of people across the UK have received their coronavirus vaccines and booster doses and getting a booster is the best way to protect against Omicron, which is now the dominant strain in the UK.
A string of hugely positive studies show Omicron IS milder than other strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.
Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.
The Sun’s Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits’ arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions.
JABS UP
Dr Karan said the uptake in vaccinations shows that there are only a small number of people who are anti-vaccination.
He said: “People are pro-vaccine and want vaccines to make themselves safer and make everyone else safer.
“But there are also a lot of vaccine hesitant people, and I see a lot of people in the comments who say ‘you’re just working for the government, you’re just promoting something’.
“I don’t know if that’s from a place of fear but it’s often hard to get across the message.
“No matter how many times you make videos to explain why vaccines are safe and the science behind it, you’re going to face people who think otherwise.
“People can be misled by rare circumstances about specific complications that a patient has had after vaccination and whether that’s coincidence or causation – that’s still in people’s minds.”
He said that for some people, negative experiences are more vivid and it’s hard to move people away from the idea that vaccines do more harm than good.
Dr Karan reassured people who think Covid is a hoax, or those who think doctors are being ‘paid by the government’ that this isn’t something that happens.
“The NHS is a free health care system, there is no money that is passed between doctors and nurses and there is no ulterior motive here.
“Vaccines have been proven to save lives over the decades, with smallpox to Covid as well.”
If it takes ten videos to convert one person, then that’s a win for me
Dr Karan Rajan
He said for a lot of people, when they have vaccines as children, there is no thought process behind it.
“As a child you’re not exposed to things. We are asking people to take a vaccine as a preventative measure.
“When you do that, the thing you are trying to target isn’t tangible, you can’t see
Covid.
“So for some people it becomes a figment of their imagination.”
He said that many people don’t want to have a jab if they are ‘healthy’ and said he understands that, but feels as though you have to feed people information that will educate and inform.
“That information shouldn’t be on a moral high ground, it’s about breaking it down and being understanding of people.
“It’s a slow process but people will get there. There have been a lot of people who have messaged me and said they were against the vaccine and that my videos have encouraged them to get it.
“For me, if it takes ten videos to convert one person, then that’s a win for me”, he added.
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