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Facebook, while crediting its efforts to filter out the misinformation and promote authoritative information said, the vaccine “hesitancy” is declining in the United States and other nations.

Facebook in its quarterly transparency report said on August 18, 2021 that the latest data showed vaccine hesitancy is down by 50% among US users of the social network, with significant declines in other nations.

The news comes a month after a public spat between Facebook and the White House after President Joe Biden claimed Facebook was “killing people” by allowing vaccine misinformation to spread.

Facebook said it removed some 20 million pieces of content, issuing warnings for millions more, and blocked 3,000 accounts for violating its policies on COVID-19 misinformation, while at the same time connecting users with reliable sources of health information.

“We are focused on outcomes, which we believe are the right way to evaluate the result. For example, for people in the US on Facebook, vaccine hesitancy has declined by 50 percent and we’ve similarly seen vaccine assessments rising globally,” Facebook vice president for integrity Guy Rosen said.

Rosen pointed out that 18 million people have used Facebook’s profile frames in support of COVID-19 vaccines.

“It’s most important for people to see their friends and family supporting vaccinations,” he said.

“We now have more than 65 specific claims that we removed from our platforms around COVID-19 and vaccines because they are false and may contribute to the risk of imminent physical harm during the pandemic,” the vice president said.

“We’re continuing to add to this list as new trends emerge. For instance, in the past month, we added to our list claims that COVID-19 vaccines cause Alzheimer's, that the vaccines cause magnetism, and that being around vaccinated people could cause secondary side effects to others,” he added.