Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Mayo Clinic doctors held a press conference in Rochester, Minnesota, on Wednesday to highlight the need to combat misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccines.

Watch: Dr. Swift, Dr. Badley, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar discuss COVID-19 vaccines.

Journalists: Broadcast-quality soundbites and B-roll are in the downloads at the end of the post. Please Courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network."

"As more and more of these vaccines become available, one of the things that we're realizing is that people are seeing misinformation online," says Klobuchar, D-Minn."I thought, what better place to talk about it than at Mayo Clinic, a place where we believe in facts and we believe in science. I believe that Minnesotans deserve fair and accurate information about vaccines."

Last month, Klobuchar sent a letter to social media companies urging them to stop the spread of false and misleading information related to COVID-19 vaccines. In response, at least one company implemented more rigorous policies to help counter coronavirus and vaccine-related misinformation.

Dr. Andrew Badley, chair of Mayo Clinic's COVID-19 Research Task Force, discussed how Mayo Clinic is fighting against misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccines.

"It's critical that we work on educating everybody," says Dr. Badley. "At Mayo Clinic, we have spent years integrating with local societies and local communities, and now they're working with those communities to educate people about what is known and what is not known about the vaccines, how safe they are, and how effective they are. We encourage everyone to get out and do their part, and encourage their friends and neighbors to get vaccinated. And then to get vaccinated when it's their turn."

Dr. Melanie Swift, co-chair of Mayo Clinic's COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation and Distribution Work Group, discussed how Mayo Clinic is working to create a clear and effective community vaccination plan.

"We are here to promote vaccination because we know that widespread immunity through vaccination is our best possible way to end the pandemic. Here at Mayo Clinic, it is our goal to vaccinate as many people as possible," says Dr. Swift. "If you would like an example of what people who understand science think about the vaccine, know that over 95% of our physicians have already been vaccinated. They believe in this vaccine, as do our nurses and our other health care staff."

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For the safety of its patients, staff and visitors, Mayo Clinic has strict masking policies in place. Anyone shown without a mask was either recorded prior to COVID-19 or recorded in a nonpatient care area where social distancing and other safety protocols were followed.

Information in this post was accurate at the time of its posting. Due to the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific understanding, along with guidelines and recommendations, may have changed since the original publication date. 

For more information and all your COVID-19 coverage, go to the Mayo Clinic News Network and mayoclinic.org.

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