British Columbia’s health minister says she is concerned about a “growing amount of misinformation and disinformation” related to vaccines as the province rolls out its campaign for the respiratory illness season.

Josie Osborne says much of the false and misleading information is coming from outside Canada, particularly the United States.

She told a news conference on Wednesday that false claims about vaccines undermine confidence in proven public health measures in B.C., where officials base their decisions on strong scientific evidence and expert medical advice.

Osborne says the false information ranges from “just a simple misunderstanding” to purposeful campaigns aimed at undermining public health.

B.C. has secured 1.94 million doses of this year’s flu vaccine and 1.4 million shots

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