Merriam-Webster, the company known for its reference books and dictionaries, has become the source of online misinformation about vaccines.
"Vaccine used to be defined as a substances that provides 'immunity' to a specific disease," reads the text of an Instagram post shared Nov. 4. "Now, Merriam Webster has literally changed the definition of 'vaccine' and removed the 'immunity' portion in order to possibly cover for the fact that the COVID 'vaccines' don't actually provide immunity from COVID."
The post generated close to 27,000 likes in less than a week. Other social media users have shared false claims that Merriam-Webster changed the definition of "anti-vaxxer," PolitiFact reported.
This claim is missing context, too.
Merriam-Webster revised its "vaccine" definition to replace "immunity" with "immune response." The change also addresses the new technology of mRNA vaccines in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company told USA TODAY the goal was to be scientifically accurate about how vaccines work, not to question their effectiveness.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media user who shared the post for comment.
Peter Sokolowski, editor at large for Merriam-Webster, told USA TODAY in an email that the company changed its "vaccine" definition to include more scientifically accurate language.
"Merriam-Webster adds definitions and evolves...
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