Facebook is not responsible for the United States missing its vaccination goals, the company’s vice president said after President Joe Biden asserted the social media giants were “killing people” with misinformation.  

“The data shows that 85% of Facebook users in the US have been or want to be vaccinated against COVID-19,” Facebook vice president Guy Rosen said in a corporate blog post. “President Biden’s goal was for 70% of Americans to be vaccinated by July 4. Facebook is not the reason this goal was missed,” he added. 

Also Read | We would still be fighting polio: Fauci blasts COVID misinformation in media

While misinformation regarding COVID-19 continues to spread massively since the onset of the pandemic, social media platforms like Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram have played a key role in the same. Facebook has time and again been accused by researchers and lawmakers of failing to regulate content on its platform that could potentially be harmful.

Joe Biden, on Friday, told reporters at the White House that social media is killing people.”They’re killing people. … Look, the only pandemic we have is among the unvaccinated. And they’re killing people,” said US President to the press. 

Facebook later defended itself and claimed that the company provides verified information to its users and has introduced strict rules against false claims about COVID-19 and vaccination for the same. 

The company refuted the allegations and claimed that over 3.3 million Americans used its vaccination finder tool. 

As the cases of delta variant are on the rise, US officials said in a statement that the deaths among the unvaccinated lot of the US is because of it.”This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said during a press briefing. She added that 97% of those entering hospitals in the US have not been vaccinated. 

Also Read | Why is the White House waging war against social media platforms?

“We are dealing with a formidable variant” of COVID-19,” U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci further said during a call. 

Although the United States has enough booster shots to cater to its citizens, the officials are still determining if it is necessary in the current situation.