Covid, Accademia della Crusca: serum and antidote are not synonymous with vaccine

It is “inappropriate” to use the words “serum” and “antidote” to indicate the “vaccine” in relation to the vaccination campaign against Covid-19. This was stated by the Accademia della Crusca in an opinion in which it responds to reports received from many readers. While understanding the reasons that “may have induced the use of ‘serum’ and ‘antidote’ with the meaning of ‘vaccine'” in the language of the mass media, for the Accademia della Crusca – with the opinion drawn up by the lexicographer Miriam Di Carlo – “it is worth underlining that they do not justify an improper and too simplistic use of these technical words in a period in which the specialized medical lexicon is spreading in daily use: even more so in leaving the medical field, they would need an explanation and specification such as to guarantee an appropriate use among the whole population “.