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Pablo Rougerie

Science Editor

Pablo obtained his PhD in Immunology from the University Paris - Descartes (France). He then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (New York, U.S.) and at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). His research focused on different topics in cell biology, including the regulation of T lymphocyte activation, the mechanics of cell deformation, and the use of biomaterials of specific geometry to guide the growth of biological tissues.

The Science Feedback team

CLAIM REVIEWS

Preliminary data indicate that COVID-19 vaccines don’t increase the risk of pregnancy-related adverse outcomes
CLAIM
“82% miscarriage rate among women who got the [COVID-19 vaccine] between 30 days and 20 weeks pregnant.”

SOURCE: Ian Smith, Instagram

Published: 12 Jul 2021

VERDICT

The World Health Organization states that COVID-19 vaccination for children is less urgent, but doesn’t recommend against it
CLAIM
“The WHO says children should not receive COVID-19 vaccines”

SOURCE: Instagram user, Instagram

Published: 29 Jun 2021

VERDICT

COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing illness and death; rare infections in vaccinated people can still occur, as seen in the Celebrity Millennium cruise
CLAIM
“Passengers on first fully vaccinated [...] cruise ship test positive for COVID-19. Almost like the shot is useless.”

SOURCE: Instagram users, Instagram

Published: 17 Jun 2021

VERDICT

Fully vaccinated individuals are exempt from wearing a mask because they are less vulnerable to infection by SARS-CoV-2 than unvaccinated people
CLAIM
Unvaccinated people have to wear masks to protect vaccinated people

SOURCE: Facebook Users, Facebook

Published: 04 Jun 2021

VERDICT

No data available to suggest a link between India’s reduction of COVID-19 cases and the use of ivermectin
CLAIM
“Coronavirus cases are plummeting in India thanks to new rules that promote Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine”; it is a “now-indisputable fact that [ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine] essentially kill COVID-19 within hours or days”

SOURCE: Jim Hoft, Gateway Pundit

Published: 24 May 2021

VERDICT

Misinterpretation of VAERS database leads Tucker Carlson to wrongly suggests that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to higher mortality on Fox News
CLAIM
“3,362 people apparently died after getting the COVID-19 vaccine”; “more people, according to VAERS, have died after getting the [COVID-19] shot [...] than from all the other vaccines”

SOURCE: Tucker Carlson, Fox News

Published: 14 May 2021

VERDICT

Deaths are attributed to COVID-19 according to clinical symptoms and diagnosis; deaths that occur after vaccination are systematically reported and investigated
CLAIM
“If you die within 20 days of testing positive for [COVID-19][...], you’ll be counted as a COVID death.”; vaccines are systematically dismissed as a possible cause of death.

SOURCE: Instagram Users, Instagram

Published: 10 May 2021

VERDICT

Oral contraceptives have a bigger risk factor for blood clot formation than the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines
CLAIM
“Birth control has a far greater risk of blood clots than any Covid-19 vaccine so far”

SOURCE: Carter Sherman, Vice News

Published: 20 Apr 2021

VERDICT

COVID-19 related deaths are indeed caused by COVID-19 and not by contributing health conditions
CLAIM
“coronavirus itself is responsible for just 6% of all deaths listed as coronavirus-related”, the others are “due to pre-existing comorbidities”

SOURCE: OANN editors, One America News Network

Published: 09 Apr 2021

VERDICT

COVID-19 vaccines received Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA after clinical trials demonstrated that they are safe and effective; COVID-19 vaccines aren’t experimental
CLAIM
“Not one [COVID-19] vaccine is FDA approved. [...] They are all experimental.”

SOURCE: Facebook Users, Facebook

Published: 31 Mar 2021

VERDICT

INSIGHTS

Could scientists use the bat coronavirus RaTG13 to engineer SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in a lab?

— 19 Mar 2021

One of the biggest outstanding questions of the COVID-19 pandemic is the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the disease. One idea, put forward by some news sites...