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Reviews of articles from: Instagram
CLAIM REVIEWS
Testing in general reveals infections, it doesn’t create them; COVID-19 isn’t the same as the common cold
CLAIM
“If you stop testing it all goes away and people just have colds like before”
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Published: 07 Jan 2022
VERDICT
Inaccurate clickbait headline in Forbes article used to promote the false claim that COVID-19 vaccines change our DNA
CLAIM
Forbes article is evidence that COVID-19 vaccines change our DNA
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook, Instagram
Published: 02 Dec 2021
VERDICT
Tromethamine in the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children acts to improve the stability of the vaccine; it isn’t in the vaccine as a heart medication
CLAIM
The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children contains tromethamine, “a heart attack medication” with “a lot of potentially serious side effects”
SOURCE: Social media users, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram
Published: 12 Nov 2021
VERDICT
No evidence suggests that Pfizer’s smoking cessation medication Chantix increases the risk of cancer; recall of this product is irrelevant to the safety of COVID-19 vaccines
CLAIM
It “took 15 years to uncover” Chantix’s carcinogenic effects; there are reasons for being “skeptical of something that hasn’t even been established/approved for a full 12 months”
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Published: 05 Nov 2021
VERDICT
Social media post claiming that fully vaccinated people are “filling up” morgues and hospitals is based on flawed reasoning; unvaccinated people are actually over ten times more likely to die
CLAIM
“they are needing to change the definition of what it means to be fully vaccinated” “40% of deaths from C19 last week [...] were fully vaccinated, [...] that’s a jump of 51.2%”
SOURCE: Elijah Schaffer, Twitter, Instagram
Published: 02 Nov 2021
VERDICT
The benefits of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh their risks; vaccinated children don’t die at a higher rate compared to unvaccinated children
CLAIM
1 in 1,000 children vaccinated against COVID-19 dies
SOURCE: Adrian Norman, Instagram
Published: 11 Oct 2021
VERDICT
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine demonstrated its efficacy and safety in several stages of clinical trials before been authorized for emergency use, and therefore isn’t experimental
CLAIM
“Today the FDA announced they approved a drug whose Phase III clinical trials are not expected to be completed for two more years”
SOURCE: Benjamin Benulis, Facebook, Instagram
Published: 26 Aug 2021
VERDICT
Janci Chunn Lindsay’s claims that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe are inaccurate and unsupported by scientific evidence
CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccines will cause blood clotting, fertility problems, and immune escape
SOURCE: Janci Chunn Lindsay, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Published: 23 Aug 2021
VERDICT
Vaccinated people are much more protected from COVID-19 than unvaccinated individuals; the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines outweigh their risks
CLAIM
Vaccinated people can still get COVID-19, spread COVID-19, die from COVID-19, and could even die from the vaccine
SOURCE: Instagram User, Instagram
Published: 03 Aug 2021
VERDICT
EUA withdrawal for CDC COVID-19 PCR test is due to the development of newer tests that help save time and resources, not because the test is faulty
CLAIM
COVID-19 PCR test is inaccurate, will no longer be used; COVID-19 PCR test cannot differentiate between flu and COVID-19
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
Published: 26 Jul 2021
VERDICT