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Reviews of articles from: Instagram
CLAIM REVIEWS
More evidence needed for the claim that vitamin D supplements reduce risk of COVID-19 infection
CLAIM
“Habitual use of vitamin D supplements was associated with a 34% lower risk of COVID-19 infection”; “This is an observational study so causation cannot be established”
SOURCE: Rhonda Patrick, Instagram
Published: 22 Feb 2021
VERDICT
Misleading to compare the safety of COVID-19 and flu vaccines based solely on VAERS reports; VAERS reports alone cannot demonstrate that a vaccine caused an adverse event
CLAIM
One person is 300 to 900 times “more likely to die” after getting the COVID-19 vaccine than the flu vaccine; “Adverse events are widely underreported”
SOURCE: Alex Berenson, Twitter, Facebook
Published: 17 Feb 2021
VERDICT
Nashville bomber died in the explosion, not from COVID-19
CLAIM
“Nashville bomber died from COVID-19”
SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook
Published: 05 Jan 2021
VERDICT
The U.S. National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act does not stop people from suing vaccine manufacturers
CLAIM
“According to the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, you cannot sue a vaccine manufacturer if the vaccine has harmed and/or killed someone”
SOURCE: Rizza Islam, America’s Frontline Doctors, Instagram
Published: 19 Dec 2020
VERDICT
Polio vaccine plays a critical role in eradicating polio; polio is caused by a virus, not by DDT
CLAIM
“Did vaccines get rid of polio? The answer is NO!”
SOURCE: Rizza Islam, Ty Bollinger, Instagram
Published: 06 Dec 2020
VERDICT
Dozens of clinical trials ongoing to investigate whether vitamin D prevents COVID-19; no firm evidence yet
CLAIM
“Vitamin D insufficiency [...] may account for the majority of COVID-19 deaths”
SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook
Published: 04 Dec 2020
VERDICT
Face masks, handwashing, and vaccination do not weaken the immune system, and are effective measures to reduce the spread of infectious diseases
CLAIM
Public health measures aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 including face masks, vaccines, and frequent handwashing “suppress our immune systems”
SOURCE: Anonymous, Instagram
Published: 26 Nov 2020
VERDICT
Danish face mask study did not show that masks were ineffective at reducing spread of COVID-19; study was underpowered and results were inconclusive
CLAIM
“Masks make no significant difference”; “Masks have no significant effect”
SOURCE: Sharyl Attkisson, Alex Berenson, Buck Sexton, Anthony Sabatini, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Published: 20 Nov 2020
VERDICT
COVID-19 is at least an order of magnitude more deadly than seasonal flu, according to current estimates
CLAIM
“COVID-19 [is] less deadly than [seasonal] flu”
SOURCE: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Facebook
Published: 01 Oct 2020
VERDICT