No, “HIV insertions” were not identified in the 2019 coronavirus, contrary to claims based on questionable bioinformatics study

The claim is based on a study which compared extremely short gene and protein sequences between the 2019 novel coronavirus and HIV, a practice likely to give false positives. The study’s authors also overlooked checking for potential similarities between 2019-nCoV and other organisms. As it turned out, similar regions could also be found in many other organisms, not just HIV, meaning that these similarities are not unique to 2019-nCoV and HIV.

“15% fatality rate” from coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection was based only on initial cases; infection fatality rate likely less than 3%

The 15% fatality rate from coronavirus (2019-nCoV) applied only to the initial cluster of 41 patients with confirmed infection and severe symptoms, as reported in The Lancet. Coronavirus infections can also produce mild symptoms, which likely went undetected. The mortality rate based on a group of more than 800 patients with laboratory-confirmed infection suggests that the fatality rate is closer to 3%.

Flawed analysis of Florida Medicaid data used to promote false claim that vaccines cause autism

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder commonly manifesting in difficulties with social communication and behavior. Research suggests the likelihood of ASD is influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Numerous large-scale studies have investigated a potential association between childhood vaccination and autism, with none finding an association between the two. This absence of an association speaks against the hypothesis that childhood vaccination is causally linked to autism.

Mel Gibson makes baseless claim on Joe Rogan’s podcast that dewormers ivermectin and fenbendazole are effective cancer cures

Ivermectin and fenbendazole are two antiparasitic drugs that have shown anticancer effects in laboratory settings. However, there is no reliable evidence showing that either ivermectin or fenbendazole can cure cancer in people. Ivermectin is included in the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines for its effectiveness in treating certain parasitic infections in humans. In contrast, European and U.S. regulatory agencies have approved fenbendazole only for veterinary use, not in humans.

Unvaccinated people died of COVID-19 at a higher rate than vaccinated people; vaccines prevented hundreds of thousands of deaths

COVID-19 vaccines effectively reduce the risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19. Epidemiological data shows that unvaccinated people have died at a higher rate from the disease, even taking into account factors such as the age of the population or the proportion of vaccinated and unvaccinated people in the population. Research estimates that hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated people who died from COVID-19 would have survived had they been vaccinated.