Search Results for coronavirus

Shedding light on LinkedIn’s enforcement of health misinformation policies: A pilot study

Summary of findings The career- and business-oriented social media platform LinkedIn has been absent from the public conversation around the topic of health misinformation, as compared to more informal platforms like Facebook and Twitter. While LinkedIn’s policies state that it prohibits “content directly contradicting guidance from leading global health organizations and public health authorities”, anecdotal … Continued

Comparing SARS-CoV-2 infection rate of vaccinated and unvaccinated populations doesn’t reflect the real COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness

Vaccinated and unvaccinated populations may differ in many characteristics, such as age, population size, social behavior or health seeking behavior. These differences must be taken into consideration when comparing the SARS-CoV-2 infection rates between vaccinated and unvaccinated populations. Failure to do so may lead to biased conclusions. Studies accounting for these differences showed that COVID-19 vaccines effectively reduce the risk of getting sick.

Higher myocarditis risk after COVID-19 than mRNA vaccination; contrary to Peter McCullough’s claim, young persons decrease their risk by getting vaccinated

Myocarditis, an inflammation in the heart muscle, is typically caused by viral infections. In rare instances, myocarditis can also occur after COVID-19 vaccination. During the global COVID-19 vaccination campaign, the mRNA vaccines have been linked to rare cases of post-vaccine myocarditis that are usually mild and resolve; these have occurred primarily in young males. On the other hand, COVID-19 itself carries a much higher risk of heart complications, including myocarditis. Moreover, the COVID-19 vaccines decrease the risk of COVID-19-related myocarditis, meaning that COVID-19 vaccination continues to be recommended to young persons.

Claim that the antiviral drug remdesivir is killing people is baseless

The antiviral drug remdesivir was approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of COVID-19 in October 2020. Approval came after randomized clinical trials found that remdesivir decreased the recovery time of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. These same trials also found that remdesivir did not increase the risk of death in study participants who received remdesivir compared to those who received the placebo. Claims that remdesivir is lethal are baseless.

COVID-19 mRNA vaccines are safe; they don’t alter our DNA and aren’t subjected to federal regulation on bioweapons

mRNA COVID-19 vaccines don’t meet the U.S. FDA criteria to be considered a form of gene therapy, as the vaccines don’t modify the genes of the vaccinated person. Furthermore, mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 don’t contain chimeric viruses nor produce chimeric organisms. COVID-19 vaccines aren’t subjected to federal regulation on biological agents and don’t turn the human organism into a bioweapons factory.

Study brings new, but not conclusive, evidence on the comparative effectiveness of infection-induced and vaccine-induced immunity

Both infection and vaccination against COVID-19 provide protection against SARS-CoV-2 reinfection, thanks in part to specific antibodies able to neutralize the virus’ infectivity. Data indicates that vaccination offers more consistent protection at a lower risk than infection. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend vaccination for all, including recovered patients. New data by Rössner et al. suggests that Omicron infection is unlikely to generate potent protection against other variants, although more data are required to assess the relative effectiveness of infection-induced and vaccination-induced immunity.

CDC’s COVID Data Tracker revised COVID-19 deaths downward, but more reliable mortality data still indicate that COVID-19 is a major cause of death in the U.S.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) removed more than 70,000 deaths from its COVID Data Tracker, including 416 pediatric deaths. According to the CDC, this correction was required due to an algorithm error that mistakenly included deaths not due to COVID-19. That said, the downward revision of COVID-19 deaths in the COVID Data Tracker isn’t evidence that COVID-19 is less deadly than initially thought. On the contrary, the more reliable mortality data from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, which uses death certificate data, reports a COVID-19 death toll that exceeds that of the COVID Data Tracker.

Fox News article listing alleged mistakes in COVID-19 public health response mixes accurate information with unsubstantiated claims

The evolving nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of knowledge about SARS-CoV-2 made policymaking extremely challenging at the early stages of the pandemic. As scientists made discoveries and acquired new knowledge, public health policies changed accordingly. Contrary to the article’s claim that public health officials followed “medical dogma”, they adapted policies, and even reversed them when needed, based on our evolving knowledge about the virus. This is precisely how the scientific method is applied and is in fact the opposite of dogma. When scientists realize that the evidence doesn’t support their initial hypothesis, they acknowledge this and incorporate that new evidence into our understanding of the world. Gathering evidence, however, takes time, which is why policies also take time to catch up.

Assessing the effect of COVID-19 vaccines on mortality: a story of confounding factors and their role in COVID-19 misinformation

Introduction COVID-19 vaccines have been instrumental in our fight against the pandemic and our return to a normal life, thanks to their ability to reduce the number of cases, hospitalizations, and mortality. Their effectiveness against severe COVID-19 and death was proven in randomized controlled trials (RCT) that involved tens of thousands of people[1,2]. While RCTs … Continued