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Vaccines are useful even when there is a treatment for a disease, contrary to claim by Lee Merritt in The New American video

Vaccines provide benefits even if there is a treatment available and if the survival rate of a disease is high. Unlike treatments, vaccines prevent a disease, thereby averting the risks associated with the disease. Furthermore, vaccines help to build herd immunity in a population, thereby protecting vulnerable individuals from severe disease and death. Randomized clinical trials showed that hydroxychloroquine provides no meaningful benefit for hospitalized COVID-19 patients and doesn’t prevent COVID-19.

The American Journal of Medicine didn’t recommend hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19; scientific evidence doesn’t show hydroxychloroquine is effective against COVID-19

No scientific evidence demonstrates that hydroxychloroquine is useful for preventing or treating COVID-19, despite social media posts and articles claiming otherwise. Large, randomized, controlled clinical trials in several countries found that hydroxychloroquine doesn’t produce any benefits in terms of mortality rate or clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients. Due to the lack of benefits and risk of heart rhythm problems, public health authorities recommend against using hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients outside of clinical trials.

COVID-19 vaccines currently in use stimulate immunity to the same degree as natural infection without exposing the vaccinated person to the risks associated with the disease

Vaccination stimulates the development of immunological memory and protects individuals from infectious diseases in the same way that natural infection does. However, vaccination is safer than natural infection because it doesn’t expose the person to the risks associated with the disease. COVID-19 poses serious health risks to infected individuals that can lead to potential long-term health effects or death. Therefore, COVID-19 vaccines are an important tool to minimize complications from the disease.

Frequency of deaths in elderly individuals after COVID-19 vaccination wasn’t higher than the frequency in those who weren’t vaccinated

The COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration were thoroughly reviewed for safety and efficacy before approval. Like any medicine or medical procedure, vaccines can also cause side effects in some vaccinated individuals. Some of the common side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines are pain at the injection site, fever, headache, and fatigue. However, these side effects are mild and short-lived compared to the risks associated with natural infection, such as long-term effects of COVID-19 and death.

Most positive COVID-19 PCR test results are true positives; WHO information notice didn’t change threshold or criteria for a positive COVID-19 test

The COVID-19 PCR test detects the presence of the genetic material of the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2. The test is highly sensitive, meaning that it can detect very small amounts of the virus, which can occur during early or late stages of infection. The test is also highly specific for the virus, meaning that it doesn’t detect the presence of other viruses, such as other members of the coronavirus family which cause the common cold. Although no test with a 100% accuracy rate exists, given the PCR test’s high sensitivity and specificity, most positive PCR test results are true positives.

Too early for conclusions on long-term COVID-19 immunity, but some findings suggest that immune memory against the virus lasts for up to eight months and possibly longer

Scientists still have a lot to learn about the factors contributing to COVID-19 immunity. Among some of the biggest questions is the duration of protection developed after natural infection or vaccination. This has significant implications on how well herd immunity can be maintained through vaccination and how often reinfection occurs in recovered COVID-19 patients. Some studies reported encouraging findings showing that immune memory may endure for at least several months and possibly longer. But at the moment, it is too early to make firm conclusions about how long COVID-19 immunity lasts.

Overwhelming weight of scientific evidence demonstrates that vaccines are safe and effective, contrary to claims in video by chiropractor Steve Baker

Vaccines are considered one of the greatest medical achievements. They have eradicated smallpox and reduced global child mortality and long-lasting disabilities from vaccine-preventable diseases. Besides being effective in preventing the spread of contagious diseases, overwhelming evidence demonstrates that vaccines are also safe and do not increase the risk of developmental, neurological, or autoimmune conditions. Vaccines undergo extensive testing for safety and efficacy before license and are continuously monitored even after approval to identify any safety issue. Therefore, the proven benefits of vaccination far outweigh the potential risks.

People who received the COVID-19 vaccine aren’t more likely to develop facial paralysis than people who didn’t receive the vaccine

Incidental illnesses are expected to occur at a certain rate in the general population, even among people who aren’t vaccinated against COVID-19 or any other disease. The incidence of Bell’s palsy, a transient form of facial paralysis, is not higher among people who received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Israel than in the unvaccinated general population. There is no data to support claims that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine causes Bell’s palsy.

VAERS reports of adverse events in people who received COVID-19 vaccines don’t demonstrate that these events were caused by the vaccines; evidence does not indicate COVID-19 vaccines caused Bell’s palsy and deaths

Both COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration were thoroughly reviewed for safety and efficacy before approval. The U.S. Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) enables the public and healthcare providers to report adverse events that occur after vaccination. It serves as an early warning system for potential problems with vaccines. However, determining whether there is a causal link requires further investigation into these reports. VAERS data only tells us that an adverse event occurred after vaccination; on its own it cannot prove that vaccines caused the adverse event.

Lower flu activity this season likely due to COVID-19 restrictions, increased flu vaccination, and other factors, not to misdiagnosis of flu cases as COVID-19

Public health authorities are detecting lower than usual flu activity this season compared to previous seasons. Widespread adoption of public health measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, such as the use of face masks, physical distancing, and travel restrictions, are likely contributing to the lower flu activity. Additional factors, including increased flu vaccinations and different transmission dynamics for the flu and COVID-19, can also influence how each disease spreads. However, flu viruses are still circulating and may peak later in the season.