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.

Study in Vietnam showed that Delta infection results in a higher viral load compared to earlier strains, not that vaccinated people are more infectious than unvaccinated people

Multiple studies indicate that Delta variant infection results in a higher viral load compared to infection by the original strain and other variants. However, COVID-19 vaccination remains highly effective at protecting people from illness and hospitalization caused by the Delta variant, which is now the predominant strain in the world. And while the level of protection from infection by vaccines is lower against the Delta variant, vaccinated people still have a lower risk of infection compared to those who are unvaccinated.

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.

Japanese government didn’t declare COVID-19 mRNA vaccines to be deadly

COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death from the virus. They’ve been rigorously tested via clinical trials and are routinely monitored by health agencies for safety. While rare side effects such as myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) and blood clotting disorders have been reported, these events are uncommon. COVID-19 itself is more likely to increase the risk of heart inflammation and blood clotting than vaccines. The benefits of vaccination outweigh the potential risks.

Elon Musk’s claim that ventilators killed COVID-19 patients confuses correlation with causation

Ventilators were commonly deployed for critically ill COVID-19 patients who developed trouble breathing. The way ventilators were used initially during the pandemic was based on doctors’ experiences of treating other, known types of pneumonia. Over time, as doctors gained a better understanding of COVID-19, their approach to ventilator use also evolved. While it is probable that ventilators were used on some patients who might not have needed it in the end, the claim that ventilators, not COVID-19, were responsible for killing the majority of COVID-19 patients isn’t substantiated by evidence.