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Articles tagged with: Coronavirus
ARTICLE REVIEWS
Misleading Wall Street Journal opinion piece makes the unsubstantiated claim that the U.S. will have herd immunity by April 2021
in Wall Street Journal, by Marty Makary
— 26 Feb 2021
"The article’s claim that the U.S. is near herd immunity rests on two numbers: 1) the detection of infections by testing (claimed to be 10 – 25 percent) and 2) the infection fa..
New York Post article makes speculative, unsupported claim that mutation could enable the virus causing COVID-19 to evade handwashing and mask-wearing
in New York Post, by Jackie Salo
— 08 Oct 2020
"The preprint that the article focuses on actually says nothing about the most egregious claim made in the article: that the virus is evolving to get around hand-washing, masks, et..
Telegraph article describing the hypothesis that face masks can variolate a population receives mixed reviews on its scientific accuracy
in The Telegraph, by Georgina Hayes
— 24 Sep 2020
"The Telegraph headline is obviously misleading but the subheading is accurate. Masks don’t give immunity; rather, the argument is that infections are milder or asymptomatic and ..
Potential role for T cells in COVID-19 immunity accurately reported in National Geographic article
in National Geographic, by Carrie Arnold
— 19 Aug 2020
"The article accurately discusses the recent findings about the presence/relevance of T cell response against COVID-19. Indeed, both arms of adaptive immunity, humoral and cellular..
People who do not show symptoms can contribute to significant COVID-19 transmission, contrary to CNBC report
in CNBC, by William Feuer, Noah Higgins-Dunn
— 10 Jun 2020
there is already “abundant data” showing that people who are not showing symptoms—which could include asymptomatic, presymptomatic, and paucisymptomatic individuals—compris...
COVID-19 vaccine candidate by Pittsburgh scientists show promising results in animal studies, but clinical trials still needed before efficacy in humans is known
in Pittsburgh Magazine, by Garret Roberts
— 11 Apr 2020
Scientists who reviewed this article’s scientific credibility found that the reporting was generally accurate. However, they also highlighted a missed opportunity to provide read...
CLAIM REVIEWS
VAERS reports may initiate investigations into potential associations between a vaccine and adverse events, but on their own cannot prove causality
CLAIM
Post-vaccination deaths reported to VAERS are caused by the vaccine
SOURCE: Steve Deace, Ron Paul, Charlie Kirk, TrialSite News
Published: 23 Jul 2021
VERDICT
Unvaccinated people are more likely to die of COVID-19 because they are more vulnerable to infection and severe disease
CLAIM
Both vaccinated and unvaccinated people have over 99% chance of surviving COVID-19
SOURCE: Tomi Lahren, Facebook, Twitter
Published: 21 Jul 2021
VERDICT
Vaccinated people are less likely to be hospitalized due to the Delta variant compared to unvaccinated people, contrary to chiropractor’s claim
CLAIM
A Harvard study showed that vaccinated people are “twice as likely to get hospitalized as opposed to if they had a natural exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, then got exposed to a Delta variant”
SOURCE: Jen DePice, TLC4Superteams
Published: 21 Jul 2021
VERDICT
The Nuremberg Code specifically addresses experimentation; COVID-19 vaccines aren’t experimental, and therefore, don’t violate the Code
CLAIM
“Nuremberg codes stipulate that consent must be voluntary […] Threatening someone’s livelihood unless they take an experimental vaccine is NOT voluntary consent.”
SOURCE: Candace Owens, Facebook, Twitter
Published: 16 Jul 2021
VERDICT
Vaccinated people are less likely to die from the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 compared to unvaccinated people; viral claim misinterpreted PHE report
CLAIM
“You are more likely to die from the Delta variant if you have been vaccinated”
SOURCE: Anonymous, We Love Trump
Published: 16 Jul 2021
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective but don’t prevent the disease completely; unvaccinated people place themselves and others at risk as a reservoir for virus spread
CLAIM
"Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from the virus they got vaccinated against because you're not vaccinated"
SOURCE: Anonymous, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter
Published: 15 Jul 2021
VERDICT
There is no evidence that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has a lower fatality rate than the wild-type virus
CLAIM
The fatality rate of the Delta variant of COVID-19 is lower than the original variant
SOURCE: Dan Bongino, Alan Jones, Craig Kelly, The Dan Bongino Show, Sky News Australia
Published: 09 Jul 2021
VERDICT
There is no conclusive evidence that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine contains graphene oxide
CLAIM
“These Spanish researchers have found that over 99 percent of the Pfizer vaccine is graphene oxide.”
SOURCE: Stew Peters, Jane Ruby, Stew Peters Show
Published: 08 Jul 2021
VERDICT
Retracted study misused statistics and adverse event reports to claim that COVID-19 vaccines don’t offer “clear benefit” and caused deaths
CLAIM
“For three deaths prevented by vaccination we have to accept two inflicted by vaccination.”
SOURCE: Harald Walach, Rainer Klement, Wouter Aukema, MDPI
Published: 07 Jul 2021
VERDICT
Unvaccinated individuals now account for the vast majority of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S., according to available data
CLAIM
“99.2% of U.S. COVID deaths in June were unvaccinated people”
SOURCE: Judd Legum, Twitter
Published: 07 Jul 2021
VERDICT
INSIGHTS
Understanding causality in adverse events after vaccination
— 15 Jul 2021
Introduction Whether you’re watching the news or scrolling through your social media feeds, you’re certain to come across content about COVID-19 vaccines. This is unsurprising...
How were mRNA vaccines developed for COVID-19?
— 02 Jun 2021
The vaccines for COVID-19 produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were the first mRNA vaccines authorized for use in the general public. mRNA vaccines were a long-standing ambition...
“Plandemic: Indoctornation” video rehashes debunked claims and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines
— 20 Aug 2020
Plandemic is a pseudo-documentary produced by American filmmaker Mikki Willis, whose first instalment was published in May 2020. Featuring an interview with anti-vaccination activi...
Computing Forever interview with Dolores Cahill contains numerous inaccuracies about COVID-19 and vaccines
— 22 May 2020
This video, first published on 11 May 2020, features an interview between Dave Cullen, also known as Computing Forever on YouTube, and Dolores Cahill, a professor at University Col...
“Plandemic” vignette featuring anti-vaccination activist Judy Mikovits contains numerous false and unsupported claims about COVID-19
— 08 May 2020
This video is the first in a series of vignettes preceding a movie titled “Plandemic”. First published on 5 May 2020, it quickly went viral on Facebook, with more than 2.2 mill...
Did the COVID-19 virus originate from a lab or nature? Examining the evidence for different hypotheses of the novel coronavirus’ origins
— 24 Apr 2020
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak in December 2019, many hypotheses have been advanced to explain where the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) actually came from. Initial re...