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Articles tagged with: COVID-19
ARTICLE REVIEWS
Washington Times article by Robert Malone and Peter Navarro relies on inaccurate and unsubstantiated claims about virus evolution, vaccine immunity, and COVID-19 vaccine safety
in Washington Times, by Robert Malone and Peter Navarro
— 15 Aug 2021
"This article has inaccuracies throughout with a clear view to push an anti-vaccine agenda. The picture depicting a skull with eyes and nose made of coronaviruses in the shape of t..
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...
Viral New York Post article perpetuates the unfounded claim that the virus that causes COVID-19 is manmade
in New York Post, by Steven W. Mosher
— 02 Mar 2020
Overall, Mosher’s argument is based on unfounded speculation and scientific inaccuracies. Such claims, which continue to be perpetuated even by public officials, have real-world ...
CLAIM REVIEWS
No evidence that COVID-19 vaccines reduces the life expectancy of vaccinated people; COVID-19 vaccines don’t increase mortality rate
CLAIM
“those who have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19 with mRNA shots will lose 25 years of their life”
SOURCE: Anonymous, The Exposé, Slay News, The People’s Voice
Published: 30 May 2023
VERDICT
COVID-19 mRNA vaccines saved lives by reducing risks of infection and severe COVID-19
CLAIM
“the mRNA jab didn’t actually save any lives”
SOURCE: Wes Walker, Clash Daily
Published: 26 May 2023
VERDICT
Neurological adverse events are very rare after COVID-19 vaccination and less frequent than after SARS-CoV-2 infection
CLAIM
A study shows that “COVID vaccines could be causing ‘long-term brain damage’”
SOURCE: Anonymous, Leading Report
Published: 22 May 2023
VERDICT
Animal studies included in Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine approval application showed no signs of reproductive toxicity
CLAIM
“COVID Vaccines Were Never Safe for Pregnant Women, Pfizer’s own data show”
SOURCE: David Bell, The Brownstone Institute, Children's Health Defense
Published: 10 May 2023
VERDICT
Peter McCullough makes multiple false, misleading, and unsupported claims about COVID-19 vaccine safety and efficacy in viral podcast
CLAIM
The spike protein induced by COVID-19 vaccines is toxic and causes diseases and deaths; nattokinase can counter these effects
SOURCE: Peter McCullough, X22 Report
Published: 03 May 2023
VERDICT
No evidence that COVID-19 vaccination affects placenta, contrary to a claim by Naomi Wolf
CLAIM
“Since the vaccine rolled out, [a midwife]’s seen no normal placenta […] they’re all compromised”
SOURCE: Naomi Wolf, Real America’s Voice, The Daily Clout
Published: 25 Apr 2023
VERDICT
Analysis by insurance executive Josh Stirling misrepresents official UK data, doesn’t show that COVID-19 vaccines led to 600,000 deaths
CLAIM
“600,000 Americans Per Year Are Dying From COVID Shots Says Top Insurance Analyst”
SOURCE: Josh Stirling, Jonas Vesterberg, The Florida Standard
Published: 20 Apr 2023
VERDICT
High population immunity and low virus circulation the reasons for new Swiss COVID-19 vaccine recommendation, not vaccine injuries
CLAIM
Switzerland stops COVID-19 vaccines due to safety concerns
SOURCE: Anthony Hinton, Twitter
Published: 19 Apr 2023
VERDICT
An ONS study didn’t show that the COVID-19 vaccine caused a higher risk of heart-related deaths in women, contrary to viral claim
CLAIM
“AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine Tripled Deaths in Young Women”
SOURCE: Social media users, The Florida Standard, Twitter
Published: 13 Apr 2023
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines didn’t cause injuries and disabilities that cost the economy billions of dollars; vaccines benefited the economy
CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccines caused “26.6 million Injuries” and “1.36 million Disabilities” in 2022 and cost the economy billions of dollars.
SOURCE: Edward Dowd, Phinance Technologies
Published: 13 Apr 2023
VERDICT
INSIGHTS
Authorization of bivalent COVID-19 boosters is based on scientific evidence of their safety and effectiveness
— 07 Nov 2022
image credit The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Publich Health SUMMARY In August 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized bivalent COVID-19 vaccine formulati...
What can explain the excess mortality in the U.S. and Europe in 2022?
— 02 Nov 2022
image source Introduction Every day, people die of many causes: diseases, accidents, violence, or simply old age. The number of deaths in any given country is usually stable from o...
Shedding light on LinkedIn’s enforcement of health misinformation policies: A pilot study
— 26 Apr 2022
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 comp...
Assessing the effect of COVID-19 vaccines on mortality: a story of confounding factors and their role in COVID-19 misinformation
— 15 Mar 2022
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, hosp...
Infection-induced immunity versus vaccine-induced immunity: Weighing the benefits and risks
— 03 Nov 2021
Introduction Multiple articles and social media posts have debated the strength of infection-induced immunity—commonly referred to as natural immunity—compared to vaccina...
Copypasta of an ICU doctor’s tweet stokes COVID-19 skepticism by mimicking bot-like behavior
— 29 Jul 2021
Introduction The spread of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has put many countries back on high alert. Both the U.S. and the U.K. have seen the Delta variant become the predominant ...
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�...
What has been the effect of the pandemic on the suicide rate of the U.S. population?
— 21 Jun 2021
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic prompted countries everywhere to take measures to reduce the spread of the disease. One of these measures, which has proven to be effective (as c...
What is known about the claims that the Wuhan Institute of Virology conducted research to bioengineer bat coronaviruses?
— 15 Jun 2021
Image: Scanning electron microscope image showing SARS-CoV-2 (round gold objects) emerging from the surface of cells cultured in the lab. Credit NIAID-RML Introduction One of the q...
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...