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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
Data doesn’t show that vaccines are responsible for 2022 excess mortality, contrary to Alex Berenson’s claim
CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccination is associated with all-cause excess mortality
SOURCE: Alex Berenson, Substack
Published: 03 Feb 2023
VERDICT
Baseless claim that COVID-19 vaccines killed more than 200,000 comes from flawed BMC Infectious Diseases study
CLAIM
More than 200,000 people may have died due to the COVID-19 vaccine
SOURCE: Mark Skidmore, BMC Infectious Diseases
Published: 03 Feb 2023
VERDICT
Studies indicate that COVID-19 vaccination doesn’t increase risk of death, despite misleading video on Europe excess death by John Campbell
CLAIM
EuroMOMO data shows excess deaths in people aged 0 to 14; excess deaths in Europe cannot be explained by COVID-19
SOURCE: John Campbell, YouTube
Published: 28 Jan 2023
VERDICT
Sweetgum balls don’t contain Tamiflu’s active ingredient and there’s no evidence of an antiviral effect against COVID-19
CLAIM
Sweetgum balls contain the same active ingredient that Tamiflu contains, which is shikimic acid; It kills viruses including SARS-CoV-2
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook, TikTok
Published: 27 Jan 2023
VERDICT
CDC data shows that COVID-19 is a major cause of excess deaths in the U.S., contrary to Exposé article ascribing deaths to COVID-19 vaccines
CLAIM
“Secret CDC Report confirms nearly 120k Youngsters 'Died Suddenly' in the USA by Oct. 2022 following roll-out of COVID Vaccines”
SOURCE: Anonymous, The Exposé
Published: 24 Jan 2023
VERDICT
Misrepresented 2018 clip of Bill Gates trigger inaccurate claims that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for livestock could transfer to people through diet
CLAIM
“Bill Gates Vows To Pump mRNA Into Food Supply To ‘Force-Jab’ the Unvaccinated”
SOURCE: Baxter Dmitry, NewsPunch, The People’s Voice, Headline USA
Published: 18 Jan 2023
VERDICT
The Pfizer bivalent vaccines are very unlikely to increase the risk of ischemic stroke, contrary to claims on social media
CLAIM
The Pfizer COVID-19 bivalent vaccine causes strokes
SOURCE: Social media users, Instagram, Twitter
Published: 18 Jan 2023
VERDICT
Tweet by NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene misinterpreted; no evidence that XBB.1.5 preferentially infects vaccinated people
CLAIM
“Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 possibly more likely to infect those who are vaccinated, officials say”
SOURCE: Julia Musto, Fox News
Published: 17 Jan 2023
VERDICT
Possible increases in cancer rates and lower life expectancy in 2021 are primarily driven by effects of COVID-19, not vaccination
CLAIM
“Cancer rates have increased since the introduction of the COVID-19 shots”, which “is driving down U.S. life expectancy”
SOURCE: Joseph Mercola, Children's Health Defense
Published: 13 Jan 2023
VERDICT
Excess deaths in the U.K. remain below the pandemic peak and aren’t linked to COVID-19 vaccines
CLAIM
More people are dying now than at the peak of the pandemic; the COVID-19 vaccines are the cause of the excess deaths seen in late 2022
SOURCE: Antony Newby, Facebook
Published: 13 Jan 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...