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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
COVID-19 deaths in people with pre-existing health conditions are still caused by COVID-19, contrary to claim by Jimmy Dore
CLAIM
“Total Deaths From COVID MUCH LOWER Than Reported”
SOURCE: John Campbell, Jimmy Dore, The Jimmy Dore Show
Published: 27 Jan 2022
VERDICT
Robert Malone made multiple misleading or unsubstantiated claims about COVID-19 and vaccines on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast
CLAIM
the COVID-19 vaccines are experimental and ineffective; “natural immunity is superior to the vaccine induced immunity”; vaccine-induced spike protein is dangerous, causes serious side effects; “Omicron is a mild variant. It is absolutely able to escape prior vaccination”
SOURCE: Robert Malone, The Joe Rogan Experience
Published: 26 Jan 2022
VERDICT
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine; their safety and effectiveness are established; the vaccines aren’t experimental
CLAIM
The COVID-19 vaccines are experimental
SOURCE: Tomi Lahren, Facebook, Twitter
Published: 22 Jan 2022
VERDICT
No, COVID-19 vaccines don’t contain bacteria and HIV; the vaccines enhance the body’s ability to respond to pathogens, not reduce it
CLAIM
The COVID-19 vaccine contains bacteria and HIV, prevents body from making new white blood cells
SOURCE: Anonymous, Disclosure Hub, Together As One
Published: 19 Jan 2022
VERDICT
There is no evidence that dietary supplements containing zinc and a zinc ionophore, such as the one promoted by Vladimir Zelenko, are effective against COVID-19
CLAIM
Zinc supplements can protect against COVID-19; Zinc “kills the virus” and zinc ionophores are a “a zinc delivery system” that “allows zinc to go from outside the cell to inside the cell”
SOURCE: Vladimir Zelenko, Gateway Pundit
Published: 18 Jan 2022
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines aren’t associated with a higher risk of pregnancy complication, contrary to claim by Daniel Horowitz
CLAIM
“The shots were not studied in pregnant women”; “we have seen 50 times the rate of reporting [in VAERS] per month of miscarriages for this vaccine than the other vaccines put together.”
SOURCE: Daniel Horowitz, The Blaze
Published: 18 Jan 2022
VERDICT
No, a study from Denmark didn’t find that COVID-19 vaccines make people more prone to infection; biases in the study likely led to underestimated vaccine effectiveness
CLAIM
“Danish researchers [...] found protection against Omicron turned negative three months after the second dose”
SOURCE: Alex Berenson, Substack
Published: 17 Jan 2022
VERDICT
CDC director’s comments that 75% of COVID-19 deaths are among people with four comorbidities applies only to vaccinated people
CLAIM
75% of deaths were people with ‘at least four comorbidities’
SOURCE: Anonymous, The Joe Pags Show
Published: 13 Jan 2022
VERDICT
The scientific evidence shows that COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of infection and mortality; analysis of cases and deaths from 145 countries is methodologically flawed
CLAIM
"New big data study of 145 countries show COVID vaccines makes things worse (cases and deaths)"
SOURCE: Steve Kirsch, Substack
Published: 12 Jan 2022
VERDICT
Robert Malone’s statements on The Dana Show about vaccine safety and virus variants are inaccurate and unsupported
CLAIM
Booster COVID-19 vaccine doses can “shut down the immune response”; heart damage following vaccination is “quite frequent”; “many of these [SARS-CoV-2] mutations are being driven by the evolutionary selection caused by the vaccines”
SOURCE: Robert Malone, The Dana Show
Published: 10 Jan 2022
VERDICT
INSIGHTS
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...
“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...