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Articles tagged with: COVID-19
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...
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
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
Preliminary data indicate that COVID-19 vaccines don’t increase the risk of pregnancy-related adverse outcomes
CLAIM
“82% miscarriage rate among women who got the [COVID-19 vaccine] between 30 days and 20 weeks pregnant.”
SOURCE: Ian Smith, Instagram
Published: 12 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
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...
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...