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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
COVID-19 vaccines were developed in record time due to scientists’ good understanding of similar coronaviruses and unprecedented investments from companies and governments
CLAIM
“No vaccine for HIV after 40 years of research. No vaccine for the common cold [...] A virus mysteriously appears and within a year a vaccine is created and we are all expected to take it.”
SOURCE: Anonymous, Instagram
Published: 14 Apr 2021
VERDICT
Scientific evidence supports the use of face masks to reduce COVID-19 spread, mainly by preventing infectious liquid particles from reaching uninfected people
CLAIM
Scientific evidence doesn’t support the wearing of face masks; “why do you care if I don't wear a mask? Doesn't your mask protect you?”
SOURCE: Dennis Prager, Townhall Media
Published: 12 Apr 2021
VERDICT
Clinical trials and post-trial monitoring show that COVID-19 vaccines reduce the spread and occurrence of the disease
CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccines are experimental and don’t prevent infection or transmission; most of us have a 0.05% chance of dying from COVID-19
SOURCE: Facebook user, Facebook
Published: 10 Apr 2021
VERDICT
COVID-19 related deaths are indeed caused by COVID-19 and not by contributing health conditions
CLAIM
“coronavirus itself is responsible for just 6% of all deaths listed as coronavirus related”, the other being “due to pre-existing comorbidities”
SOURCE: OANN editors, One America News Network
Published: 09 Apr 2021
VERDICT
The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines aren’t operating systems, and won’t transform the human body into a virus-making factory
CLAIM
The mRNA vaccine is “an operating system that takes over the machinery of your cells” ; “...by the time you get your fourth shot your body will be making all four proteins that make up the COVID-19 virus.”
SOURCE: Abdul Alim Muhammad, Damon Jones, Instagram, Facebook
Published: 06 Apr 2021
VERDICT
Not all coronaviruses are seasonal, contrary to pathologist Ryan Cole’s claim; COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing illness
CLAIM
Coronaviruses are all seasonal and go away on their own, including those that cause SARS and MERS; ivermectin is effective for preventing and treating COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines are “gene therapy”, don’t give immunity or prevent transmission
SOURCE: Ryan Cole, Instagram, YouTube, Bitchute
Published: 04 Apr 2021
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines don’t hamper the function of the immune system and are likely to limit the generation of variants; no evidence that they produce more lethal variants
CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous; they cause an overreaction of the immune system; they suppress the NK cells of the immune system; they promote virus lethality
SOURCE: Vernon Coleman, BrandNewTube
Published: 01 Apr 2021
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines received Emergency Use Authorization from the FDA after clinical trials demonstrated that they are safe and effective; COVID-19 vaccines aren’t experimental
CLAIM
“Not one [COVID-19] vaccine is FDA approved. [...] They are all experimental.”
SOURCE: Facebook Users, Facebook
Published: 31 Mar 2021
VERDICT
Clinical trials showed that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is safe; its side effects are mostly mild
CLAIM
"80% of people taking the Moderna vaccine had significant side effects"; "children in Sudan got polio from the polio vaccine"
SOURCE: Joe Rogan, The Joe Rogan Experience
Published: 26 Mar 2021
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines are critical for controlling the pandemic; vaccines still offer partial protection against new variants of the virus
CLAIM
COVID-19 mass vaccination will select for more virulent variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, which will escape vaccine-induced immunity and cause more severe disease
SOURCE: Geert Vanden Bossche, Children’s Health Defense, The HighWire
Published: 23 Mar 2021
VERDICT
INSIGHTS
“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...