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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
Published studies misrepresented by cardiologist Peter McCullough to push false claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause sudden cardiac death
CLAIM
Published studies show that COVID-19 mRNA vaccines cause metabolic cardiomyopathy and sudden cardiac death
SOURCE: Peter McCullough, One America News Network
Published: 30 Nov 2023
VERDICT
There are no genetically modified organisms in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines; no evidence these vaccines modify our DNA
CLAIM
Unapproved genetically modified organisms in the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines could permanently change our DNA
SOURCE: Julian Fidge, Rebekah Barnett, Dystopian Down Under
Published: 17 Nov 2023
VERDICT
No evidence COVID-19 vaccines caused rise in U.S. infant mortality for 2022 reported by the CDC, contrary to implication in Facebook meme
CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccination of pregnant women is connected to an increase in U.S. infant mortality rate in 2022
SOURCE: Facebook Users, Facebook
Published: 15 Nov 2023
VERDICT
Elon Musk’s claim that ventilators killed COVID-19 patients confuses correlation with causation
CLAIM
Ventilators, not COVID, killed hospitalized COVID patients
SOURCE: Elon Musk, The Joe Rogan Experience
Published: 14 Nov 2023
VERDICT
James Thorp spreads false claims that COVID-19 vaccines harm fertility, pregnancy, infant survival in The Sentinel Report interview
CLAIM
“Americans are dropping dead” from COVID-19 vaccines; vaccines impair fertility, pregnancy, infant survival
SOURCE: James Thorp, The Sentinel Report
Published: 11 Nov 2023
VERDICT
Peter McCullough misinterprets study on COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy; the study shows that vaccines are safe for pregnant women
CLAIM
“No discernible benefit of covid-19 vaccination in pregnancy”; “higher rate of neonatal and all-cause readmissions among babies born to vaccinated mothers”
SOURCE: Peter McCullough, Substack, Instagram
Published: 10 Nov 2023
VERDICT
Study in Italy didn’t show COVID-19 vaccines have an “unacceptable” safety profile, contrary to claim by Peter McCullough
CLAIM
Study in Italy shows nearly 1 in 3 COVID vaccine recipients have neurological side effects, indicating an “unacceptable” safety profile
SOURCE: Peter McCullough, Naveen Athrappully, Substack, The Epoch Times
Published: 08 Nov 2023
VERDICT
2018 coronavirus research in NIAID Montana lab is unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic, contrary to claim by Fox News’s Jesse Watters
CLAIM
“Fauci frankensteined Covid bats on our soil a year before the pandemic, but then acted all shocked when the virus started spreading” ; Fauci’s goons went to the Wuhan lab, bottled up a virus and brought it to a lab in America”
SOURCE: Jesse Watters, Facebook, Fox News
Published: 07 Nov 2023
VERDICT
Residual DNA in COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is documented, isn’t associated with genome modification or cancer, contrary to claim by Robert Malone
CLAIM
The more COVID-19 vaccines doses people receive, the higher the risk of getting COVID-19; vaccines contain DNA fragments that modify the genome and cause cancer
SOURCE: Robert Malone, The Charlie Kirk Show
Published: 03 Nov 2023
VERDICT
Preventing deaths isn’t the sole benefit of COVID-19 vaccination, contrary to Epoch Times article
CLAIM
“An accurate reporting by Pfizer would have shown equal numbers of clinical trial deaths in the vaccine and placebo groups and thus, no benefit of vaccination”
SOURCE: Megan Redshaw, The Epoch Times
Published: 31 Oct 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...