Category: Public Health
The Causes of Vaccine Hesitancy
The vaccine hesitant are now the front lines of the battle to contain COVID.
How antimaskers weaponize techniques of scientific analysis to attack mask mandates
There's a new paper out analyzing how antimask activists weaponize the tools of data visualization and scientific argumentation to produce convincing antimask propaganda. Antimaskers are claiming that it shows that they are more "scientific" than those supporting the consensus viewpoint with respect to COVID-19 and masks. What it really shows is that they are good at weaponizing the tools of data visualization...
Should COVID-19 vaccines be administered to children under an emergency use authorization?
Recently, Wesley Pegden, Vinay Prasad, and Stefan Baral argued in The BMJ that "COVID-19 vaccines for children should not get emergency use authorization". Their argument is lacking, and they left out a number of relevant facts.
The COVID-19 “Vaccine Holocaust”: The latest antivaccine messaging
The latest antivaccine disinformation consists of pointing to the large numbers of reports of death (and other adverse events) to the VAERS database. It's nonsense.
Some essential oils may trigger seizures
Some essential oils appear to trigger seizures in people with no history of epilepsy.
Long COVID
Medical experts are just starting to bring long COVID into focus, but there is still much we don't know.
Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine
Ivermectin has been touted as a potential antiviral to treat COVID-19 infections. There is no good evidence it is effective.
The “Disinformation Dozen” spreading anti-vaccine messaging on social media
Just twelve individuals are generating two-thirds of all of the anti-vaccine messaging on Twitter and Facebook.
The Origins of SARS-CoV-2
The joint WHO-China investigation report concludes that a lab origin for COVID-19 is "extremely unlikely" but doubts remain.
State legislatures consider bills prohibiting COVID-19 vaccination mandates and other public health measures
Bills seek to prevent the states and private employers from mandating COVID-19 vaccines and other pandemic mitigation measures. Some proposed legislation would severely handicap public health officials in combating future health emergencies.