Results for: vaccines
Are vaccines driving the emergence of “escape mutant” variants of COVID-19?
Geert Vanden Bossche is back, and this time he's blaming COVID-19 vaccines for driving the evolution of more dangerous "escape variants" of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the disease, that are capable of evading vaccine-induced immunity. As antivaxxers making this argument always do, unfortunately, he ignores the much larger problem in which free circulation of the virus is a far more powerful...
“Holistic cardiologist” Dr. Joel Kahn is amplifying misinformation and conspiracy theories about COVID-19 vaccines and VAERS
Dr. Joel Kahn is a "holistic cardiologist." There was a time when he seemed to me at least semi-reasonable, but recently he has been peddling COVID-19 conspiracy theories and antivaccine misinformation, particularly misrepresentation of reports to the VAERS database, which makes this a good time for an update about how antivaxxers are weaponizing VAERS for propaganda purposes.
“Depopulation” by COVID-19 vaccines?
COVID-19 and antivaccine conspiracy theorists like Joe Mercola, Michael Yeadon, and Peter McCullough are spreading the conspiracy theory that COVID-19 vaccines are intended as a tool for "global depopulation". This is nothing more than an old antivaccine conspiracy theory repurposed for the pandemic. As ridiculous as it might seem, it is nonetheless very appealing to antivaxxers.
“COVID-19 vaccines are going to sterilize our womenfolk,” Take 2
Antivaxxers have long claimed that vaccines, particularly HPV vaccines, can damage the ovaries and cause female infertility. That claim has been resurrected for COVID-19 vaccines. The first example relied on a dubious "similarity" between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and a placental protein. This time, it's the lipid nanoparticles attacking the ovaries, echoing very old claims about polysorbate-80. Truly, everything old is new...
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.
Spike Proteins, COVID-19, and Vaccines
A new study further elucidates the role of spike proteins in COVID-19.
To unblind or not to unblind? That is the question about clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines
Antivaccine alternative health tycoon Joe Mercola claims that the unblinding of participants in the clinical trials of Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines was intended to "blow up the trials" and undermine the science, making it impossible ever to identify long term adverse events. What he's really doing is deceptively oversimplifying complex ethical and scientific issues surrounding these trials in the middle of...
COVID-19 vaccines versus “purity of essence”
Antivaxxers frequently make the false claim that mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines "permanently alter your DNA". These claims are really a concern about "impurifying" their "purity of essence".
Antivaxxers, COVID-19 vaccines, and “hacking the software of life”
Antivaxxers and COVID-19 conspiracy theorists were always going to spin conspiracies about COVID-19 vaccines. Unfortunately, some scientists have made it so much easier for them by having likened mRNA vaccines to "hacking the software of life" and being unclear on what gene therapy is.
COVID Vaccines Probably Prevent Spread
The evidence is preliminary, but it looks like the COVID vaccines do reduce the risk of spread of SARS-CoV-2.