Tag: coronavirus
There is no COVID-19 “casedemic.” The pandemic is real and deadly.
Antivaccine activists and pandemic minimizers Del Bigtree and Joe Mercola are promoting the myth of the "casedemic" that claims that the massive increase in COVID-19 cases being reported is an artifact of increased PCR testing and false positives due to too sensitive a threshold to the test. As they have done for vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases many times before, they are vastly...
Frozen meat vs. COVID-19 misinformation: The strange case of Steak-umm
Of all the strange things that have happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of a frozen meat company as a source of critical thinking and skepticism regarding COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation is one of the strangest. How did Steak-umm become a champion of critical thinking about the pandemic?
Vaccine safety monitoring in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic
Last year, the Trump administration essentially disbanded the National Vaccine Program Office, folding it into an office focused on infectious diseases. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. What does this mean for monitoring the safety of the soon-to-be-approved COVID-19 vaccines?
The Great Barrington Declaration: COVID-19 deniers follow the path laid down by creationists, HIV/AIDS denialists, and climate science deniers
Apparently signed by thousands of scientists, the Great Barrington Declaration argues that lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic do more harm than good and that society should use "Focused Protection" for the elderly and those at high risk for severe disease and death from COVID-19 while letting the young go about their business normally. A closer look reveals that COVID-19 deniers...
Science-based medical lessons from President Trump’s case of COVID-19 (thus far)
We learned early Friday morning that President Trump has COVID-19. As the story evolved, it was hard not to take a look at potential science-based lessons in medicine that this story provides.
The confluence of antivaccine beliefs and conspiracy theories in COVID-19 denial
It surprised some people that after the COVID-19 pandemic hit our shores antivaxxers so quickly joined forces with COVID-19 conspiracy theorists. It shouldn't have been a surprise. Antivaxxer beliefs are themselves rooted deep in conspiracy theories.
Joe Mercola: Falsely demonizing the flu vaccine by claiming it increases your risk of COVID-19
September is the time of the year when the CDC, state public health authorities, and doctors urge everyone to be vaccinated against the flu. In the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, that means antivaxxers like Joe Mercola have a new angle to demonize the flu vaccine: Falsely claiming it increases your risk of catching COVID-19.
Don’t use a COVID-19 vaccine, cry the antivaxxers, because of the horseshoe crab!
Antivaxxers are now urging vegans not to use a COVID-19 vaccine because blood from horseshoe crabs will be used in its manufacture. At its heart, this is no different than their weaponization of beliefs against other vaccine ingredients, except that it does use a germ of a good point that we should be looking for other ways to ensure that vaccines have...
Does convalescent plasma work against COVID-19? Who knows?
Last night, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19, even though there are no randomized clinical trials demonstrating efficacy and safety. Does this plasma work? Who knows? But that didn't stop the FDA from issuing the EUA, almost certainly as a result of intense political pressure from the Trump Administration.
The Mask Ask: Understanding and Addressing Mask Resistance
The wearing of masks has become contentious on scientific and ideological grounds. Why is that, and how can we communicate with people who don't follow the scientific guidelines?