Tag: COVID-19 vaccine

Christian Elliot and viral disinformation

Christian Elliot’s “18 Reasons I Won’t Be Getting a Covid Vaccine”: Viral antivaccine misinformation

Christian Elliot is a self-proclaimed "natural health nerd" and entrepreneur who recently published 18 reasons why he wouldn't take the COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately, it's viral disinformation based on conspiracy theories, bad science, pseudoscience, and nonsense.

/ April 19, 2021
Gen. Jack D. Ripper

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".

/ April 12, 2021

Update on AstraZeneca Vaccine and Blood Clots

A link between the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and a rare type of blood clots is now more likely, but the benefits of vaccination still outweigh the risks.

/ April 7, 2021
COVID-19 vaccines hacking

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.

/ April 5, 2021

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.

/ April 1, 2021

COVID-19 vaccination and screening mammography

Reports of enlarged lymph nodes under the arm after COVID-19 vaccination have led doctors to tweak mammography guidelines. Antivaxxers, unsurprisingly, have tried to weaponize this observation to spread fear and confusion about these vaccines.

/ March 22, 2021

Countering Geert Vanden Bossche’s dubious viral open letter warning against mass COVID-19 vaccination

Geert Vanden Bossche is a scientist who published an open letter warning of global catastrophe due to deadly variants of COVID-19 selected for by mass vaccination. His argument sounds a lot like an argument Andrew Wakefield once made for MMR. There’s even grift likely involved!

/ March 18, 2021

Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Safety

Reports of blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are very likely just background events.

/ March 17, 2021
COVID-19 vs. FDA and CDC

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.

/ March 11, 2021

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.

/ March 10, 2021