FactCheck.org Managing Editor Lori Robertson discussed several of our recent SciCheck articles on the public radio show “Conversations on Health Care.”
See the audio clips below and links to our full articles for more information.
Vaccinations Among Federal Employees
Federal health officials testified at a Senate committee hearing that about 60% of their employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. But viral online posts misleadingly claimed that half of the employees “are refusing” the vaccines. The officials did not say anyone had refused to get vaccinated.
For more, see “Posts Distort Testimony of Federal Health Officials on Employee Vaccinations.”
Vaccines and the Variants
So far, COVID-19 vaccines have been effective against variants of the coronavirus. Scientists are monitoring the situation carefully, with updated or new vaccines a possibility in the future, if need be.
For more, see “So Far, Vaccines Remain Effective Against Variants.”
Not a ‘Stanford Study’
Stanford Medicine says it “strongly supports the use of face masks to control the spread of COVID-19.” Yet viral stories circulating in April falsely claimed a “Stanford study” showed that face masks are unsafe and ineffective against COVID-19. The paper, which has since been retracted, is a hypothesis, not a study, from someone with no current affiliation with Stanford.
For more, see “Stories Falsely Cite ‘Stanford Study’ to Misinform on Face Masks.”
Editor’s note: SciCheck’s COVID-19/Vaccination Project is made possible by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The foundation has no control over our editorial decisions, and the views expressed in our articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the foundation. The goal of the project is to increase exposure to accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines, while decreasing the impact of misinformation.