The COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials were designed to study the vaccine’s safety and efficacy in preventing symptomatic disease, not transmission. But online publications now misleadingly present the fact that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine was not tested for transmission as a “shocking admission” and proof that the company and the government lied.
The state of Florida recently announced that it was no longer recommending that younger males receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, based on an unpublished analysis that purportedly found an increased risk of cardiac-related death following vaccination. But experts who specialize in the unique method used in the analysis say it was not properly done — and even if it had been, the findings would not mean that individuals should not get vaccinated.
No evidence suggests it’s dangerous for babies to consume breast milk from mothers who get vaccinated against COVID-19. Online posts, however, have pointed to a study that found temporary, trace amounts of vaccine mRNA in milk after vaccination to claim that the vaccines are unsafe.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosted an online seminar about the treatment of blood clots, which is expected to grow as the U.S. population ages and the obesity rate increases. But some vaccine opponents misrepresented the webinar to falsely suggest that the projected rise in blood clots is related to the COVID-19 vaccines.
Last year, President Joe Biden made a special plea to residents in hurricane-prone states to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in advance of possible evacuations or shelter stays. Now, as Hurricane Ian approached Florida, social media posts recycled an old clip of his comments to misleadingly claim he thinks the vaccines will protect against the storm.
Retooled COVID-19 booster vaccines that target omicron subvariants of the coronavirus are now available in the U.S. Here, we answer questions about the new shots.
Denmark announced a plan for its fall COVID-19 vaccination drive, saying it will offer omicron-specific booster shots to high-risk individuals, including everyone 50 and over. But U.S.-based misinformation peddlers misleadingly suggest that means the shots are unsafe for those under 50. The Danish Health Authority said that is a misinterpretation.
As the midterm elections draw near, President Joe Biden has delivered campaign-style speeches that misstated statistics on the COVID-19 pandemic, may leave the wrong impression that police officers were killed during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and overstated the impact of the Affordable Care Act.
As the virus that causes COVID-19 has evolved, the vaccines have become less effective in preventing symptomatic infection while remaining highly effective in preventing severe disease and death. This shift has been misrepresented by anti-vaccine influencers who falsely claim that it means the vaccines don’t work and have been ineffective all along.
Dr. Anthony Fauci has announced that in December he will step down from his positions as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden and as head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and its laboratory of immunoregulation. Here are some of the false and misleading claims about Fauci, his work and his public health guidance that we have written about since the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020.