COVID Misinformation Strike Force

29/04/2024

When potential death is given more weight than actual death:

Is potential death worse than real death?

24/03/2024

Identifying Credible Sources of Health Information on Digital Platforms:

"To support access to high-quality health information during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, the National Academy of Medicine convened an independent advisory group to develop principles and attributes to guide social media companies and other digital platforms in identifying and elevating credible sources of health information in their channels."

Identifying Credible Sources of Health Information on Digital Platforms To support access to high-quality health information during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, the National Academy of Medicine convened an independent advisory group to develop principles and attributes to guide social media com...

20/11/2023

“We tend to use euphemisms, we call it disinformation or an infodemic … but it’s organized, it’s predatory, it’s deliberate, it’s well-financed and politically motivated and it’s killing Americans in unprecedented numbers.” -- Peter Hotez

Vaccine scientist Peter Hotez's new book "The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science" calls on the...

18/08/2022

"The COVID-19 pandemic has been riddled with false dichotomies, which have been used to shut down or polarize debates while oversimplifying complex issues and obfuscating the accompanying nuances."
https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-021-06357-4

22/05/2022

"It has become imperative for our profession to empower our institutions to signal clearly who is — and who is not — providing evidence-based information on social media."

Perspective from The New England Journal of Medicine — Physicians Spreading Misinformation on Social Media — Do Right and Wrong Answers Still Exist in Medicine?

19/05/2022

The U.S. is the world's first country to reach 1 million confirmed COVID-19 deaths despite the easy availability of vaccines. How did we get to this dark place?

13/03/2022

Researchers showed that B cells evolve after COVID-19 vaccination to help improve protection against SARS-CoV-2 over time.

21/02/2022

Dr. Oz's Sad Trip Down the Rabbit Hole

It seems that Dr. Mehmet Oz’s transformation from respected surgeon to deplorable pseudoscience advocate is complete. He recently slandered Dr. Fauci as a “petty tyrant” and then called him “cowardly” for not taking the bait to get into a “doctor-to-doctor debate” with the surgeon-turn...

20/02/2022

What we share online can have consequences in the real world and spreading misinformation during can put lives at risk.

Take a moment and pledge to pause and verify facts before sharing. https://shareverified.com/pledge-to-pause/

10/02/2022

"When you look at the death toll, it is staggering. Roughly, my calculations are between—shortly after June 1-July 1, we've lost 200,000, maybe 250,000 unvaccinated Americans. And by the way, of those who are vaccinated, most of those are probably partially vaccinated as well. The bottom line is the unvaccinated overwhelmingly succumbed to disinformation, a lot of it coming from political extremism on the right, even members of Congress.

Those are 200,000 lives we can't get back. 200,000 lives needlessly lost because of anti-science aggression. I don't even know what word you call that anymore. It's—'misinformation' or 'disinformation' doesn't do it justice. It's anti-science aggression. It's the largest self-immolation that this nation has ever experienced." —Dr. Peter Hotez

https://www.msnbc.com/the-mehdi-hasan-show/watch/why-are-we-declaring-victory-over-covid-132814917824

More blue states are easing mask mandates and other pandemic restrictions, despite death rates and new case numbers that remain high. Mehdi talks to Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding and Dr. Peter Hotez about whether the desire for a return to normal is flying in the face of reality.

07/02/2022

Misinformation during can put lives at risk.

Take time to verify facts and before you share something online. https://pledgetopause.org

05/02/2022

"Graphika has tracked the growth of conspiratorial movements online throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, seeking to understand how these communities have evolved, and to what extent they have enabled real-world and online harms."

Today Graphika has published Viral Vendetta - a new investigation into an anti-vaccine conspiracy movement that has engaged in repeated acts of online and real-world harm. Read more here: graphika.com/viral-vendetta

25/01/2022

"When science changes, policy should adapt accordingly. The same national effort for initial vaccinations should now occur for boosters."

Being fully vaccinated should include a third shot.

06/01/2022

Cases of infections are skyrocketing across the U.S.

29/12/2021

"My wish for 2022 is for the world to truly embrace the importance and value of science in informing our public policies and personal actions – achieving a uniform acceptance of vaccination, accepting community-oriented public health countermeasures, and advancing the clinical and research initiatives needed to decisively contain and control the COVID-19 pandemic."—Brian Strom, Chancellor, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences

Read what wishes Rutgers faculty, staff and students have for 2022 and what they are looking forward to most as we get ready to turn the page on 2021: https://go.rutgers.edu/RU2022Wishes

28/12/2021

NHS: GET BOOSTED NOW

27/12/2021

To test or not to test, that is the question, to steal a line from Shakespeare. Actually, when to test is a more important query because there is no doubt that appropriate testing of the population can cut down infections by identifying people who may be a threat to others and advising them to self-...

27/12/2021

An important resource in the fight against COVID-19 misinformation:
https://www.factcheck.org/covid-misconceptions/

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 here do not necessarily reflect the views of the

25/12/2021

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine all recommend pregnant people get vaccinated against COVID-19.

24/12/2021

"On December 22, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for Paxlovid for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease in adults and children 12 years of age and older who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19. Paxlovid is the first oral antiviral to be authorized by the FDA for use to treat COVID-19."

Update: On December 22, 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for Paxlovid for the treatment of mild-to-moderate coronavirus disease in adults and children 12 years of age and older who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19. Paxlovid is the firs...

22/12/2021

A couple long years into the COVID-19 pandemic, it can be easy to think of it as a once-in-a-generation event.

22/12/2021

We’re begging you. Hospitals across Ohio have more COVID-19 patients in their ERs and ICUs than ever before. The overwhelming majority are unvaccinated. This is preventable — the best way to avoid serious illness is the vaccine. So, get vaccinated and get your booster. And keep taking all the standard precautions like social distancing, washing your hands, and of course, mask up — even if you’re vaccinated. If you do feel sick, get tested for COVID-19 at your local pharmacy, urgent care or physician’s office. Not the ER. Then please encourage neighbors, friends and family to take all these steps, too.

22/12/2021

A science philosopher's new book, 'How to Talk to a Science Denier,' explores the research into the best ways to engage with people who anti-scientific views.

13/12/2021

𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻.
𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗱.

Our doctors, nurses, and people working in healthcare are doing everything we can to take care of you when you're sick. And yet every day we're seeing avoidable illness and death as a direct result of COVID19.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹.
Our emergency departments are overfilled, and we have patients in every bed in our hospitals. This pandemic has strained our operations and demoralized many people on our teams. Care in our hospitals is safe but our ability to provide it is threatened. At any time you or a loved one might need our support. Heart attacks. Car accidents. Cancer. Stroke. Appendicitis. Now, an ominous question looms: will you be able to get care from your local community hospital without delay? Today, that's uncertain.

How does this happen in 2021 — almost two full years since this deadly pandemic began? How can we as a society stand by and watch people die when a simple shot could prevent a life-threatening illness? Your access to health care is being seriously threatened by COVID19. We need to stop the spread!

𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼:
▪️ Get vaccinated + get your booster
▪️ Wear a mask (even if you're vaccinated) + socially distance
▪️ If you feel sick, get tested for COVID-19
▪️ Encourage neighbors and loved ones to take these steps

𝗪𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗮𝗻𝗱
𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿.

— Minnesota's hospitals

13/12/2021

https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/nov/08/aaron-rodgers/no-lie-covid-19-largely-spread-unvaccinated-people/

NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers kicked off quite the social media stir after he tested positive for COVID-19 Nov. 3 and th