Data from vaccine reporting site being misrepresented online
3 years, 11 months ago

Data from vaccine reporting site being misrepresented online

Associated Press  

CLAIM: Screenshots of the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System show people who have died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. THE FACTS: As more and more Americans receive the COVID-19 vaccine, posts online are using data from an adverse event reporting system to cast doubt on the vaccine. The CDC says on its website that “reports submitted to VAERS often lack details and sometimes contain errors.” Posts online are sharing VAERS data without any context. “I bet you haven’t seen any of THIS information about the COVID-19 vaccine covered on CNN, or any off the other treasonous corrupt mainstream media!” Some screenshots show only a VAERS identification number, the age of the person who was vaccinated, the day they received the vaccine and the day they died to suggest that people are dying from the vaccine. “I have not seen any data supporting that the vaccine caused a relationship with an increase in mortality rate or something like that,” said Dr. Werner Bischoff, an infectious disease specialist at Wake Forest University.

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History of this topic

Column: Disinformation is a public health crisis. Here’s how scientists and doctors are fighting it
10 months, 3 weeks ago

Column: Disinformation is a public health crisis. Here’s how scientists and doctors are fighting it

LA Times  

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: Is there a way to inoculate the public against his anti-vaccine lies? “Scientists really recognize this as a problem, from what they see in the community and read in the news,” says Tara Kirk Sell of Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Health Security. It’s part of an emerging genre of advice for scientists, public health officials …

Column: Why anti-vaxxers are pretending a flawed study on vaccine deaths has been vindicated
1 year, 2 months ago

Column: Why anti-vaxxers are pretending a flawed study on vaccine deaths has been vindicated

LA Times  

Single-dose vials of Pfizer’s updated COVID-19 vaccine booster. But Skidmore proceeded to extrapolate from the number of respondents who said they knew someone who had died from the vaccine to conclude that the number of U.S. vaccine-related deaths “may be as high as 278,000.” That claim was taken as gospel truth by the anti-vaccine movement, which helped make the paper …

Column: Anti-vaxxers loved to cite this study of COVID vaccine deaths. Now it’s been retracted
1 year, 9 months ago

Column: Anti-vaxxers loved to cite this study of COVID vaccine deaths. Now it’s been retracted

LA Times  

A nurse prepares a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Since even that surely inflated figure, which reflects an unknown number of deaths from unrelated causes, amounted to less than three-thousandths of a percent of the 672 million doses of COVID vaccines administered in the U.S., the CDC properly judged the shots “safe and effective” and severe post-vaccine reactions “rare.” It …

Ron DeSantis and Florida's Doctor Antivax
1 year, 10 months ago

Ron DeSantis and Florida's Doctor Antivax

Raw Story  

Last week, Dr. Joseph Ladapo issued a meaningless "health alert" to the people of Florida about mRNA covid vaccines. However, the increase in 2021 and 2022 is better explained by the biggest and most carefully-monitored vaccine rollout in US history, more stringent reporting requirements for COVID vaccines, and increased public awareness of the VAERS system. The media firestorm over Andrew …

Stats watchdog scolds PHE replacement for data misuse that supports anti-vaxxers
3 years, 2 months ago

Stats watchdog scolds PHE replacement for data misuse that supports anti-vaxxers

Daily Mail  

British health chiefs have been reprimanded for publishing 'potentially misleading' data which anti-vaxxers have jumped on to peddle claims that jabs don't work. The UK's statistics watchdog says the UK Health Security Agency needs to do better at explaining its data after anti-vaxxers claimed a report by the body showing there were more Covid cases among vaccinated people than the …

Facebook is having a tougher time managing vaccine misinformation than it is letting on, leaks suggest
3 years, 2 months ago

Facebook is having a tougher time managing vaccine misinformation than it is letting on, leaks suggest

CNN  

New York CNN Business — In public, Facebook has touted the resources it has dedicated to tackling Covid-19 and vaccine misinformation, even scolding US President Joe Biden for his harsh criticism of the company’s handling of the issue. “We have no idea about the scale of the problem when it comes to comments,” an internal research report posted to Facebook’s …

Opinion: Fighting vaccine disinformation is crucial to ending the pandemic
3 years, 4 months ago

Opinion: Fighting vaccine disinformation is crucial to ending the pandemic

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Ann M. Ravel is the Digital Deception Project director at MapLight and previously served as chair of the Federal Election Commission. According to its policy, YouTube prohibits “content that spreads medical misinformation that contradicts local health authorities’ or the World Health Organization’s medical information about COVID-19.” While these short suspensions are grabbing headlines, they’re also obscuring the larger …

Let’s Keep the Vaccine Misinformation Problem in Perspective
3 years, 5 months ago

Let’s Keep the Vaccine Misinformation Problem in Perspective

Wired  

With Covid cases surging in parts of the United States and vaccinations proceeding at a crawl, all eyes are on social media platforms. Then, late last week, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota introduced a bill that would strip away Section 230 immunity for vaccine content promoted by social media algorithms. As my former colleague Daniel Engber recently pointed out in …

New COVID-19 vaccine warnings don’t mean it’s unsafe
3 years, 5 months ago

New COVID-19 vaccine warnings don’t mean it’s unsafe

Salon  

While the COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the U.S. have been proved to be safe and effective, recent reports of rare adverse events, or side effects, have raised concerns. On July 12, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved an update to the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine fact sheet to include an increased risk of the rare nerve condition …

US steps up fight against COVID-19 misinformation
3 years, 6 months ago

US steps up fight against COVID-19 misinformation

Al Jazeera  

The effort comes as the pace of COVID-19 vaccinations has slowed throughout the US, due in part to false claims. US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Thursday called for a national effort to fight misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines, urging tech companies, health care workers, journalists and everyday Americans to do more to address a problem “that cost us lives”. …

Anti-Vaccine Activists Use A Federal Database To Spread Fear About COVID Vaccines
3 years, 7 months ago

Anti-Vaccine Activists Use A Federal Database To Spread Fear About COVID Vaccines

NPR  

Anti-Vaccine Activists Use A Federal Database To Spread Fear About COVID Vaccines Enlarge this image toggle caption Matt Slocum/AP Matt Slocum/AP The largest U.S. database for detecting events that might be vaccine side effects is being used by activists to spread disinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. Sponsor Message "It's a very valuable system for detecting adverse events, but it has to …

EXPLAINER: How activists target CDC vaccine tracking system
3 years, 8 months ago

EXPLAINER: How activists target CDC vaccine tracking system

Associated Press  

Once, getting vaccinated was all but routine. Health care providers and manufacturers are required to submit adverse responses reported after vaccines, even if they don’t know whether the vaccine caused them. For instance, in the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, health care officials were able to note early reports of anaphylaxis with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and rare blood clots forming …

Covid-19 is a shot in the arm for anti-vaccine movement
3 years, 8 months ago

Covid-19 is a shot in the arm for anti-vaccine movement

Live Mint  

Anti-vaccine campaigners once confined to relatively obscure groups have exploited the coronavirus pandemic to reach a wider audience online, feeding on public fears to sow doubt about the drugs now available. You can find them online among France's yellow vest campaigners, among libertarian groups and New Age proselytisers, according to First Draft, a campaign group that specialises in exposing misinformation. …

Opinion: The consequences will be deadly if we don’t fight vaccine misinformation
3 years, 9 months ago

Opinion: The consequences will be deadly if we don’t fight vaccine misinformation

CNN  

Editor’s Note: K. “Vish” Viswanath, PhD, is director of the Harvard T.H. But a large number of people had already refused the vaccines outright or adopted a wait-and-see approach early on in the pandemic due to misinformation or disinformation they saw on social media platforms. That’s why social media companies must do more to combat vaccine misinformation and disinformation. Social …

Few Facts, Millions Of Clicks: Fearmongering Vaccine Stories Go Viral Online
3 years, 9 months ago

Few Facts, Millions Of Clicks: Fearmongering Vaccine Stories Go Viral Online

NPR  

Few Facts, Millions Of Clicks: Fearmongering Vaccine Stories Go Viral Online Enlarge this image toggle caption Sarah Reingewirtz/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images Sarah Reingewirtz/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images The odds of dying after getting a COVID-19 vaccine are virtually nonexistent. Enlarge this image toggle caption Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty Images Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long …

Articles Linking COVID-19 Vaccines To Death Seem To Be Driving Misinformation Online
3 years, 9 months ago

Articles Linking COVID-19 Vaccines To Death Seem To Be Driving Misinformation Online

NPR  

Articles Linking COVID-19 Vaccines To Death Seem To Be Driving Misinformation Online Ahead of congressional testimony from the heads of Facebook, Twitter and Google, a new NPR analysis finds that articles linking COVID-19 vaccines to death are driving misinformation online. New reporting from NPR out today shows that a specific type of story about vaccines has been spreading quickly online …

Facebook to label vaccine posts to combat COVID-19 misinfo
3 years, 10 months ago

Facebook to label vaccine posts to combat COVID-19 misinfo

Associated Press  

LONDON — Facebook is adding informational labels to posts about vaccines as it expands efforts to counter COVID-19-related misinformation flourishing on its platforms. “For example, we’re adding a label on posts that discuss the safety of COVID-19 vaccines that notes COVID-19 vaccines go through tests for safety and effectiveness before they’re approved,” Zuckerberg said. “This announcement falls well short of …

Facebook to label all posts about coronavirus vaccines
3 years, 10 months ago

Facebook to label all posts about coronavirus vaccines

ABC  

Facebook, which has been criticised by politicians and researchers for allowing vaccine misinformation to spread on its platforms, said it has started adding labels to posts that discuss the safety of the shots and will soon label all posts about the vaccines. The social media company said in a blog post it is also launching a tool in the United …

Defying rules, anti-vaccine accounts thrive on social media
3 years, 10 months ago

Defying rules, anti-vaccine accounts thrive on social media

Associated Press  

With vaccination against COVID-19 in full swing, social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter say they’ve stepped up their fight against misinformation that aims to undermine trust in the vaccines. “It’s a hard situation because we have let this go for so long,” said Jeanine Guidry, an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University who studies social media and health information. …

The battle to stop the spread of vaccine misinformation online
3 years, 10 months ago

The battle to stop the spread of vaccine misinformation online

Al Jazeera  

The rollout of coronavirus vaccines has presented new challenges to social media websites and groups fighting online misinformation. The group has also launched programmes like Don’t Spread the Virus, endorsed by the United Kingdom government, to help online users counter “the scourge of misinformation on coronavirus online”. Facebook bans vaccine misinformation Health officials have long criticised social media sites for …

Facebook vowed to crack down on Covid-19 vaccine misinformation but misleading posts remain easy to find
3 years, 11 months ago

Facebook vowed to crack down on Covid-19 vaccine misinformation but misleading posts remain easy to find

CNN  

CNN Business — Nearly two months into the largest vaccine rollout in US history, Instagram continued to prominently feature anti-vaccination accounts in its search results, while Facebook groups railing against vaccines remained easy to find. Previously, Facebook’s policies banned misinformation about Covid-19 that “contributes to the risk of imminent violence or physical harm.” Public health experts have said they fear …

How does Facebook fact check claims about COVID-19 vaccines?
4 years, 5 months ago

How does Facebook fact check claims about COVID-19 vaccines?

The Hindu  

Since the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus an international health emergency in January, Facebook Inc has removed more than 7 million pieces of content with false claims about the virus that could pose an immediate health risk to people who believe them. But in most instances, Facebook does not remove misinformation about the new COVID-19 vaccines that are …

Social media companies are taking action on vaccine misinformation
5 years, 3 months ago

Social media companies are taking action on vaccine misinformation

Salon  

Social media have become one of the preeminent ways of disseminating accurate information about vaccines. Vaccine misinformation is all over social media “Vaccine hesitancy” is what public health officials call the “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines” despite their availability. In recent years, social media platforms have become effective vehicles for conveying inaccurate information about vaccines, amplifying anti-vaccine movements …

Vaccine wars: Social media battle outbreak of bogus claims
5 years, 9 months ago

Vaccine wars: Social media battle outbreak of bogus claims

Associated Press  

SAN FRANCISCO — Like health officials facing outbreaks of disease, internet companies are trying to contain vaccine-related misinformation they have long helped spread. “The online world has been one that has been very much taken over by misinformation spread by concerned parents,” said Richard Carpiano, a professor of public policy and sociology at the University of California, Riverside, who studies …

Vaccine misinformation flourishes on Facebook, Instagram weeks after vowed crackdown
5 years, 9 months ago

Vaccine misinformation flourishes on Facebook, Instagram weeks after vowed crackdown

CNN  

New York CNN Business — Misinformation about vaccines continues to thrive on Facebook and Instagram weeks after the companies vowed to reduce its distribution on their platforms. On Instagram, Facebook pledged to no longer “show or recommend content that contains misinformation about vaccinations on Instagram Explore or hashtag pages.” But two weeks later, the issue still persists. When searching for …

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