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Coronavirus: The Infodemic - April 1


FILE PHOTO: A large vaccination site is shown as people with preexisting health conditions are granted access to a vaccination during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Inglewood, California, U.S., March 15, 2021.
FILE PHOTO: A large vaccination site is shown as people with preexisting health conditions are granted access to a vaccination during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Inglewood, California, U.S., March 15, 2021.

Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.

Daily Debunk

Claim: The large-scale Covid-19 vaccination drives currently underway around the world should cease before they produce the catastrophic appearance of more deadly variants of the coronavirus and increased risk for younger people.

Verdict: False

Read the full story at: Agence France-Presse

Social Media Disinfo

Screenshot
Screenshot

Circulating on social media: Claim that it’s safer to skip the COVID-19 vaccine to avoid permanent side effects.

Verdict: False

Read the full story at: PolitiFact

Factual Reads on Coronavirus

COVID Antibodies May Last Days to Years, Depending on Severity of Infection
Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are likely to wane at different rates depending on the severity of the infection, new research suggests.
-- Reuters Health Information, via Medscape, March 31

Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines may block infection as well as disease
Studies suggest fully vaccinated people pose a low risk for transmitting the coronavirus.
-- ScienceNews, March 30

A rare clotting disorder may cloud the world's hopes for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine
[T]he vaccine faces new concerns about safety as an explanation gains ground for the unusual strokes and clotting disorders recorded in at least 30 recipients.
-- Science, March 27

The Coronavirus Variants Don't Seem to Be Highly Variable So Far
SARS-CoV-2 may be settling into a limited set of mutations.
-- Scientific American, March 24

U.S. health body questions AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine trial data
AstraZeneca may have released outdated information on its latest COVID-19 vaccine trial, giving an “incomplete” picture of its efficacy, a leading U.S. health agency said on Tuesday, casting doubt on the shot’s potential U.S. rollout and plunging its developers, once again, into controversy.
-- Reuters, March 23

AstraZeneca: US data shows vaccine effective for all ages
AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine provided strong protection against sickness and eliminated hospitalizations and deaths from the disease across all age groups in a late-stage study in the United States, the company announced Monday.
-- Associated Press, March 22

One Year In: How COVID's Toll Compares With Other Causes of Death
Covid has become the country’s third-leading cause of death, and could be on its way to outpacing cancer.
-- PolitiFact, via Kaiser Health News, March 11

Five-Day Course of Oral Antiviral Appears to Stop SARS-CoV-2 in Its Tracks
A single pill of the investigational drug molnupiravir taken twice a day for 5 days eliminated SARS-CoV-2 from the nasopharynx of 49 participants.
-- Medscape, March 8

The Impact of COVID-19 on Pediatric Mental Health: A Study of Private Healthcare Claims
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on mental health, particularly on that of young people.
-- FAIR Health, March 2

The Best Coronavirus Myth-Busting Collections

HealthCheck

COVID19 Infodemics Observatory

Agence France Presse

Snopes

BuzzFeed

Factcheck.org

Associated Press

Washington Post

TruthOrFiction

Mapping COVID-19 Casualties

Reliable Coronavirus Information

World Health Organization

U.S. Centers for Disease Control

Federation of American Scientists

Emergency Physicians

Johns Hopkins University & Medicine​

Pan American Health Organization

Google COVID‑19 Information & Resources

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