Daily Debunk
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines contain the luciferase enzyme, along with imprints, barcodes or patterns to track recipients.
Verdict: False
Read the full story at: USA Today
Social Media Disinfo
Circulating on social media: Claim that coronavirus vaccines can be passed – or “shed” – from an immunized person to an unvaccinated woman and then somehow affect the woman’s reproductive system.
Verdict: False
Read the full story at: Reuters
Factual Reads on Coronavirus
FDA and CDC OK resuming J&J COVID-19 shots paused over rare clot concerns
Experts debated a warning for women under 50, but decided to reinstate the vaccine without one.
-- ScienceNews, April 23
Do We Still Need to Keep Wearing Masks Outdoors?
Science shows that the risk of viral transmission outside is very low. The “two-out-of-three rule” can help you decide whether to mask up.
-- New York Times, April 22
I’m fully vaccinated against COVID-19. How long will the protection last?
The answer is as simple as it is unsatisfying: No one knows.
-- Los Angeles Times, April 21
Disinfecting surfaces to prevent Covid often all for show, CDC advises
The risk of surface transmission of Covid-19 is low, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. Far more important is airborne transmission -- and people who obsessively disinfect surfaces may be doing more harm than good.
-- CNN, April 20
Next-generation Covid-19 vaccines are supposed to be better. Some experts worry they could be worse
With Covid-19 vaccines, the world hopes to beat back the virus that causes the disease. But some scientists are increasingly concerned that, because of a quirk of our own biology, future iterations of the vaccines might not always be quite as effective as they are today.
-- Stat, April 16
Schools Can Open Safely during COVID, the Latest Evidence Shows
The risk of COVID transmission in schools is very low if precautions are taken.
-- Scientific American, April 15
A coronavirus epidemic may have hit East Asia about 25,000 years ago
Descendants of the outbreak may have inherited some DNA that affects their response to COVID-19.
-- ScienceNews, April 14
How Could a COVID Vaccine Cause Blood Clots?
Researchers are searching for possible links between unusual clotting and the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.
-- Scientific American, April 13
U.S. urges pause on use of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine after rare blood clotting cases
Federal authorities on Tuesday recommended that states stop using Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine while an investigation is conducted into six rare but serious cases of clotting problems that were reported among women who received the vaccine.
-- Stat, April 13
In rare instances, AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine linked to blood clots, regulators say
The European Medicines Agency has concluded there is a link between AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine and “very rare” but dangerous clotting events reported in a number of countries where the vaccine has been used, events which in some cases have been fatal.
-- Stat, April 7
Sweden’s Pandemic Experiment
When the coronavirus arrived, the country decided not to implement lockdowns or recommend masks. How has it fared?
-- The New Yorker, April 6
The Best Coronavirus Myth-Busting Collections
COVID19 Infodemics Observatory
Reliable Coronavirus Information
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
Federation of American Scientists
Johns Hopkins University & Medicine