The Viral Origin of Alzheimer’s Disease Remains Undecoded. But What We’ve Seen So Far Is Worrying.
Viruses like HSV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 might trigger Alzheimer’s disease.
4. The Politics of Health
Epidemiology & Impact (Deaths, Hospitals, Cancer, Alzheimer's etc)
As Mask Mandates End, COVID Experts Fear It’s Too Soon
As the masks come off at my daughter’s school — and around the country — I’m worried about COVID’s next move.
Masking
Safety of mRNA vaccines administered during the initial 6 months of the US COVID-19 vaccination programme: an observational study of reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System and v-safe
Safety data from more than 298 million doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine administered
in the first 6 months of the US vaccination programme show that most reported adverse
events were mild and short in duration.
The Debunk Files
Fact Check: Most cases of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccines are not irreversible
Medical experts on the basis of evidence so far disagree with claims made on social media that myocarditis following the COVID-19 vaccine is irreversible. Social media claims that “over the years,” many children diagnosed with myocarditis will die are unfounded, representatives from the Myocarditis Foundation say.
Myocarditis ContrastingInside the rabbit hole of Covid conspiracists
What is it like to be pulled into a different world, where only you and a select few can see the truth?
No, omicron is not leading us closer to herd immunity against COVID
‘Herd immunity is an elusive concept and doesn’t apply to coronavirus,’ says Dr. Don Milton at the University of Maryland School of Public Health.
Herd Immunity
An Evidence-Based Approach to Covid-19 Vaccination | NEJM
This article from the FDA compares broad U.S. recommendations on Covid vaccination
with those from other countries and announces the adoption of an evidence-based approach
to such recommendations.
Vaccine Safety, Efficacy & Contrasts
Pfizer vaccine 70 percent effective against omicron hospitalizations: research
A new South African study finds that the two-dose Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is 70 percent effective at preventing hospitalizations due to the omicron variant.The research publ…
Comparing Moderna’s mRNA-1083 and Pfizer’s dual-target mRNA vaccines for influenza and COVID-19 - npj Vaccines
npj Vaccines - Comparing Moderna’s mRNA-1083 and Pfizer’s dual-target mRNA vaccines for influenza and COVID-19
What we know about the safety, efficacy of mRNA vaccines amid recent scrutiny
Infectious disease experts say mRNA vaccines have been studied for decades, they are safe and effective, and were instrumental in saving lives during the COVID pandemic.
Melatonin a Promising Candidate for Prevention and Treatment of COVID-19
A new network medicine study finds that melatonin usage may prevent COVID-19 infection, though large-scale trials are needed. Researcher Feixiong Cheng, PhD, discusses his team’s findings.
The Inevitable Next Pandemic
Bruce Arthur: Doug Ford’s shaky math, twisted logic block hospital vaccine mandates, and prolong the pandemic
The decision, after weeks of foot-dragging and citing numbers that weren’t backed up, was the latest in a string of moves that give comfort to the anti-vaccine community.
Bruce Arthur: For Doug Ford’s government, the selfish freedom to decide not to be vaccinated trumps the consequences
The provincial government encourages you to get vaccinated. But are they going to force a choice on that? No, they are not. Are they going to try? Not much.
Burden of Proof: Explained - ClearLegal
If you are going to make a claim, or counterclaim - otherwise by definition you are not intending a good faith dialogue, and we have no interest in discussions with you.
Top Anti-Vax Debunking Resources
Where are the Double Blind Placebo Controlled Randomized Trials about Vaccines - VAXOPEDIA
Learn about the role of double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trials in vaccine research. Explore how they provide reliable evidence on vaccine safety and efficacy.
Testing & Placebo Controls
Anti-Masker's Bizarre Airplane Story Has Rough Landing On Twitter
Steve Kirsch said he offered $100,000 to a fellow passenger if she took off her mask. But he didn't realize he came across as the seatmate from hell.
Polarization & Anti-Vax Fascism
Tech millionaire Steve Kirsch went from covid trial funder to misinformation superspreader | MIT Technology Review
After boosting unproven covid drugs and campaigning against vaccines, Steve Kirsch was abandoned by his team of scientific advisers—and left out of a job.
My Conversation with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - by Paul Offit
Twenty years ago, I had a one-hour conversation with RFK Jr. In his current campaign for president, he has referred to that conversation during public appearances. It’s time to set the record straight
RFK Jr
Medicine in the Media: Reliable Health Information v. Fake News - HealthyChildren.org
One challenge of parenting is sorting through all available information about children's health. Here are some tips for making sense of all of the messages.
Vaccine Safety: Examine the Evidence - HealthyChildren.org
Vaccines for kids are studied closely before the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends them. Safety evidence is gathered when a new vaccine is made and after it is authorized.
RFK Jr. resurrects an old antivax half-truth about “saline placebos” in randomized controlled trials of vaccines | Science-Based Medicine
RFK Jr. has resurrected the misleading claim that childhood vaccines have never been tested in randomized controlled trials with a saline placebo controls.
Almost none of the vaccines on the list that weren’t licensed based on RCTs using saline controls are not first generation vaccines, which means that it would have been unethical to test them against a saline control.
The bottom line is that, if you trace back the history of the vaccines developed for a disease like, say, measles, you will eventually find the RCT testing the first effective vaccine against it and that vaccine will have had a placebo control. It might not have been saline (although in most cases decades ago it was), but it will have been a placebo that was “inert” with respect to preventing that disease. Also, clinical trial standards have evolved over the last 70 years. If a vaccine was approved 60+ years ago using methodology that today we might consider inadequate, that does not change the calculus when it comes to testing new vaccines against the same disease. Such vaccines can’t ethically be tested against saline placebo.
PolitiFact | Yes, there have been placebo-controlled studies on childhood vaccines
In picking Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, President-elect Donald Trump
The Anti-Vaxx Playbook — Center for Countering Digital Hate | CCDH
There is an organised and disciplined anti-vaxx industry: Anti-vaxxers see Covid as an opportunity to drive long-term vaccine hesitancy. The total English-language audience for anti-vaxxers online has grown significantly in the past year and now […]
COVID-19: Popular UBC professor busts myths about the virus and vaccines on social media
UBC vaccine expert Dr. Anna Blakney posts fun videos to music and answers questions about the virus and the vaccine from her more than 217,000 followers on TikTok.
Debunking COVID-19 myths: Vaccine expert Dr. Anna Blakney separates fact from fiction
Confronting the evolution and expansion of anti-vaccine activism in the USA in the COVID-19 era
One wealthy New York couple is supporting the anti-vax movement through more than $3 million in donations
From Pre Pandemic
Largest study on masks and Covid-19 demonstrates their effectiveness in the real world
Results from EGC affiliate Mushfiq Mobarak and coauthors’ recent paper clearly demonstrate that mask usage reduces Covid-19, highlighting how masks should continue to play a vital role in fighting the pandemic.
The Masks Were Working All Along
Now we have definitive proof that masks really are effective.
Study claiming 1 in 1,000 risk of heart inflammation after COVID vaccine got calculation wrong
The study authors have requested the paper be retracted because the incorrect data 'vastly inflates the incidence of post-vaccine myocarditis'