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.
4. The Politics of Health
Debunking ClaimsVaccine 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.
Top Anti-Vax Debunking Resources
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.
Testing & Placebo Controls
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
Polarization & Anti-Vax Fascism
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.
Masking
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'
Myocarditis Contrasting
A closer look at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms and where it gets its support
Startling news of a legal advocacy organization hiring a private investigator to drum up dirt on a Manitoba judge has put an otherwise little-known charity on headlines across the province – the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms.
This is what it could look like to produce a vaccine that works on all COVID-19 variants
With new coronavirus variants continuing to emerge, the development of a so-called universal vaccine offering broad, long-term protection needs to be the focus of an intense effort, one that may share characteristics of the widely hailed Operation Warp Speed, scientists suggest.
Vaccine Safety, Efficacy & Contrasts
Quebec confirms 1st death related to rare AstraZeneca-linked blood clots, emphasizes benefits outweigh risks
The Quebec Health Ministry has confirmed the death of a woman in the province after the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine she received in early April led to a rare blood clot in her brain.
Feeling Blah During the Pandemic? It's Called Languishing
The neglected middle child of mental health can dull your motivation and focus — and it may be the dominant emotion of 2021.
The Inevitable Next Pandemic
Democrats say they need to hear from scientists, not Trump, that vaccine is safe | CNN Politics
Congressional Democrats – citing concerns over the possibility of political interference in the rush to develop a coronavirus vaccine – say they will look to scientists, not President Donald Trump, to ensure that if one becomes available it is both safe and effective.
Capitalism vs Health
5 common arguments for reopening the economy – and why experts say they are flawed | CNN
The economy is plummeting, and millions of Americans need to get back to work. But experts say some arguments for reopening the economy now are short-sighted or flawed.
An enduring coronavirus mystery: Why do only some get sick?
Months into a pandemic that has killed nearly 500,000 people worldwide, scientists are still trying to answer crucial questions about the coronavirus.
Vaccine & Covid Updates
Woodward's Trump revelations raise questions about Canada's response to COVID-19
The revelations in journalist Bob Woodward’s new book about what U.S. President Donald Trump knew about the threat posed by COVID-19 in the early days of the pandemic have prompted new questions about the Canadian government’s response to the virus, given how much intelligence is shared between the two countries.
COVID-19 vaccine results might inform malaria vaccine strategies
Interim Com-COV2 trial data evaluated two-dose COVID-19 vaccination regimens with
first dose of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Oxford-AstraZeneca) alongside
second dose as either homologous vaccination, heterologous NVX-CoV2373 (Novavax) vaccination,
or heterologous mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccination.1 These data showed that ChAdOx1 nCoV-19
vaccination followed by NVX-CoV2373 vaccination drove optimal T-cell immunogenicity
and excellent antibody induction. These heterologous vaccine approach findings are
now likely to be extrapolated in developing scheduling strategies for other vaccines.
mRNA & Future Vaccines
How new vaccine technologies could reduce the massive death toll from malaria
There’s still a long way to go, but RNA vaccines might help in the fight against malaria.
COVID-19 update: Pandemic toll, antiviral treatments, natural immunity, and crackdowns on medical exemptions
An extra 19 488 Canadians died during the COVID-19 pandemic than would have been expected normally, according to Statistics Canada.
However, additional deaths from COVID-19, delayed medical care and a rise in substance use were likely offset by fewer deaths from influenza and other causes thanks to
Ivermectin Shows That Not All Science Is Worth Following
Claims about the drug are based on shoddy science—but that science is entirely unremarkable in its shoddiness.
Ivermectin, Hydrochloroquine etc
What the Anti-Mask Movement Needs to Know About COVID-19
Calgary physician organizer Dr. Amy Tan explains how to clean your mask, which kind to choose and why wearing one is absolutely vital.
Had COVID? You’ll probably make antibodies for a lifetime
People who recover from mild COVID-19 have bone-marrow cells that can churn out antibodies for decades, although viral variants could dampen some of the protection they offer.
How ICAN, billionaire-funded anti-vax group, seeks ties to Trump fans
The Informed Consent Action Network, one of the most notorious anti-vax groups in the world, has been seeking to broker ties with Trump supporters.
The populist right is regretting its encouragement of Covid conspiracists
Extremists are being pitted against moderate centre-right voters in the next chapter of the culture wars, says academic and author Paolo Gerbaudo
The next act for messenger RNA could be bigger than covid vaccines
New messenger RNA vaccines to fight the coronavirus are based on a technology that could transform medicine. Next up: sickle cell and HIV.