Results for: vaccine

Cancer cells

There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are causing cancers associated with “accelerated aging”

A recent presentation at AACR found a link between markers of accelerated aging and an increased risk of cancer. Then antivaxxers got a hold of it to blame COVID-19 vaccines not just for cancer, but for "accelerated aging" causing it.

/ April 15, 2024

Dr. Vinay Prasad vs. a VAERS study finding more reports of vaccine injury in red states

Dr. Vinay Prasad attacks an epidemiological study published in JAMA Open Network reporting that people in red states are more likely to report vaccine injuries, claiming that a more rigorous study would "not be difficult," when he knows that it would be very difficult.

/ April 8, 2024

How antivaxxers weaponize vaccine safety studies to falsely portray vaccines as dangerous

Antivaxxers have weaponized a huge multinational vaccine safety study of 99 million patient records that found rare adverse events and concluded that the risks of COVID-19 vaccines outweigh the benefits. How? A combination of the Nirvana fallacy and spin.

/ February 26, 2024
Shedding vaccine COVID-19

Antivax quacks are continuing to make up fantastical biological mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine “shedding”

A couple of weeks ago, I discussed why antivax quacks' claimed biological mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccine "shedding" reminded me of homeopaths. Confabulation about fantastical scientific mechanisms continues, courtesy of "A Midwestern Doctor."

/ January 29, 2024

Cameroon Begins First Malaria Vaccine Program

Despite massive efforts to reduce the disease burden of malaria, it remains a significant cause of disease and death in parts of the world, most notably Sub-Saharan Africa. Now we have a new tool in the fight against malaria – two safe and effective vaccines. Cameroon is just beginning a program to give the vaccine for free to children in four doses...

/ January 24, 2024
Pfizer COVID vaccine

“New school” antivax goes old school as Byram Bridle asks if COVID-19 vaccines will drive an “epidemic” of autism

Wakefield redux? Antivax scientist Byram Bridle just took the "new school" antivax movement old school by implying that COVID-19 vaccines might cause an "epidemic of autism." Everything old is new again, sort of.

/ January 22, 2024
Shedding is not a thing for SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines.

Why antivax arguments for COVID-19 vaccine “shedding” remind me of homeopathy

An antivaxxer by the 'nym "A Midwestern Doctor" makes an argument that COVID-19 vaccine "shedding" is not impossible despite the basic science that concludes it is. Sound familiar?

/ January 15, 2024
Peter McCullough shilling for The Wellness Company

The Wellness Company: How antivaccine grift becomes plain old quackery

The Wellness Company, promoted by Dr. Peter McCullough, is the product of a trend in which antivax doctors have predictably become just quacks. At least in this case, there is an amusing quack fight at the heart of it all.

/ January 8, 2024
EBM hierarchy

2023: The year that the evidence-based medicine (EBM) paradigm was weaponized against vaccines and public health

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) has been a very useful paradigm for assessing evidence in medicine. However, like any other framework, it can be misused, particularly when fundamentalist EBM methodolatry leads to its inappropriate application to questions for which it is ill-suited, a misuse that has been weaponized against public health during the pandemic.

/ January 1, 2024
RFK Jr. on CNN

RFK Jr. and his “I’m not anti-vaccine” rejoinder to being confronted with his past antivax statements: A primer

On Friday, CNN host Kasie Hunt interviewed antivax presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Although she did better than most journalists confronting him for his past antivax statements in that she played a clip of one of his antivax statements, she clearly hadn't anticipated his response, which should have been very predictable given that he's been using it for at least 15...

/ December 18, 2023