The State of Florida spreads antivaccine disinformation disguised as an epidemiological “study”
On Friday, Florida State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo released a non-peer-reviewed "study" that recommends against males aged 18 to 39 receiving mRNA COVID-19 vaccines based on bad epidemiology and science. This is the first time that we've seen a state government weaponize bad science to spread antivaccine disinformation as official policy, a dangerous new escalation in antivaccine propaganda.
“I know you are, but what am I?” Dr. Aseem Malhotra rails against COVID-19 “misinformation”
Projection is a common defense mechanism used by those spreading health misinformation and disinformation. Last week Dr. Aseem Malhotra published part 2 of a plan to cure "the pandemic of misinformation on COVID-19 mRNA vaccines through real evidence-based medicine". Unsurprisingly, it was chock full of antivaccine misinformation. It's a real "I know you are, but what am I?" exercise in disinformation.
“Censorship” and “thoughtcrime”? Antivaxxers and COVID-19 contrarians attack California AB 2098
One of the oldest tropes favored by quacks of all stripes, including antivaxxers, is to portray any attempt at regulating their quackery as an assault on freedom of speech. It's therefore not surprising that after its passage by the California legislature prominent spreaders of COVID-19 misinformation are labeling AB2098, which seeks clarify and codify the power of the Medical Board of California...
Dr. Vinay Prasad echoes a common antivax trope that portrays concern about a deadly disease as irrational fear
Before the pandemic, antivaxxers likened concern about childhood diseases to mental illness. In the age of COVID-19, Dr. Vinay Prasad accuses medicine of "legitimizing" irrational anxiety and says we should treat COVID like the flu—with one telling omission. In a recent paid Substack, he doubles down and accuses physicians and scientists of anxiety disorders that "interfere with people's lives".
Peer review fail: Vaccine publishes antivax propaganda disguised as “reanalyses” of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial data
In order portray COVID-19 vaccines as dangerous, Peter Doshi has now managed to get poorly designed and performed "reanalyses" of the clinical trial data used by the FDA to grant emergency use approval of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines published in two reputable journals, The BMJ and Vaccine? What happened?
COVID-19 vaccines and the Nuremberg Code
Antivaxxers love to claim that vaccine mandates (especially COVID-19 vaccine mandates) violate the Nuremberg Code and call for Nuremberg-style tribunals to hold public health and vaccine advocates "accountable". As usual, they have no idea what they are talking about. This is also not a new antivax narrative, although what is unprecedented is that what was once fringe even among antivaxxers is now...
Science denial, overconfidence, and persuasion
The pandemic has brought scientists who have rejected science with respect to COVID-19 public health measures a disturbing level of influence. Recent research suggests reasons why and who among the public susceptible to such misinformation remains persuadable.
Antivaxxers rejoice at the “silver lining” from the pandemic, spillover of distrust of COVID-19 vaccines to all vaccines
Distrust of COVID-19 vaccines has lead to spillover of distrust to all childhood vaccines, and antivaxxers are rejoicing.
Conspiracy theories about monkeypox: Déjà vu all over again or same as it ever was?
Last Thursday, the Biden administration officially declared monkeypox to be a national public health emergency. Unsurprisingly, conspiracy theories abound, many of them recycled from COVID-19 and older antivax conspiracy theories.
The rise and fall of the lab leak hypothesis for the origin of SARS-CoV-2
Two new studies were published last week that strongly support a natural zoonotic origin for COVID-19 centered at the wet market in Wuhan, China. Naturally, lab leak proponents soberly considered this new evidence and thought about changing their minds. Just kidding! They doubled down on the conspiracy mongering, because of course they did.