coronavirus misinformation

Chart showing percent of Trump vote by county and vaccination and death rates by county

Pro-Trump counties now have far higher COVID death rates. Misinformation is to blame

2:12pm December 05, 2021

An analysis by NPR shows that since the vaccine rollout, counties that voted heavily for Donald Trump have had more than twice the COVID mortality rates of those that voted for Joe Biden.

Dr. Lee Merritt is a orthopedic and spinal surgeon who spreads misinformation about COVID-19. She is affiliated with a prominent right-wing group known as America's Frontline Doctors.

A doctor spread COVID misinformation and renewed her license with a mouse click

4:53pm November 04, 2021

by Geoff Brumfiel

Lee Merritt is a back surgeon with a long history of spreading COVID misinformation. But she renewed her medical license last month.

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YouTube has announced immediate bans on false claims that vaccines are dangerous and cause health issues such as autism, cancer or infertility.

YouTube Is Banning All Content That Spreads Vaccine Misinformation

4:44pm September 29, 2021

by Sharon Pruitt-Young

The site announced that videos that contain vaccine misinformation will be removed.

Dr. Simone Gold discourages vaccination against COVID-19 and promotes alternative, unproven therapies. She has spent much of the past year speaking at events like this one held in West Palm Beach, Fla., in December. The conference was aimed at young peopl

This Doctor Spread False Information About COVID. She Still Kept Her Medical License

10:36am September 14, 2021

by Geoff Brumfiel

Simone Gold isn't alone. NPR found other physicians who retained their licenses despite spreading misinformation online and to the media about effective COVID-19 vaccines and unproven treatments.

Allie Henderson with her sister Claire (left) and her mom, LeAnn, outside their home recently in Terry, Miss. "I want people to get vaccinated — because I know what it feels like," Allie says of her near-fatal encounter with COVID-19 this year.

Health & Safety

This Teen's Community Rallied As She Fought COVID. But Many Still Shun The Vaccine

5:41pm September 03, 2021

by Sarah Varney

Allie Henderson's friends, extended family, church and the community prayed for the popular young athlete and then celebrated her recovery. So why won't they follow her plea and get vaccinated?

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who has helped the U.S. through other crises like the Zika outbreak, is now taking on health misinformation around COVID-19, which he says continues to jeopardize the country's efforts to beat back the virus.

Health & Safety

The U.S. Surgeon General Is Calling COVID-19 Misinformation An 'Urgent Threat'

11:33am July 15, 2021

by Geoff Brumfiel

The nation's top doctor, Vivek Murthy, says misinformation will keep sowing mistrust and endangering lives unless all Americans do their part to fight it.

Solid research has found the vaccines authorized for use against COVID-19 to be safe and effective. But some anti-vaccine activists are mischaracterizing government data to imply the jabs are dangerous.

Anti-Vaccine Activists Use A Federal Database To Spread Fear About COVID Vaccines

12:57pm June 14, 2021

by Geoff Brumfiel

The system is designed to provide early warning of what might or might not be actual side effects. But anti-vaccine groups are bending the data to their own ends.

Anti-vaccine advocates are using the COVID-19 pandemic to promote books, supplementals and services.

For Some Anti-Vaccine Advocates, Misinformation Is Part Of A Business

8:54pm May 12, 2021

by Geoff Brumfiel

The coronavirus pandemic has created an opening for vaccine opponents to peddle alternative therapies, unproven cures and website subscriptions.

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A healthcare worker administers a dose of the coronavirus vaccine to an elderly at a health center in the Cypriot coastal city of Limassol on February 8, 2021.

Health & Safety

Facebook Widens Ban On COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation In Push To Boost Confidence

1:07pm February 08, 2021

by Shannon Bond

The social network says it will focus on groups, pages and accounts repeatedly sharing false claims about vaccines.

Twitter says it will work with global health experts to enforce new rules prohibiting conspiracy-based misinformation about the coronavirus.

Twitter To Remove Or Place Warning Labels On COVID Vaccine Conspiracy Tweets

8:34pm December 16, 2020

by Vanessa Romo

The social media giant says it will not allow tweets containing "unsubstantiated rumors, disputed claims" or promotion of "out of context information" about the vaccine.