Merck’s decision boosts “natural immunity” misinformation

False claims to continue to circulate that it is better to acquire COVID-19 than to get the vaccine. This new spike in the same misinformation stems from Merck’s discontinuation of their vaccine trial because immune responses to natural infection were stronger than the response generated by their trial vaccines. Misleading claims leave out the fact that Merck discontinued trials because the immune response from their vaccines were inferior to those reported for other COVID-19 vaccines.

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The Public Health Communications Collaborative (PHCC) was formed in 2020 to coordinate and amplify public health messaging on COVID-19 and increase Americans’ confidence in guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local public health officials.

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