Misinformation Alerts

Widespread concerns and distrust about the safety of vaccines can lead to hesitancy and refusal, which increases the risk. Emphasizing that vaccines are one of the most important medical innovations in history is recommended, as is explaining that diseases that once killed and injured millions have been largely wiped out thanks to vaccines. Debunking messaging may also emphasize that the only reason parents can even consider forgoing routine vaccinations against deadly and debilitating diseases like polio and rubella is because vaccines have so dramatically reduced their spread.

Fact Checking Source(s): American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Family Physicians, UNICEF   

The article has been circulated by an anti-vaccine figure with a large following, hence the elevated risk. Emphasizing that it has been public knowledge since the launch of Operation Warp Speed in May 2020 that the initiative received funding and support from the Defense Department is recommended. The article reveals nothing that was not already known to the public or any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the DoD or Moderna. Prebunking messaging may explain that the U.S. military has a long history of supporting vaccine development, testing, and mandates, dating back to the 1776 smallpox inoculation mandate ordered by General George Washington.

Fact Checking Source(s): Department of Defense, PolitiFact

The widespread circulation of the story increases its risk. Debunking messaging may emphasize that there is no evidence that vaccines caused the child’s illness and that a pediatrician ruled out that possibility. The infant reportedly tested positive for metapneumovirus, an upper respiratory disease that can cause severe symptoms, including high fever, vomiting, and seizures, in young children. 

Fact Checking Source(s): Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic 

The persistence of the false claim increases its risk. The site making the claim has repeatedly misrepresented and misinterpreted clinical data to promote misinformation about the safety of the vaccine. Debunking messaging may explain that the claim is based on adverse event reports that have been used repeatedly by vaccine skeptics to inflate safety concerns related to COVID-19 vaccines. Continuing to emphasize that multiple large-scale studies show that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy does not increase the risk of pregnancy complications is recommended.

Fact Checking Source(s): USA Today, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, CIDRAP 

The false claim that vaccines cause other diseases has been used for decades to argue against vaccination. Debunking messaging may explain that the theory proposed in the Times was immediately rejected by experts, who emphasized that the claim had no basis in reality. The claim also ignores the fact that mass smallpox vaccination campaigns were being carried out in other parts of the world with no similar “triggering” of HIV.

Fact Checking Source(s): Full Fact