Alerts are categorized as high, medium, and low risk.
  • High risk alerts: Narratives with widespread circulation across communities, high engagement, exponential velocity, and a high potential to impact health decisions. Are often more memorable than accurate information.
  • Medium risk alerts: Narratives that are circulating in priority populations and pose some threat to health. Potential for further spread due to the tactics used or because of predicted velocity. Often highlights the questions and concerns of people.
  • Low risk alerts: Narratives that are limited in reach, don’t impact your community, or lack the qualities necessary for future spread. May indicate information gaps, confusion, or concerns.

Social media posts trending in English and Spanish are circulating the claims of a supposed “WHO whistleblower” who previously promoted hoax vaccine detoxes. The claims include many disproven conspiracy theories, including that COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide, radiofrequency trackers, toxic metals, and nanochips. One post claims COVID-19 vaccines originated as a military experiment using CRISPR DNA editing technology. A video clip in one post that has been viewed 1.2 million times includes the bizarre claim that the vaccines contain the eggs of a tentacled parasite.

Recommendation: Medium Risk Read More +

A well-known anti-vaccine advocate is claiming that the hepatitis B vaccine is responsible for an increase in autism diagnoses over the last few decades. The video claims that children who received the vaccine as infants were more likely to be diagnosed with autism. One clip from the video has been watched over 700,000 times.

Recommendation: High Risk Read More +

An image circulating online claims that the World Health Organization is tracking people who are not COVID-19 vaccinated. The claim is based on WHO’s International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes, which include a designation for people who are unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Recommendation: Low Risk Read More +

A hoax news site is claiming that a Philippines “heinous crimes court” issued an “international arrest warrant” for Bill Gates on “premeditated murder” charges related to COVID-19 vaccines. The story has been picked up by several large right-wing social media accounts.

Recommendation: Low Risk Read More +

A social media account that frequently promotes vaccine misinformation posted a video claiming that COVID-19 vaccines have increased rates of cancers. The video, which has been viewed nearly half a million times, claims that doctors are reporting more cases of vaginal and uterine cancer than ever.

Recommendation: High Risk Read More +

A video claims to show 96 children who died from injuries related to COVID-19 vaccines, including 77 in the last three months. Like many false claims, the video uses fear mongering and emotional appeals without any evidence to support its claims.

Recommendation: Medium Risk Read More +

A video clip of two anti-vaccine figures promotes the baseless claim that vaccines make children more susceptible to chronic illnesses. In the video, which suggests questioning everything, including childhood vaccines, they say that in the last 40 years, the rates of childhood chronic diseases have increased from 6 percent to 54 percent. They note that this period coincided with the addition of several new vaccines to the routine immunization schedule, insinuating that the rise in illnesses was caused by vaccines.

Recommendation: Medium Risk Read More +

An image trending on social media claims that Pfizer’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, which is currently under FDA review for use in older adults, is dangerous for pregnant people. The basis of this claim is that a clinical trial for an RSV vaccine developed by a different pharmaceutical company, GSK, was suspended last year due to safety concerns in pregnant people.

Recommendation: Medium Risk Read More +

A social media post claims that Blue Cross Blue Shield pays pediatricians a $40,000 bonus for vaccinating 100 patients under the age of 2 and that they lose the bonus if less than 63 percent of patients are vaccinated. This claim is based on a 2016 blog post insinuating doctors don’t have patients' best interests at heart.

Recommendation: Medium Risk Read More +

A story claiming that Kenyan babies are being used as test subjects for a biometric vaccine tracking system is circulating among vaccine opponents. In reality, the pilot program seeks to ensure that all children have a legal identity, birth registration, and appropriate vaccinations.

Recommendation: Medium Risk Read More +

Alerts are categorized as high, medium, and low risk.
  • High risk alerts: Narratives with widespread circulation across communities, high engagement, exponential velocity, and a high potential to impact health decisions. Are often more memorable than accurate information.
  • Medium risk alerts: Narratives that are circulating in priority populations and pose some threat to health. Potential for further spread due to the tactics used or because of predicted velocity. Often highlights the questions and concerns of people.
  • Low risk alerts: Narratives that are limited in reach, don’t impact your community, or lack the qualities necessary for future spread. May indicate information gaps, confusion, or concerns.
Vaccine Misinformation Guide

Get practical tips for addressing misinformation in this new guide. Click image to download.

Vaccine Misinformation Guide

Get practical tips for addressing misinformation in this new guide. Click image to download, or see highlights