Misinformation Alerts
Knowing what misinformation is being shared can help you generate effective messaging.
These insights are based on a combination of automated media monitoring and manual review by public health data analysts. Media data are publicly available data from many sources, such as social media, broadcast television, newspapers and magazines, news websites, online video, blogs, and more. Analysts from the Public Good Projects triangulate this data along with other data from fact checking organizations and investigative sources to provide an accurate, but not exhaustive, list of currently circulating misinformation.Misinformation Alerts
Knowing what misinformation is being shared can help you generate effective messaging.
These insights are based on a combination of automated media monitoring and manual review by public health data analysts. Media data are publicly available data from many sources, such as social media, broadcast television, newspapers and magazines, news websites, online video, blogs, and more. Analysts from the Public Good Projects triangulate this data along with other data from fact checking organizations and investigative sources to provide an accurate, but not exhaustive, list of currently circulating misinformation.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.
A trending post is claiming that a 2011 study found that the aluminum additives in vaccines cause autism. The study concludes that "Clearly, we cannot draw definite conclusions regarding the link between aluminum adjuvants and autism based on an ecological study such as the present one, and hence the validity of our results remains to be confirmed."
Recommendation:
Medium Risk Read More +
The persistence of this myth increases its risk. Emphasizing that scientists have investigated a potential link between vaccines and autism for decades and have never found evidence to support any connection is recommended. The study that originally claimed that vaccines cause autism was retracted after it was found to involve unethical research practices. No subsequent studies have found a causal link between any vaccine and autism. Fact Checking Source(s): Health Feedback, National Academies
A television and podcast host promoted an upcoming episode to his more than two million followers. The episode features a physician who is best known for circulating misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines and who claims that data on vaccine safety is "not very reassuring."
Recommendation:
Medium Risk Read More +
Debunking messaging may emphasize that COVID-19 vaccines were rigorously tested for safety in some of the largest clinical trials in history. Two-thirds of the world’s population are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and many of them have been vaccinated for over two years. There is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are causing widespread health issues. Fact Checking Source(s): Johns Hopkins
The CDC updated its routine immunizations recommendation list for children and adolescents to include COVID-19 vaccination. The agency’s advisory committee voted to approve the update in October, and the changes were finalized last week. Anti-vaccine organizations and high-profile misinformation accounts are falsely claiming, just as they did in October, that the update will require children to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
Recommendation:
High Risk Read More +
The persistence of this misinformation and the high profile of those who shared it elevates its risk. Emphasizing that the update has no effect on any vaccination requirements at the federal, state, or local level is recommended. Debunking messaging may explain that the CDC does not have the authority to set any vaccination requirements, only to make recommendations. The agency maintains a schedule of recommended immunizations for infants, children, and adults. Each state sets its own vaccine requirements and schedules, which is why the vaccinations required to enroll in public schools vary from state to state. For example, the CDC recommends that all children receive two doses of the hepatitis A vaccine by the age of 2, but only less than half of U.S. states require students to receive the vaccine to enroll in school. Continuing to emphasize key messages is recommended: COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. Fact-Checking Source(s):
A case study published in 2021 is circulating among COVID-19 vaccine skeptics online. The report details an incident at a COVID-19 vaccination clinic in Thailand where a health worker dropped a vial containing Coronavac, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac. The vial broke, and the evaporated vaccine caused skin and eye irritation in several health workers near the accident. A popular anti-vaccine social media account recently shared the report, claiming that it proves that the vaccine, which is not used in the U.S., is unsafe.
Recommendation:
Low Risk Read More +
Although the misinformation was shared by a relatively high-profile account, it has not gained much traction in the last week. Consider countering misinformation by emphasizing that the case report did not conclude that the vaccine was unsafe but that health workers should use extra caution when handling vials containing the vaccine and avoid contact with the vaccine if it spills or evaporates. Prebunking messaging may explain that Coronavac has undergone rigorous clinical trials and is considered safe by WHO. It is also important to note that any medication, including a vaccine, can be harmful if it is administered incorrectly or comes in contact with sensitive parts of the body. A drug that is perfectly safe when taken by mouth may cause serious damage if it is inhaled through the nose or comes in contact with the eyes. That doesn’t mean that the drug is unsafe. Fact-checking sources:
The hashtag "pfertility" trended on social media in response to video footage released by a right-wing activist group known for producing deceptively edited video clips. In the heavily edited clip, a purported Pfizer employee expresses concern about women’s reproductive health following COVID-19 vaccination. The unedited footage has not been released, so the context of the conversation is unclear. All that can be seen are several snippets of a conversation edited together, including the phrases: "Something irregular about their menstrual cycles,” “...concerning…” “vaccine shouldn't be interfering…” and “It has to be affecting something hormonal..."
Recommendation:
High Risk Read More +
The sensitive topic of this misinformation and the widespread reach of the video elevates the risk. Emphasizing the source’s lack of credibility and the absence of evidence to support the claims in the video is recommended. Multiple large studies have shown no change in fertility or pregnancy outcomes following COVID-19 vaccination. Messaging may explain that minor, temporary changes in the menstrual cycle are a possible side effect of COVID-19 vaccination, similar to other mild side effects like a sore arm or headache. An NIH study found that vaccine recipients had a slightly longer time (less than one day) between periods shortly after being vaccinated. The change was so slight that they were considered within the normal range of menstrual cycle variation. Fact-Checking Source(s):
A widely shared social media post includes a graph of the low rate of flu infections in the 2020-2021 flu season, implying that the missing cases were being counted as COVID-19 infections.
Recommendation:
Medium Risk Read More +
The persistence and high level of engagement of this misinformation elevates its risk. Messaging may emphasize flu cases were low during the 2020-2021 season due to COVID-19 pandemic mitigations, such as masks, social distancing, improved hygiene practices, and a reduction in indoor activities, which slowed the spread of the flu and other respiratory viruses. Fact Checking Source(s): Reuters, AFP, USA Today
Several high-profile right-wing news outlets and social media accounts are circulating a blog post with the misleading claim that the CDC has begun tracking people who refused COVID-19 vaccination. 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:
High Risk Read More +
The high engagement on the posts and the shares by high-profile figures increase the risk of this misinformation. Debunking messaging may explain that ICD-10 codes, which date back to 2015, are used to classify thousands of medical diagnoses and symptoms consistently in hospitals worldwide. The codes are important for monitoring national and international health trends and have been assigned to many vaccines. In 2021, WHO introduced several new ICD codes related to COVID-19 diagnosis, complications, and vaccination status. These codes are used in part to document any health issues that arise after COVID-19 infection or vaccination. Fact-Checking Source(s):
A video clip of Bill Gates speaking at a global health forum discusses the limitations of COVID-19 vaccines, specifically that they are not very effective at preventing infection against later variants, that their effectiveness wanes over time, and that they do not provide sufficient, long-term protection to those who are most vulnerable. A popular anti-vaccine site is using the quote to falsely claim that Gates said that the vaccines “don’t work at all.”
Recommendation:
High Risk Read More +
The high-profile nature of the source elevates its risk. Emphasizing that the site is misrepresenting the clip is recommended, as is explaining that the quote is an honest assessment of the challenges facing COVID-19 vaccines in the current pandemic landscape. Consider countering this misinformation by explaining that when COVID-19 vaccines were developed in 2020, they were designed to fight infection and severe illness from the original COVID-19 strain, which they did very effectively. In the more than three years since SARS-CoV-2 began circulating, it has undergone thousands of mutations that have altered the virus and enabled it to better evade both vaccine and infection immunity compared to earlier variants. The global scientific community works extremely hard to keep pace. At every stage of the pandemic and against every variant, unvaccinated people have consistently been at a higher risk than vaccinated people for serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19. Fact-Checking Source(s):
A video circulating on multiple social media platforms features a social media influencer who is pretending to be a medical expert. The man claims that flu cases are being miscategorized as COVID-19. The person claims to have collected 1,500 positive COVID-19 samples that, when viewed under a microscope, were all actually influenza viruses.
Recommendation:
Medium Risk Read More +
The persistence of the misinformation elevates it from low to medium risk. Emphasizing that this exact claim, almost word-for-word, has circulated online and been debunked several times is recommended. In May, the same video circulated, and the man in it was identified not as a medical professional or research scientist but as an influencer using a false name. Last January, the claim was falsely attributed to a Cornell professor. There is no evidence that any large-scale analysis of the kind described in the video has ever been conducted. Debunking messaging may explain that COVID-19 and influenza are caused by different viruses that can easily be distinguished. Fact Checking Source(s): Lead Stories
A heavily edited viral video produced by a right-wing activist group that is notorious for releasing misleadingly edited secret recordings claims to show a top Pfizer executive saying that the company had plans to mutate the COVID-19 virus to test vaccines on more potent variants. The video has been shared and viewed millions of times across multiple social media platforms.
Recommendation:
High Risk Read More +
The widespread circulation of the deceptive video increases its risk. Consider countering the misinformation by emphasizing the noted unreliability of the video’s source and the numerous reasons to doubt the legitimacy of the claims in the video. First, there is no evidence yet that the man in the video works for Pfizer. Second, despite the video’s inflammatory title, the man never actually said that Pfizer is creating COVID-19 mutants. Based on the heavily edited footage, he seems to be speculating about a hypothetical way to test a vaccine that is completely at odds with the way that Pfizer and other pharmaceutical companies actually test vaccines. Fact-Checking Source(s):
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, or see highlights.