The high level of international media attention that the case has received increases its risk. Any case involving the health or life of an infant is going to evoke strong emotional responses. Responding with empathy and acknowledging the concerns of parents is recommended, as is explaining how vaccines and medical procedures help protect both children and their families. Explaining that the Red Cross says that blood and plasma from vaccinated donors are perfectly safe is recommended. Messaging may explain that vaccine components are not transferred through blood and that there is no evidence that these antibodies would have any negative effect on donation recipients.

Fact-Checking Source(s):

• Reuters, American Red Cross

Consider countering this misinformation by explaining that the recommendations about COVID-19 mitigations and vaccinations are backed by scientific evidence and real-world data showing the effectiveness of vaccines and masks. On each of the issues raised in the article, the AAP is guided by the expertise of its membership and consensus from the national and international medical communities, backed by decades of research.

Fact Checking Source(s): 

• What to Expect, Kids Health

Emphasizing that this claim and others made by the website are based on intentionally misrepresenting raw, unverified, or decontextualized data is recommended. U.K. data does show that children who are vaccinated are more likely to die from all causes than children who are unvaccinated. This is because the children who are most likely to be vaccinated, especially early in the vaccine roll-out, are children who are already at a much higher risk of death than other children: children who are immunocompromised, children with cancer, and children with serious heart and respiratory conditions. Presenting these numbers without that context falsely implies that the children are dying from vaccine injuries.

Fact Checking Source(s): 

• Lead Stories, PolitiFact

The loss of Twitter’s COVID-19 policy coupled with the proposed return of the blue check subscription that enables any individual to purchase account verification without vetting means that anti-vaccine conspiracists will now have increased reach on the platform. The impact is unlikely to be limited to COVID-19, as many accounts that promote misleading COVID-19 content also circulate misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines, polio, and other health issues.

Continuing to report misinformation on other platforms is recommended, as is exercising caution when consuming and sharing health information on Twitter. Following trusted accounts and double-checking that verified accounts are real and reputable sources of information are also recommended. Consider countering misinformation on the safety and efficacy of vaccines by emphasizing the amount of time and research that goes into the development process and the billions of people worldwide who have safely received vaccines.

Fact-Checking Source(s):

• NPR

Messaging may emphasize that the article clearly explains that vaccinated people are at lower risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19. The numbers are misleading because 70 percent of the population and over 93 percent of people over the age of 65—who are at greatest risk of COVID-19 death—are fully vaccinated. It’s not surprising that when an overwhelming majority of a population belongs to a group, then that group will make up a large proportion of any effect. For example, people wearing seatbelts make up the majority of car accident deaths. That doesn’t mean that seatbelts cause these deaths or that not wearing a seatbelt is safer. It just means that because most people wear seatbelts, most car accidents, fatal or otherwise, involve people wearing seatbelts.

Fact-Checking Source(s):

• Lead Stories