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 video currently being shared on social media falsely claims that COVID-19 vaccines contain foreign pathogens that are “catastrophic” to the immune system, including 81 bacterial strains and HIV. The full ingredient lists for COVID-19 vaccines have been available to the public for over a year and confirm that the vaccines do not contain any of the harmful ingredients listed in the video. 

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Articles from two vocal COVID-19 vaccine skeptics have been widely shared by vaccine opponents. The first, an op-ed, claims that there is not enough research on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments being shared with the public. The second article accuses doctors of “censorship” for demanding that a podcast host who promotes vaccine misinformation be removed from his streaming platform. 

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A U.S. senator shared an Israel Ministry of Health report from June 2021 that found a potential link between the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and a higher risk of myocarditis in young men. The Ministry of Health found that the risk was rare, with 27 myocarditis cases reported after the first dose and 121 after the second dose in more than 5 million vaccinated people. Most myocarditis cases were mild and resolved quickly. Two deaths that were potentially myocarditis-related were still being investigated at the time of the report. A more recent study found that among the more than 190 million vaccinated adolescents and young adults in the U.S., 1,991 myocarditis cases were reported, a rate of about 10 cases per 1 million. Fewer than 2 percent of the cases were severe.

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Natural immunity advocates have been misinterpreting the results of a CDC study, claiming that the agency "admitted" that immunity from COVID-19 infection is superior to vaccine-induced immunity. The study, which has been widely shared on social media, found that natural immunity protected against Delta infection better than vaccination, but the best immunity was found in vaccinated people who had a previous infection.

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Several social media posts are promoting the false claims that pneumonia caused by COVID-19 has been misdiagnosed and is an allergic reaction to viral particles. Some of the posts also recommend antihistamines to treat COVID-19 pneumonia. Pneumonia is one of the most common and serious complications of COVID-19 and has been well studied over the past year. The symptoms are unrelated to allergies and cannot be treated with antihistamines.

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A study that is trending online claims that the COVID-19 vaccines caused new COVID-19 variants and increases in cases and deaths. The study uses data from a projection model that predicted COVID-19 infections and deaths without vaccines to conclude that vaccines increase infections and deaths. The study fails to correct for variants that are more transmissible or cause more severe illness and for the implementation of COVID-19 mitigation factors other than vaccines.

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A video that has accumulated over 340,000 views since it was posted last week features a medical doctor falsely claiming that COVID-19 vaccines were designed to depopulate the planet. The doctor, who is known for promoting COVID-19 conspiracy theories, claims to be backed by dozens of lawyers with “irrefutable proof” to support his claims. 

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Several popular social media posts claim that the Omicron variant, which is more likely than previous COVIID-19 variants to infect vaccinated people, is proof that vaccine mandates are unnecessary and are eroding confidence in the federal government. Currently available vaccines provide the best protection against all COVID-19 variants, including Omicron, significantly decreasing the risk of serious illness and death, while boosters provide additional protection against infection.

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Misleading headlines are circulating on social media with the false claim that marijuana prevents COVID-19 infection. The posts are in response to a study that investigated whether certain cannabis extracts could prevent SARS-CoV-2 from entering cultured cells in a lab. While the study was peer-reviewed and its results do not appear to be in question, the issue is that none of the study’s experiments were conducted in humans and the cannabis extracts it examined are not the compounds ingested or smoked by cannabis users. This can be described as early stage research, perhaps opening the door to further research but itself providing no evidence that marijuana can prevent or treat COVID-19.

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During the U.S. Supreme Court arguments on President Biden's workplace vaccine mandate, a Supreme Court justice falsely claimed that more than 100,000 children are hospitalized with COVID-19. According to the CDC, fewer than 100,000 children have been hospitalized with COVID-19 throughout the entire pandemic. An increase in infections due to Omicron has resulted in a very worrying spike in children hospitalized with COVID-19, but pediatric hospitalization rates are significantly lower than the Justice was aware.

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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