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.

With COVID-19 cases on the rise, some social media users are accusing vaccinated people of driving up transmission rates, falsely claiming that the CDC admitted that the vaccines are failing. These claims are misconstruing the CDC's updated guidelines, which advise all people to wear a mask indoors regardless of vaccination status. The CDC updated its mask guidelines because, while vaccinated people are far less likely than unvaccinated people to contract COVID-19, those who are infected with the Delta variant can spread it to others. The vaccines provide protection against severe illness from the current COVID-19 variants. 

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Vaccine mandate critics have weaponized the low vaccination rates among Black Americans to suggest that COVID-19 vaccine requirements will result in modern-day segregation. Sowing distrust among vulnerable and marginalized groups through half-truths and misleading data is a common tactic of misinformation agents. The Black vaccination rate is the lowest of any demographic at 38 percent due to a variety of factors including historic and justified mistrust in the government and medical institutions and long-standing barriers to access.  Black people have also made up a disproportionately large number of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. For many months now, the federal government, local and state government, and a vast number of community organizations and volunteers have worked to bring up vaccination rates in the Black community. In recent weeks, as Delta cases surged, Black people have made up a growing percentage of new vaccinations.

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In response to the CDC's new mask guidelines for the fully vaccinated, an article published by a site shown to spread misinformation falsely claimed that the CDC Director admitted that COVID-19 vaccines are failing. The article also claims that vaccinated people are super spreaders of COVID-19 and new variants. In a recent phone briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky stated that a small number of vaccinated people may become infected with the Delta variant and that vaccinated people who are infected with the Delta variant can have a similar viral load as infected unvaccinated people. But vaccinated people are three times less likely than unvaccinated people to contract Delta, making it much harder for them to spread it to others. The new mask guidelines were not an indication that the vaccines are ineffective; on the contrary, the vaccines were found to be about 88 percent effective at preventing serious illness and death from Delta. More than 90 percent of all COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are among the unvaccinated.

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A misunderstanding of how variants are detected is fueling doubt that the Delta variant exists. Social media posts with thousands of engagements on multiple platforms have falsely claimed that health officials are unable to prove that the Delta variant is real because there is no specific test to detect it. In reality, routine clinical testing, usually via PCR, can detect Delta and other SARS-CoV-2 variants, but genetic analysis is required to determine the variant’s lineage. This additional analysis, which uses genomic sequencing to identify mutations in positive samples and compare them to the original viral strain, is important for the correct classification of positive COVID-19 samples and for the identification and tracking of emerging variants. The Delta variant is real, highly contagious, and currently accounts for more than 83 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the US.

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False claims that masks are dangerous for children are circulating online again, based on a study that was retracted for poor methodologies. The resurfacing of the claims is likely due to the fast-approaching start of the school year. The CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that all students attending school in-person wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.

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The federal worker vaccination mandate has been a source of misinformation and vitriol from anti-vaccination advocates. Some prominent figures questioned the constitutionality of the mandate, calling it a threat to national security and playing on the false narrative that the vaccines are experimental. Legal experts confirm that similar policies, which require proof of vaccination or regular COVID-19 testing, are legal. Mandating vaccinations, testing, and masks provide protection to civilian federal workers, who are largely in support of the mandate.

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As COVID-19 cases continue to rise due to the Delta variant, some social media users have resurrected the myth that the COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for new variants of the virus. One tweet that garnered over 23,400 engagements falsely claimed that there were no new variants until the vaccines were rolled out. Others have used health officials' recommendation that vaccinated people wear masks indoors in some situations as evidence that the vaccines do not work. It is important to remember that no vaccine can prevent 100 percent of infections. Although the vaccines are slightly less effective against the Delta variant, they are the best form of protection against COVID-19.

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A social media account with more than 240,000 followers posted claims that rising COVID-19 cases must be either fictitious or occurring among vaccinated people because those who are unvaccinated and don't wear masks also don’t get tested. This assertion is both illogical and untrue. The vast majority of new COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are among the unvaccinated. By most expert accounts, unvaccinated individuals make up more than 97 percent of COVID-19 hospitalizations and 99 percent of deaths.

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A Wall Street Journal op-ed that has been shared more than 45,000 times on social media asserts that the CDC and FDA lack sufficient evidence to move forward with vaccination for children. The author is a physician associated with Johns Hopkins who has been outspoken in his opposition to the CDC and claims that data is being inflated to move the so-called vaccine agenda forward. The op-ed has been amplified by people known to spread conspiracy theories, using the author's credentials to validate the argument. In its guidance for parents, Johns Hopkins Medicine says "Experts, including those at Johns Hopkins, believe that the benefits of being vaccinated for COVID-19 outweigh the risks.”

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A video with over three million likes on a popular video-sharing social media app claims that the vaccine recipient's breasts grew two cup sizes after getting the Pfizer shot. The video is one of many making similar claims on the platform, while a search of the term "Pfizer Boob" on Twitter turns up hundreds of tweets from people making similar claims or expressing hopes or fears of a similar reaction happening if they were to get the vaccine. A side effect of vaccination is the temporary swelling of the lymph nodes. Swelling of lymph nodes in the chest could potentially explain why some people experienced what they thought was increased breast size shortly after vaccination.

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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