The widespread circulation of the misleading claim elevates its risk. Messaging may emphasize that the very small study found no signs of “permanent heart damage” or impaired heart function. All patients had normal EKGs, and two had a single heart health indicator that was borderline (i.e., just outside the optimal range). What the video labeled as permanent heart damage, the researchers describe as “mild residual” scarring of heart tissue in half of the patients tested. However, this finding does not represent half of the patients in the study because only those who initially had abnormal heart imaging results were tested. Continuing to explain that myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination is extremely rare and typically mild and that a COVID-19 infection carries a higher risk of heart complication than COVID-19 vaccination is recommended. 

Fact Checking Source(s): Yale Medicine, CHOP

False and misleading claims exaggerating the risk of myocarditis associated with COVID-19 vaccination have had a lasting and likely irreversible impact on the public’s perception of the vaccines’ safety. Talking points may emphasize that there is considerable evidence from two years of research that myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination is extremely rare and typically mild. Debunking messaging may highlight the deceptive tactics used to circulate these misleading claims, such as falsely insinuating that Pfizer’s press release was related to myocarditis and suggesting that the company previously refused to acknowledge potential vaccine risks. A similar note about myocarditis can be found in Pfizer press releases related to COVID-19 vaccines as far back as July 2021.

Fact Checking Source(s): VCU Health, Yale Medicine

The thread promotes a myth that has persisted for decades. The 1918 influenza pandemic killed between 25 million and 50 million people worldwide. Vaccine opponents have long claimed that experimental vaccines caused the outbreak, but this is false. When the 1918 influenza began circulating, very few vaccines had been developed, and even fewer were in wide use. The first flu vaccine wasn’t developed until the 1930s, and the first meningitis vaccine, which the myth alleges sparked the 1918 flu outbreak, was developed nearly half a century after that pandemic.

Fact-checking sources: Reuters

Vaccine opponents often latch onto current events in order to find new audiences and expand the reach of their message. Messaging may highlight how social media posts exploit tragic and widely covered news to spread anti-vaccine messages. Debunking talking points may emphasize the demonstrated safety of COVID-19 vaccines and the lack of credible evidence that they cause severe health concerns.

Fact Checking Source(s): MSKCC, CDC

Contrary to what the articles and those sharing them are implying, this is not an instance of a politician changing their mind about COVID-19 vaccines. The premier has a long history of promoting false claims about COVID-19 and making anti-vaccine mandate statements, including promoting fake COVID-19 cures in 2020, comparing vaccinated citizens to Nazi sympathizers in 2021, and claiming in 2022 that unvaccinated people face more discrimination than any other group. Peer-reviewed studies and real-world data have repeatedly demonstrated that COVID-19 vaccines are safe and have saved millions of lives throughout the pandemic.

Fact-checking sources: FactCheck.org