Flawed reasoning
Pablo Rougerie
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Mostly accurateThe percentage of excess deaths in the U.S. not directly caused by COVID-19 ranges from 14% to 33%; it remains unclear how lockdowns influenced excess mortality
Claim:
“a third of excess deaths in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic could not be directly attributed to the coronavirus”; “One reason for the high amount of excess deaths not attributable to COVID-19 has been disruptions in health services caused by lockdowns.”
Source: Washington Examiner, Michael Lee, 2020-10-18 -
InaccurateThe group World Doctors Alliance spreads misinformation about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the virus, and the reliability of diagnostic tests
Claim:
COVID-19 is a type of flu and is not a pandemic; PCR tests are up to 94% false positive; only 98 COVID-19 related deaths have been reported in Ireland.
Source: YouTube, Facebook, World Doctors Alliance, Doctors For Truth, 2020-10-15 -
InaccurateMortality in the U.S. was more than 280,000 higher during the first eight months of 2020 than any of the previous five years over the same period
Claim:
“U.S. mortalities this year are not materially different from the previous 5 years”
Source: Facebook, Facebook user, 2020-10-06 -
Lacks contextMild side effects from flu shots are common; very serious adverse effects are very rare
Claim:
Flu shots lead to severe or life-threatening conditions; flu shots are unsafe
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-10-01 -
IncorrectCOVID-19 vaccines do not modify the human genome and do not involve hydrogels; hydrogels are not internet-connecting devices
Claim:
Hydrogels are part of the genome-modifying COVID-19 mRNA vaccines' delivery system; hydrogels will connect you to the internet
Source: Facebook, Facebook user, 2020-09-16 -
InaccurateNo vaccine contains strains of both the flu and the virus that causes COVID-19; COVID-19 is not the flu
Claim:
The U.S. CDC encourages the use of a “[COVID-19] flu shot” on children.
Source: Facebook, Facebook user, 2020-09-15 -
MisleadingThe number of COVID-19 cases reported is based on a highly specific diagnostic test for COVID-19; no confusion with flu or common cold is possible
Claim:
“It's NOT a SECOND WAVE of COVID-19 coming soon. It's the NORMAL COLD / FLU SEASON”
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-09-01 -
Flawed reasoningFalse claim shared by President Trump that only 6% of CDC-reported deaths are from COVID-19 is based on flawed reasoning
Claim:
only 6% of all the 153,504 deaths recorded actually died from Covid, the rest had other serious illnesses
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-08-29 -
Lacks contextA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 would be useful even if the survival rate from COVID-19 is high
Claim:
With the survival rate of COVID-19 close to 100% without a vaccine, what exactly will the purpose of the new vaccine be?
Source: Facebook, Facebook user, 2020-08-21