Lacks context
Mild 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
Articles tagged with
Influenza
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Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-10-01 -
Inaccurate
COVID-19 is at least an order of magnitude more deadly than seasonal flu, according to current estimates
Claim:
“COVID-19 [is] less deadly than [seasonal] flu”
Source: Facebook, Instagram, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 2020-09-27 -
Misleading
Tuberculosis, the flu, and COVID-19 differ in disease prevalence and burden, requiring different public health responses
Claim:
“Why don’t we wear masks for [tuberculosis]? Because CNN hasn’t instructed you to.”
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-09-17 -
Inaccurate
No 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 -
Misleading
The 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 -
Inaccurate
Listicle of “facts” about COVID-19 contains numerous inaccurate and misleading claims
Claim:
“The overall lethality of [COVID-19] (IFR) is about 0.1% to 0.3% and thus in the range of a severe influenza”
Source: Swiss Policy Research, Anonymous, 2020-03-14 -
Inaccurate
Contrary to claim in viral Facebook post, the flu vaccine does work and certain types of cancers can be cured
Claim:
“Can't make a vaccine that works for influenza. No vaccine for RSV. Can't cure cancer. But they sure as shit can make a vaccine in 6 months for an illness that they STILL don't understand”
Source: Facebook, Facebook users, 2020-07-27 -
German Ministry employee makes unsupported claim that COVID-19 pandemic is a global false alarm in widely circulated yet unsolicited opinion article
Claim:
German government leaked document declares COVID-19 is “a global false alarm”
Source: NewsPunch, Baxter Dmitry, 2020-06-02 -
Computing Forever interview with Dolores Cahill contains numerous inaccuracies about COVID-19 and vaccines
This video, first published on 11 May 2020, features an interview between Dave Cullen, also known as Computing Forever on…
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Imprecise
Current evidence suggests that COVID-19 may have a higher fatality rate than the flu, but a definitive conclusion requires more studies
Claim:
Antibody tests support what’s been obvious: Covid-19 is much more lethal than the flu
Source: The Washington Post, Joel Achenbach, 2020-04-28
