Airlines are encouraging people who have received a COVID-19 vaccine to fly once again. Yet social media posts falsely claim that airline executives around the world are discussing banning vaccinated passengers due to a risk of blood clotting at high altitudes. Experts say there is no evidence of an added risk of blood clots for vaccinated air travelers.
Clinical trials and medical studies have indicated that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe for pregnant people. But online posts misrepresent unverified reports submitted to vaccine monitoring systems in the U.S. and Europe to misleadingly suggest “920 women” lost babies because they received COVID-19 vaccines.
Managing Editor Lori Robertson discussed several of our recent SciCheck articles on the public radio show “Conversations on Health Care.”
Insurance companies do not deny claims when someone dies after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the American Council of Life Insurers. But a viral social media post has falsely claimed that beneficiaries of a person who dies after getting the vaccine cannot collect life insurance payments.
Federal health officials testified at a Senate committee hearing that about 60% of their employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. But viral online posts have distorted their comments to misleadingly claim that half of the employees “are refusing” the vaccines. The officials did not say anyone had refused to get vaccinated.
Animal testing and clinical trials were conducted before the COVID-19 vaccines were authorized for use in the U.S. But a Texas state senator falsely claimed at a hearing that animal tests were “stopped” because the “animals were dying.”
So far, COVID-19 vaccines have been effective against variants of the coronavirus. Scientists are monitoring the situation carefully, with updated or new vaccines a possibility in the future, if need be.
Q: Can employers, colleges and universities require COVID-19 vaccinations?
A: Generally, they may require immunizations. But there is some uncertainty about the legality of mandating vaccines authorized for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
A tweet that migrated across social media platforms falsely suggests that any deaths in the 20 days following positive COVID-19 tests are to be attributed to the disease, “no matter what other factors were involved.” There is no such policy. And there’s also no evidence for the post’s suggestion that the vaccines are causing deaths that are being ignored.
There is no evidence that vaccines could cause harm to people who already have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 or have become ill with the disease COVID-19. On the contrary, recent studies show the vaccine gives an important immunity boost to those previously infected and suggest that one dose might be enough.