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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Q&A on RSV Vaccine Candidates for Older Adults

Q&A on RSV Vaccine Candidates for Older Adults

This year, the Food and Drug Administration will consider several applications for vaccines and a monoclonal antibody to prevent respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, illness. We’ll go through some common questions about RSV and the potential vaccines for older adults in this story.

Posts Misrepresent Moderna CEO’s Remarks on Vaccine Production

Posts Misrepresent Moderna CEO’s Remarks on Vaccine Production

Moderna’s CEO said in January that the company’s total production in 2019 was “100,000 dose,” referring to all its vaccines and therapeutics. Online posts distorted the remarks to falsely claim Moderna made COVID-19 vaccines “before the pandemic started.” Moderna’s first batch of COVID-19 vaccines wasn’t ready until February 2020.

Social Media Posts Twist Meaning of CDC, FDA Disclosure on Bivalent Booster

Social Media Posts Twist Meaning of CDC, FDA Disclosure on Bivalent Booster

Government health agencies disclosed a potential safety concern for strokes in those 65 and older with one of the COVID-19 vaccines, but the agencies haven’t found any causal relationship and the concern was flagged by just one of several monitoring systems. Anti-vaccine campaigners, however, have wrongly claimed the agencies have found a link between the boosters and strokes.

COVID-19 Vaccine Opponents Misrepresent CDC Webcast on Causes of Blood Clots

COVID-19 Vaccine Opponents Misrepresent CDC Webcast on Causes of Blood Clots

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosted an online seminar about the treatment of blood clots, which is expected to grow as the U.S. population ages and the obesity rate increases. But some vaccine opponents misrepresented the webinar to falsely suggest that the projected rise in blood clots is related to the COVID-19 vaccines.

Viral Posts Spin Falsehood Out of Denmark’s COVID-19 Booster Drive

Viral Posts Spin Falsehood Out of Denmark’s COVID-19 Booster Drive

Denmark announced a plan for its fall COVID-19 vaccination drive, saying it will offer omicron-specific booster shots to high-risk individuals, including everyone 50 and over. But U.S.-based misinformation peddlers misleadingly suggest that means the shots are unsafe for those under 50. The Danish Health Authority said that is a misinterpretation.

Post Makes Baseless Allegations About Public Health Response to Monkeypox Outbreak

Post Makes Baseless Allegations About Public Health Response to Monkeypox Outbreak

A post published in English and Spanish repeats the debunked idea that the current monkeypox outbreak might have resulted from a virus that was created in a lab. The post also baselessly alleges that the World Health Organization’s decision to declare the outbreak a public health emergency was due to financial incentives.

Q&A on Financial Disclosures by Government Scientists

Q&A on Financial Disclosures by Government Scientists

In this story, we’ll explain what we know about the financial and conflict-of-interest disclosure requirements for Dr. Anthony Fauci, other National Institutes of Health higher-ups and members of two U.S. vaccine advisory committees.

Website Peddles Old, Debunked Falsehood About COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines

Website Peddles Old, Debunked Falsehood About COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines

An executive at the German pharmaceutical company Bayer referred to mRNA vaccines used against COVID-19 as an example of innovation in biotech at the World Health Summit 2021. But a website post takes the executive’s words out of context to falsely claim he said the vaccines are gene therapy.

Trump and Son Whitewash Vaccine Willingness Before Biden

Trump and Son Whitewash Vaccine Willingness Before Biden

Former President Donald Trump and his son Eric have been dishing out revisionist history with claims that vaccine hesitancy soared once Biden assumed office and that “people were getting the vaccine in record numbers” until Biden implemented vaccine mandates.