&Quot;Childhood Vacc&Quot;

Does this colorful graphic chart, with a footnote that the data was sourced from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fairly represent the impact of vaccines on vaccine-preventable diseases? No, that's not true: By carving off the prevaccine years, the chart de-emphasizes the sharp reduction in death by infectious diseases. And by calculating the mortality as a portion of…

Did Physicians for Informed Consent correctly interpret the results of the drug trials by which the Janssen/J&J COVID-19 vaccine was approved and did that testing fail to establish whether the vaccine is effective and safer than COVID-19? No, that's not true: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found the Janssen vaccine was effective against COVID-19 and that the benefits of…

Does an anti-vaccine advocate prove his claims of vaccine dangers with "undercover" video of private World Health Organization meetings and does he provide credible citations of scientific research to prove his claims? No, that's not true: The video caption promises "an undercover footage - the media don't want you to see" but delivers less than a quarter-minute -- without audio.…

Does Blue Cross Blue Shield pay doctors a bonus based on the number of children they vaccinate? No, that's not true: An official for Blue Cross Blue Shield told Lead Stories that doctors and other providers are offered incentives based on several measures, including vaccinations, which aim to encourage best-practices in disease prevention. The claim appeared in an Instagram post…

Is Canadian pathologist Dr. Roger Hodkinson correct when he asserts that COVID-19 is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on an unsuspecting public" and "just another bad flu"? No, neither of those claims is true: Data from the CDC show that COVID-19 deaths so far in the United States are four times greater than the highest level of deaths reported each…

Are countries or U.S. states with a high rate of childhood vaccinations the hardest-hit with the novel coronavirus? No, that's not true: In fact, some of the countries with the lowest spread of the virus are those that have higher vaccination rates than the United States. The claim originated in a post (archived here) published on Facebook by Thomas Miller…

Do flu vaccines contain 25,000 times more mercury than is legally allowed in drinking water? No, that's not true: Some flu vaccines do contain a trace amount of the organic compound Thimerosal, whch is 50-percent mercury. Thimerosal, used as a preservative only in multi-dose vials, breaks down in the body as ethyl mercury, which is removed from the body and…

Notorious fake news website Houston Leader published a hoax article titled: "Trump Signs Executive Order Issuing 90-Day Ban On Childhood Vaccinations". It opens like this: Late Monday afternoon President Trump announced what may be one of his most controversial decisions to date when he signed an executive order placing a temporary 90-day ban on all childhood MMR (measles/mumps/rubella) vaccinations. The…