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Understanding COVID-19 Misinformation

Vincent Iannelli, MD

The COVID-19 pandemic has been going on long enough that we know where much of the propaganda and misinformation about COVID-19 is coming from.

Melissa Floyd says that “It’s not that you can’t find science that says there’s a potential benefit. It’s the fact that you can find science that says there isn’t… The fact that you can find science on [both sides] is enough to argue why there should not be mandates.”

It’s kind of becoming a mystery why folks still believe this stuff though…

Understanding COVID-19 Misinformation

Take the argument above on masks.

The fact that you can do some cherry picking to find an “expert” or paper that fits your belief or argument doesn’t mean that you are right!

The overwhelming consensus has shown that wearing a face mask or covering can help to decrease the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

As their propaganda gets blocked on social media, these folks have taken to handing out COVID-19 misinformation cards…

Of course, they are wrong about a lot of other things besides face masks, including:

  1. COVID-19 mortality rates – however you want to calculate fatality rates or mortality rates, trying to make a case that COVID-19 isn’t that bad, know that as of mid-August, there have been nearly 170,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States and 775,000 deaths worldwide. Sure, it’s fortunate that so many cases are mild, because otherwise even more people would be dying!
  2. the asymptomatic spread of SARS-CoV-2 – this definitely happens and many studies support it, especially people who are asymptomatic, but later develop symptoms (pre-symptomatic transmission). Not only did the WHO not admit that there was no real scientific evidence against asymptomatic spread of SARS-CoV-2, they state that “given that infected people without symptoms can transmit the virus, it is also prudent to encourage the use of fabric face masks in public places where there is community transmission and where other prevention measures, such as physical distancing, are not possible!”
  3. mandatory COVID-19 vaccines – although a COVID-19 vaccine might be mandated in certain situations, like for work, school, or even travel, there will be no forced vaccination, just like we don’t force anyone else to get vaccinated and protected if they don’t want to. The other statements in these misinformation cards are also false – no one has said that the new COVID-19 vaccines will only provide protection for a few months.

With three strikes on the front of the card, do we really need to look at the back?

Don’t let misinformation about vaccines and COVID-19 turn into a death sentence for you or your kids.

Here we go again…

  1. While it is certainly true that being exposed to SARS-CoV-2 is not a death sentence to most people, it can be if you are in a high risk group. And although it isn’t getting any attention at all, folks should know that over 90 children and teens have already died of COVID-19.
  2. Again, we know that symptom free people can indeed be a risk to others. The WHO states that “multiple studies have shown that people infect others before they themselves became ill, which is supported by available viral shedding data.” And if she is going to mention false positive test results, which are very rare, she should mention false negatives, which are more common.
  3. While we never did get vaccines for SARS or MERS, it wasn’t because they weren’t safe and had it nothing to do with unsuccessful attempts. These vaccines were made, but they were never fully developed. Unlike with COVID-19, there was no money to develop the SARS and MERS vaccines because few people were getting sick.

So now you know what they aren’t telling you on these COVID-19 misinformation cards.

Not surprisingly, these are the same folks who try to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.

And while Melissa Floyd thinks it is “irrational and unethical” to force everyone to get a COVID-19 vaccine with “inherent side effects,” she should consider the ethics of pushing misinformation and putting them at risk to get COVID-19.

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