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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Politics Popular culture Science Skepticism/critical thinking

Sputnik-V: A Russian con job on its COVID-19 vaccine

Yesterday, Russia announced its approval of Sputnik-V, what Vladimir Putin dubs as the first COVID-19 vaccine. It’s propaganda, a con job, given that no data were presented and there have been no phase 3 trials.

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Antivaccine nonsense Medicine Popular culture Pseudoscience Television

Alec Baldwin lets his antivaccine freak flag fly by interviewing RFK Jr.

Yesterday, celebrity Alec Baldwin let his antivaccine freak flag fly by interviewing antivaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on Instagram Live, spreading disinformation about vaccines and COVID-19.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bioethics Clinical trials Medicine

Should we bypass phase 3 trials of a COVID-19 vaccine?

Steve Salzberg proposed, in essence, bypassing phase 3 trials for a COVID-19 vaccine. It was a very bad idea for a number of reasons. To his credit, Steve later admitted his mistake.

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Medicine Politics Popular culture Pseudoscience Quackery

Hydroxychloroquine: The Black Knight of treatments for COVID-19

Truly, hydroxychloroquine is the Black Knight of treatments for COVID-19. “America’s Frontline Doctors” demonstrated this for me conclusively.

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Medicine Politics Popular culture Science

COVID-19 and “super-spreaders”

Evidence is emerging suggesting that COVID-19 does not spread equally. A minority of infected individuals seem to spread the virus easily to many people, while most infected individuals spread it to few others or no one at all, likely through a combination of circumstance, environment, and possibly biology. Why is this, and what does it mean for coronavirus containment strategies?