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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science History Holocaust Medicine Politics

Are public health responses to COVID-19 like the Cultural Revolution?

Over at the “spiritual child of the Great Barrington Declaration,” an anonymous graduate student likens COVID-19 responses to the Cultural Revolution. Wait, I thought COVID mitigations were the Holocaust! I’m so confused!

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Skepticism/critical thinking

Claiming the mantle of “reasonableness” by attacking even worse cranks

A couple of days ago, Joe Mercola tried to seem “reasonable” by contrasting himself to other quacks by “conceding” that SARS-CoV-2 actually exists. Last night Dr. Vinay Prasad tried to do the same thing by “analyzing” the appearances of conspiracy theorists on Joe Rogan’s show. The parallels are eerie.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine

Paxlovid is NOT “#Pfizermectin”

Pfizer recently announced that its new drug Paxlovid was 89% effective in preventing hospitalization due to COVID-19 and is seeking emergency use authorization for it. Antivaxxers claim that ivermectin targets the same protease and is being “suppressed” to protect Pfizer’s profits, even coining the hashtag #Pfizermectin. What’s the real story? Hint: Antivaxxers…exaggerate. And distort.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine

Does spike protein from COVID-19 vaccines interfere with DNA damage repair?

A study claiming that COVID-19 spike protein gets into the nucleus and inhibits DNA damage repair, thus increasing the chances of cancer, has gone viral. Even if it shows exactly what the authors claim it shows, it is not evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe.

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Clinical trials Computers and social media Medicine Quackery

Ivermectin is the new hydroxychloroquine, take 3: Conspiracy theories and grift

As the drip-drip-drip of negative evidence for ivermectin against COVID-19 continues to roll in, conspiracy theorists are doubling down. Why? It’s always about the grift.