Misuse of the VAERS database to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt about vaccines has been a favorite technique of antivaxxers for decades. Unfortunately, 2021 was the year when this particular antivax trope was turbocharged. (Note: Orac will be taking a week off after this—see note in post.)
Antivaxxers have been publicizing reports of myocarditis in young people, mostly male, after COVID-19 vaccination. ACIP will be meeting to discuss these reports to the VAERS database today. Is there a connection between mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines and myocarditis?
Last year, the Trump administration essentially disbanded the National Vaccine Program Office, folding it into an office focused on infectious diseases. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. What does this mean for monitoring the safety of the soon-to-be-approved COVID-19 vaccines?
One of the most persuasive antivaccine talking points to parents tends to be the claim that babies are getting “too many too soon.” Here’s yet more evidence added to copious other evidence that this particular trope is just that, a trope.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. claims that he is “fiercely pro-vaccine.” His words and actions say otherwise, for instance his Indiegogo campaign to raise money to promote antivaccine misinformation.
