Instagram Post Makes Invalid Comparison Between COVID-19 and Flu Vaccines
English
SciCheck Digest
A tweet shared on Instagram baselessly claims that a person is 300 to 900 times more likely to die “after getting the #Covid vaccine than the flu vaccine.” But the comparison is faulty and there is no proof that people are dying from COVID-19 vaccines. How do we know vaccines are safe?
As with any vaccine, safety is also being monitored as the shots are rolled out to members of the public to ensure there are no side effects of concern. A very small number of severe allergic reactions, for example which are expected with any vaccine haveoccurred with some of the authorized COVID-19 vaccines. For the COVID-19 vaccines, the CDC and FDA vaccine monitoring systems include a new smartphone-based tool called v-safe that allows enrollees to report any reactions to the vaccine.
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Introduction
The Declaration of Independence explains that “institut[ing] new Government” requires “laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form” as will accomplish its purpose. To that end, America’s Founders laid a foundation for republican government in which “the people are masters of the government”REF and structured its powers into three separate branches.
While these are designed to be separate and coordinate, the Founders believed that in a republic, the legislative branch, which represents and is elected by the people, “necessarily predominates.”REF The judicial branch, in contrast, would be the “weakest” and “least dangerous” branch because it uses “judgment” rather than “will”REF to settle legal disputes that take the form of actual “Cases” and “Controversies.”REF
I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science (American Politics, Research Methods) at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. Previously, I was a Science of Science Communication postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (University of Pennsylvania). I was also based at the Yale Law School, where I was an affiliated postdoctoral scholar at the Cultural Cognition Project.
I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, where I was also a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow and Doctoral Dissertation Fellow.
My research focuses on a wide range of topics related to American politics, public opinion, science communication, and both health and environmental policy. I am especially interested in identifying the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes, and investigating their policy impact. I am also broadly interested in designing communication strategies that promote effective
The Daily Yonder A poll worker and journalist says we need to inoculate our electoral system against mistrust.
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Northern Nevadans wait to vote in-person at Reed High School in Sparks, Nevada on November 3, 2020, prior to polls closing. (AP Photo/Scott Sonner, File)
As 2020’s Covid-19 pandemic ravaged Americans’ health and economy, distrust of our election system infested the bloodstream of U.S. democracy.
The result is a nation with voter flu, even leading to a feverish mob physically attacking Congress in session, enraged about imagined ballot fraud and a stolen presidential election.
Ed Maixner (photo submitted)
My own service as a foot soldier in the 2020 election – an election official in Fairfax County, Virginia – plants me on the far shore from those who stormed the Capitol with baseball bats, firearms, and death threats.