Ever since COVID-19 first emerged in 2020, evidence-free claims that it had arisen due to a “lab leak” have proliferated and caused as much harm as antivax. A recent paper argues that this conspiracy theory has been very harmful to science. I argue that it’s more than just lab leak that is harmful.
The New Yorker published a story reporting that RFK Jr. picked up a bear cub killed by a car and dumped it in Central Park as a joke. WTF? I knew that RFK Jr. and his antivax conspiracy theories were bizarre, but WTF?
Christopher Ruhm, COVID-19, COVID-19 vaccine, cross-sectional study, epidemiology, excess deaths, excess mortality, public health, vaccines.
Former President Donald Trump bragged in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention that “right-to-try” had saved “thousands of lives”? I realize that his speech seems like ancient history now, but I still had to ask: What’s the real story?
Vaccine scientist Stanley Plotkin coauthored a commentary on vaccine postlicensure studies. Antivax lawyer Aaron Siri tries to misrepresent it as an “admission” that vaccines aren’t safe. Predictable.
