copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2021-07-02): The COVID-19 vaccines have been shown in trials and real-world application to be safe and effective. But a paper shared widely online claimed that vaccines cause two deaths for every three lives saved. Experts say the analysis misinterpreted data and was flawed — and it has now been retracted by the journal that published it. [...] In the latest iteration of that type of data being misrepresented, a peer-reviewed paper published in a scientific journal used it to dubiously claim that the COVID-19 vaccines were causing deaths at such a scale that they nearly rival the number of lives saved through the vaccines. [...] Behind her in parts of the video is a board repeating the study’s claim as a statement of fact: "COVID vax kills two people for every three saved."
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2021-09-14): Kirsch made many allegations in his presentation about the dangers of COVID-19 vaccines. Regarding the Pfizer vaccine, he claimed that a six-month study showed the Pfizer vaccine "killed five people" for each COVID-19 death it prevented. At the hearing, he said the statistic was not statistically significant but was still troubling. [...] More than 386 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines were administered in the United States from mid December through Sept. 20. And in that period, VAERS received 7,899 reports of death (0.0020%) among people who received a COVID-19 vaccine. [...] COVID-19 has killed nearly 675,000 people in the U.S., and more than 4.5 million worldwide. The vaccines authorized in the U.S. have been shown to significantly reduce the likelihood of severe illness, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. And no evidence has established that a COVID-19 vaccine authorized in the U.S. caused any deaths.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2023-11-06): COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of death from COVID-19. Social media posts have misused survey data and adverse events reports to falsely claim that COVID-19 vaccines have killed more people than COVID-19. But serious adverse events resulting from vaccination, including deaths, are rare. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 1.1 million Americans have died from COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccines have substantially reduced the risk of severe disease and death, according to multiple studies, even as more transmissible and immune-evasive variants have led to widespread infections. [...] Despite these facts, anti-vaccine advocates continue to baselessly inflate the prevalence of deaths caused by COVID-19 vaccines, while also minimizing COVID-19 deaths. Most recently, posts have falsely claimed that more people have died from COVID-19 vaccines than from COVID-19.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2021-10-04): There has been widespread speculation about the side-effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines, including, tragically, deaths. But how many people have died as a result of a vaccine and why do different sources of data tell a different story? Sarah Caul takes a look at what the data are showing us. [...] The COVID-19 vaccination programme led to a very large number of people receiving vaccinations in a relatively short period. Some people will, sadly, die by chance shortly after receiving a vaccine, so the death can be mistakenly attributed to the COVID-19 vaccination by a family member or carer. In the course of such a large-scale programme, this could add up to a large number. [...] The Yellow Card Scheme data, by contrast, give an important early warning about possible deaths relating to COVID-19 vaccinations, and form a basis for further investigations. However, the numbers don’t show confirmed cases of deaths linked to the vaccines and should not be used for this purpose. Many of these deaths will actually have had other causes, which explains why these numbers are so much higher than the deaths registrations.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2022-05-05): New estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) show that the full death toll associated directly or indirectly with the COVID-19 pandemic (described as "excess mortality") between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2021 was approximately 14.9 million (range 13.3 million to 16.6 million). [...] Excess mortality includes deaths associated with COVID-19 directly (due to the disease) or indirectly (due to the pandemic’s impact on health systems and society). Deaths linked indirectly to COVID-19 are attributable to other health conditions for which people were unable to access prevention and treatment because health systems were overburdened by the pandemic. The estimated number of excess deaths can be influenced also by deaths averted during the pandemic due to lower risks of certain events, like motor-vehicle accidents or occupational injuries. Most of the excess deaths (84%) are concentrated in South-East Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Some 68% of excess deaths are concentrated in just 10 countries globally. Middle-income countries account for 81% of the 14.9 million excess deaths (53% in lower-middle-income countries and 28% in upper-middle-income countries) over the 24-month period, with high-income and low-income countries each accounting for 15% and 4%, respectively.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2024-04-01): PolitiFact has seen repeated and unsubstantiated claims that covid vaccines have caused mass numbers of deaths. A recent widely shared post claimed 17 million people had died because of the vaccine, despite contrary evidence from multiple studies and institutions such as the World Health Organization and CDC that the vaccines are safe and help to prevent severe illness and death. [...] Covid vaccines also have been blamed for causing Alzheimer’s and cancer. Experts have found no evidence the vaccines cause either conditions.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2022-01-25): Vaccination against COVID-19 provides clear public health benefits, but vaccination also carries potential risks. The risks and outcomes of myocarditis after COVID-19 vaccination are unclear. [...] The exposure of concern was vaccination with one of the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines: the BNT162b2 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) or the mRNA-1273 vaccine (Moderna). During the analytic period, persons aged 12 years or older were eligible for the BNT162b2 vaccine and persons aged 18 years or older were eligible for the mRNA-1273 vaccine. The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered during the analytic period was obtained through the CDC’s COVID-19 Data Tracker.17 [...] Males comprised 82% (1334/1625) of the cases of myocarditis for whom sex was reported. The largest proportions of cases of myocarditis were among White persons (non-Hispanic or ethnicity not reported; 69% [914/1330]) and Hispanic persons (of all races; 17% [228/1330]). Among persons younger than 30 years of age, there were no confirmed cases of myocarditis in those who died after mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccination without another identifiable cause and there was 1 probable case of myocarditis but there was insufficient information available for a thorough investigation. At the time of data review, there were 2 reports of death in persons younger than 30 years of age with potential myocarditis that remain under investigation and are not included in the case counts.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2021-01-26): An estimated 17 million people were murdered by the German Nazi regime and their collaborators between 1933 and 1945, according to data published by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). The estimates are based on the regime’s own reports as well as demographic studies of population loss during World War II. The latest estimate of the number of homosexual victims is based on research by German historian Alexander Zinn, who carried out extensive research on this group of victims.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2023-04-17): Despite overwhelming evidence that COVID-19 vaccines have mitigated the effects of the pandemic, a report called the Vaccine Damage Project, or V-Damage Project, claims that they led to 310,000 excess deaths among Americans ages 25 through 64 in 2021 and 2022. It also baselessly claims the vaccines had a "significant impact" on the number of Americans with disabilities and that COVID-19 vaccines were the "most likely cause" for a large increase in work absences. [...] The alleged findings of the V-Damage Project have been shared widely on social media. Edward Dowd, a founding partner of Phinance Technologies, baselessly tweeted that the "estimated human cost" of the vaccines was 26.6 million injuries, 1.36 million disabilities and 300,000 excess deaths. Dowd has repeatedly said that COVID-19 vaccines are causing large numbers of deaths, claims that have been debunked by other fact-checkers. [...] Finally, there is no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines have killed large numbers of people. The Food and Drug Administration and CDC have multiple systems for monitoring vaccine safety, and they have detected very few deaths caused by the vaccines.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2023-02-10): But no matter how convincing and irrefutable the science and the data about the COVID-19 vaccines are, misinformation spreads so easily and quickly—largely through social media networks—that it has become a major barrier stopping the United States from reaching higher levels of vaccination (190 million people, or 57 percent of Americans, have received at least one shot) that would bring us closer to herd immunity. [...] FACT: As of August 9, the CDC said there had been 8,054 vaccinated people who were hospitalized or died who had also tested positive for coronavirus—out of more than 166 million fully vaccinated Americans. That’s roughly .005 percent. Additionally, CDC director Rochelle Walensky has said that 99.5 percent of all deaths from COVID-19 are in the unvaccinated.—Politifact, Fact Checking Joe Biden’s Figure on Unvaccinated COVID-19 Deaths Hamer: COVID vaccines have been shown to be very powerful in preventing more severe disease and the need for hospitalization. Breakthroughs occur at a much, much lower rate than in people who are unvaccinated. The breakthroughs have been occurring more frequently with the Delta variant because of the high level of infectiousness (or transmissibility) of the Delta variant and lower protection of current vaccines against this variant. But people having breakthroughs have much more mild infection, more like an upper respiratory infection. The vaccines prevent severe disease and complications and allow people to return to a more normal state.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2023-03-29): It was lowest in London (16%) and highest in the South West (54%). The proportion of deaths involving COVID-19, where COVID-19 was the underlying cause, decreased between January and February 2023 in England (from 70.5% to 66.9%) and in Wales (from 72.2% to 71.6%). In February 2023, COVID-19 was the 8th leading cause of death in England and 12th leading cause of death in Wales. Overall, there were an estimated 3.2 million visits to the UK by overseas residents in both October and November 2022. In November 2022, visits to the UK were 2% higher than that of the last comparable month since the pandemic began (3.1 million visits in November 2019). This is the first time since the beginning of COVID-19 that visits to the UK have been above pre-pandemic levels. Vaccine effectiveness is the reduction in risk due to receiving a vaccine. Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation for COVID-19 was 52.2% for a first dose (between 21 March 2021 to 20 March 2022). Vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation for COVID-19 was 55.7% for the second dose, and 77.6% for the third dose, respectively. Vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 mortality was 58.7% for a first dose, 88.6% for a second dose and 93.2% for a third dose. [...] Since COVID-19 reached the UK in early 2020, more than 500 million tests have been reported, more than 9 in every 10 people aged 12 years and over have received at least two vaccinations, and more than 150,000 people have died.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2023-12-16): Data from around the world support the general safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. Some people online, however, incorrectly claim that illegally obtained data from New Zealand show the vaccines have killed 13 million people worldwide. Experts say the analysis is bogus. [...] Most recently, Steve Kirsch, a tech entrepreneur who has become a major source of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, has claimed that leaked data from the New Zealand government "prove" that the vaccines have killed on average 1 person for every 1,000 doses — or when extrapolated to the entire world, about 13 million people. [...] "Steve Kirsch’s claim that New Zealand data shows COVID-19 vaccines killed millions is based on a flawed analysis." Health Feedback. 8 Dec 2023.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2023-10-11): Analysis claiming to find COVID-19 vaccines killed 17 million people is highly flawed, doesn’t account for COVID-19 mortality surges [...] A claim that COVID-19 vaccines have killed 17 million people appeared in many social media posts on Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) in late September 2023. [...] Rancourt et al. thus concluded that the overall vDFR for the 17 countries analyzed "would imply 17.0 ± 0.5 million COVID-19 vaccine deaths worldwide […] This would correspond to a mass iatrogenic event that killed (0.213 ± 0.006) % of the world population (1 death per 470 living persons, in less than 3 years), and did not measurably prevent any deaths". It is this calculation that provides the basis for this claim.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2020-11-05): Denmark will cull all its mink - as many as 17 million - after a mutated form of coronavirus that can spread to humans was found on mink farms.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2024-04-10): Among the 925 male decedents, no death certificate listed vaccination either as the immediate or as a contributing cause of death. Overall, 17 (2%) deaths among males were attributed to COVID-19. Death certificates cited noncardiac causes of death or other conditions contributing to death for 842 (91%) of the male decedents. Among the remaining 66 (7%) male decedents, excluding a cardiac cause of death based on the death certificate was not possible. Among these 66 decedents, IIS vaccination records were available for 58 (88%); receipt of at least one mRNA COVID-19 vaccination was recorded for 24 (41%). [...] Vaccine 2022;40:1499–511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.11.074 PMID:35105494 - Block JP, Boehmer TK, Forrest CB, et al. Cardiac complications after SARS-CoV-2 infection and mRNA COVID-19 vaccination—PCORnet, United States, January 2021–January 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:517–23. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7114e1 PMID:35389977 - Fitzpatrick M, Moghadas S, Pandey A, Galvani A. Two years of U.S. COVID-19 vaccines have prevented millions of hospitalizations and deaths. New York, NY: The Commonwealth Fund; 2022. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2022/two-years-covid-vaccines-prevented-millions-deaths-hospitalizations https://doi.org/10.26099/whsf-fp90 - CDC. Update: vaccine side effects, adverse reactions, contraindications, and precautions. Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). MMWR Recomm Rep 1996;45(No. RR-12):1–35. PMID:8801442
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2024-01-09): We rate the claim that there have been 17 million deaths from the COVID-19 vaccines False. [...] AFP, Report falsely claims Covid vaccines killed 17 million worldwide, Oct. 23, 2023 [...] Health Feedback, Analysis claiming to find COVID-19 vaccines killed 17 million people is highly flawed, doesn’t account for COVID-19 mortality surges, Oct. 11, 2023
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2021-09-09): Before I took office, we hadn’t ordered enough vaccine for every American. Just weeks in office, we did. The week before I took office, on January 20th of this year, over 25,000 Americans died that week from COVID-19. Last week, that grim weekly toll was down 70 percent. [...] We’ve also now started to ship another 500 million COVID vaccines — Pfizer vaccines — purchased to donate to 100 lower-income countries in need of vaccines. And I’ll be announcing additional steps to help the rest of the world later this month.
Claim: COVID-19 vaccines are responsible for killing 17 million people (Denis Rancourt, 2023-11-10)
Evidence (2022-01-23): The findings in this report are subject to at least five limitations. First, VAERS is a passive surveillance system and is subject to underreporting and reporting biases (7); however, under EUA, health care providers are required to report all serious events following vaccination. Second, medical review of reported deaths following vaccination is dependent on availability of medical records, death certificates, and autopsy reports, which might be unavailable or not available in a timely manner. Third, lack of a statistical safety signal in planned monitoring does not preclude a safety concern. For example, although a statistically significant data mining alert has not been observed for myocarditis following Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination, myocarditis has been identified as an adverse event following mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in multiple surveillance systems (10). Fourth, this study was not designed to identify all cases of myocarditis; only reports that listed the MedDRA term "myocarditis" were included. Finally, v-safe is a voluntary self-enrollment program that requires children aged <15 years be enrolled by a parent or guardian and relies on vaccine administrators to promote the program. Therefore, v-safe data might not be generalizable to the overall vaccinated adolescent population.
Claim: Vaccinated children are more likely to have poorer health outcomes compared to unvaccinated children (Brian Hooker, 2023-07-07)
Evidence (2023-07-07): Childhood vaccination helps to reduce the risk of potentially serious diseases, including measles and polio. Large-scale, reputable studies have not found a greater incidence of adverse health outcomes in vaccinated children compared to unvaccinated children. Ingredients in childhood vaccines aren’t present in toxic amounts. The American Academy of Pediatricians recommends on-time routine immunization of all children and adolescents according to the CDC’s Recommended Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule.
Claim: Vaccinated children are more likely to have poorer health outcomes compared to unvaccinated children (Brian Hooker, 2023-07-07)
Evidence (2024-05-27): We used the English National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS) database of COVID-19 vaccination, linked at the individual-level to national data for mortality, hospital admissions, and SARS-CoV-2 infection. We undertook a self-controlled case series design, originally developed to examine vaccine safety36,37, to investigate the association between COVID-19 vaccines available in the UK between 8th December 2020 and 7th August 2022 (BNT162b2, mRNA-1273 and ChAdOx1) and hospitalisation with the following pre-specified outcomes: myocarditis21,22, MIS-C38, immune thrombocytopenia (ITP)39, epilepsy40, acute pancreatitis41, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM)42, Guillain-Barre syndrome43, appendicitis44, demyelinating disease6, myositis45, angioedema46 and anaphylaxis46. We also investigated the association of SARS-CoV-2 infection with these outcomes in children who had been vaccinated prior to infection compared to those who were unvaccinated at time of infection. We compared the incidence of hospitalisation from each outcome in the six weeks following vaccination or SARS-CoV-2 infection relative to the baseline period, and estimated the absolute risk as the excess number of events expected per million children exposed. We also conducted a matched cohort analysis using vaccinated and unvaccinated children included the QResearch primary care database to improve the robustness of the study. [...] Incidence rates of vaccine safety outcomes in the 1–42 days following each vaccine dose and following SARS-CoV-2 infection in vaccinated and unvaccinated children are presented in Supplementary Table 11. Incidence rates for all outcomes were significantly higher following SARS-CoV-2 infection compared to COVID-19 vaccination.
Claim: Vaccinated children are more likely to have poorer health outcomes compared to unvaccinated children (Brian Hooker, 2023-07-07)
Evidence (2018-10-12): "The likelihood of a serious adverse event happening because of a vaccine is extremely low. It’s about one in a million, less than the likelihood of getting killed by lightning," Hotez said. A child who hasn’t received the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine is 35 times more likely to contract measles than a vaccinated child in the U.S., and 90 percent of unvaccinated people who come into contact with an infected person will catch the disease. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97 percent effective at preventing measles. Rising exemption rates threaten more than just the unvaccinated. The mumps can still infect vaccinated people—as seen with a massive outbreak in 2006, which infected over 6,500 people in the Midwest, despite high vaccination rates. These unimmunized pockets put America at risk, but they’re also a worldwide issue. Non-immunized pockets are a major global issue The U.S. ranks high globally when it comes to vaccination rates, but there is still some variation between states.
Claim: Vaccinated children are more likely to have poorer health outcomes compared to unvaccinated children (Brian Hooker, 2023-07-07)
Evidence (2024-07-15): While immunization is one of the most successful public health interventions, coverage plateaued in the decade prior to COVID-19. The COVID-19 pandemic, associated disruptions, and vaccination efforts strained health systems in 2020 and 2021, resulting in dramatic setbacks. Data from 2023 show that performance has not yet returned to 2019 levels. [...] Monitoring data at subnational levels is critical to helping countries prioritize and tailor vaccination strategies and operational plans to address immunization gaps and reach every person with life-saving vaccines. WHO is working with countries and partners to improve global vaccination coverage, including through these initiatives adopted by the World Health Assembly in August 2020.