Spikes – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

In the past few weeks, the vast majority of the most heavily engaged social media posts with misinformation about the coronavirus came from people who came to light last year through questioning the vaccines.

In July, right-wing commentator Candace Owens jumped on the false testimony of the British scientific advisor. “That’s shocking!” She wrote. “60% of people hospitalized in England with # COVID19 have received two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the government’s chief scientific adviser.”

After scientific advisor Patrick Vallance corrected himself, Ms. Owens added the correct information to the bottom of her Facebook post. But the post was liked or shared over 62,000 times in the three hours leading up to its update – two-thirds of the total interactions – according to an analysis by the New York Times. In total, the rumor garnered 142,000 likes and shares on Facebook, most of them from Ms. Owens’ post, according to a report by the Virality Project, a consortium of misinformation researchers from institutions like Stanford Internet Observatory and Graphika.

When asked to comment, Ms. Owens said in an email, “I’m sorry, I’m not interested in the New York Times. The people who follow me don’t take your hits seriously. “

Updated

Aug 10, 2021, 7:18 p.m. ET

Also in July, lawyer Thomas Renz appeared in a video claiming 45,000 people had died from coronavirus vaccines. The claim that has been debunked is based on unconfirmed information from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, a government database. The unsubstantiated claim was included in a lawsuit Mr. Renz filed on behalf of an anonymous “whistleblower” in coordination with America’s Frontline Doctors – a right-wing group that has historically spread misinformation about the pandemic.

Mr. Renz’s video has more than 19,000 views on Bitchute. The unsubstantiated claim was repeated by the leading Spanish-speaking Telegram channels, Facebook groups and the conspiracy website Infowars, and it garnered over 120,000 views on the platforms, according to the Virality Project.

In an email, Mr. Renz said his practice “performed the necessary due diligence” to believe the accuracy of the allegations in the lawsuit he filed. “We do not actually believe that the Biden administration is responsible, rather we believe that President Biden, like President Trump before him, was misled by the same group of contradicting bureaucrats,” said Renz.

“We know this is an overestimation of current vaccination levels,” said Michael Johansson, a researcher at the CDC. “However, we hope that by the end of this period we will reach a higher level.” ”

All viruses accumulate mutations over time; Most mutations go away, but those that offer an advantage – such as greater contagion or faster replication – can take root and spread. In particular, a more transferable variant is likely to spread quickly among the population.

The new coronavirus has accumulated worrying mutations faster than many researchers expected. Some variants also contain mutations that can easily weaken vaccine protection.

However, the immunity induced by vaccines is extremely strong and should last for years, said Paul Duprex, the Jonas Salk Chair of Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh. “It won’t go from 94 percent effectiveness to 32 percent vaccine effectiveness overnight,” he said.

The variant identified in the UK differs from previous versions of the virus by about 20 mutations, including at least two mutations that may add to its greater risk of contagion. As of Jan. 15, it had been detected in more than 70 cases from 13 states – most recently in Oregon – but the actual numbers are likely to be much higher, said Dr. Butler. “CDC expects these numbers to rise in the coming weeks,” he said.

The CDC has sequenced approximately 71,000 samples of the virus, a tiny fraction of the 23 million people who have been infected in the country to date. But the agency has increased its efforts six-fold in the past two weeks, given B.1.1.7 and other variants, said Dr. Gregory Armstrong, who leads the agency’s molecular surveillance efforts.

State and local health labs have pledged to sequence approximately 6,000 samples per week, a goal they are expected to achieve in about three weeks.