Items

• 
  2022-05-11

  Fact Checkers

  This is an Instagram post by covid_antivax. This post is in criticism of social media removing posts deemed "misinformation" about COVID and the vaccine. The tags from this user, like #depopulation, suggest that the goal of COVID and the vaccines is to reduce the population size. The censoring of information regarding the virus and the vaccine has been troublesome for myself. I do not think it is the right of social media to dictate what can and cannot be said, barring anything illegal, like death threats. I think it is a dangerous trajectory when these multinational companies start deciding what governing bodies and people should think. It brings into question people's actual rights to speech. People should have the right to voice their opinion on subjects like this. If people are prevented from speaking out as much on social media, they will get driven to more niche websites and forums to discuss things, which in turn help create more echo chambers. The great thing about free speech is the ability to bounce ideas off with other people and be given the opportunity to decide for myself what is right with more information available. Taking this away will make it harder to really test ideas and make them more refined. This is more my criticism of social media in general, but the talk on the virus and the vaccines has noticeably made it worse for any side to reconcile.
• 
  2022-05-12

  Baby Formula Shortage

  This is an Instagram post by shanti.mikel. This post is on a conspiracy that the baby formula shortage is being used by Bill Gates to promote artificial breast milk technology. Connected to this theory is Pfizer advising people to not breast feed. I would be curious to know what the vaccine's impact would be on breast feeding in the future, as mRNA vaccines like the one Pfizer has produced are going to be used to treat other diseases. The claim that breast feeding is not recommended with COVID vaccines originated in Britain's medicines regulator, not Pfizer, according to Reuters. In order to give more context to this post, I have posted the story by Reuters as well, for those interested in reading. For me personally, I still don't think all the side-effects from the vaccines will be known for a while, as I have had a hard time getting information on the vaccines that has not come across as highly partisan for one group or the other. The evidence I rely on is mostly anecdotal from people that have received the vaccines, in addition to the reasoning of people that did not get them. For the people in my immediate circle, I have not seen any ill health effects from the vaccines so far, but I am also unsure how effective the vaccines are in the long run if some of those same people still get COVID anyway. It is hard to tell if the vaccine is making the COVID cases more mild, or if the virus has just mutated enough to where it is less deadly. It could be a mixture of both. All of it is hard for me to really be sure about either side because I feel like I am only getting partial truth from both.
• 
  2021-12

  The “Vaccine Passport” Agenda

  This is information on vaccine passports by Swiss Policy Research. The overall message is that there is a correlation between totalitarianism and panic over the virus. This panic, in turn, has translated into governments around the world bringing up the possibility of vaccine passports. The vaccine passports may be used for more than vaccines, as they would be a way for the government to identify movement of individuals easier. The groups uses a number of ways to sway the audience, using information on what different organizations have funded, in addition to bringing up what other governments have said about the vaccine passports. Vaccine passports, according to this publication, really got traction from the digital identity lobby group ID2020 in February 2021, which has funding from both the Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. The research foundation cites pushback against the vaccine passports too. Places like Ontario, Canada have had to take away the vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, as they would potentially lose many workers in the process. In Spain, they have been called "ineffective and unconstitutional." The publication ends by calling the pandemic a "plandemic," saying that it was likely lab-created for the purpose of controlling the populations more. I think given the information available, this is persuasive. There are links to where the claims come from, such as what Bill Gates says himself, as well as information on the Good Health Pass, which is a collaboration between many different organizations and their implementation of vaccine passports. In my own opinion, I find vaccine passports unconstitutional and an invasion of privacy. A vaccine passport makes it so you are forced to disclose personal health information to strangers in order to do things like grocery shopping, which I consider to be a potential HIPAA violation. It is also breech of the Fourth Amendment in the Constitution. If people feel inclined to get vaccinated, they should, but forcing people to do so through vaccine passports creates more overall distrust in the government. I have known people that would have otherwise have gotten the vaccine if it wasn't so forced. Even though vaccine passports were never mandated where I live, there have been people that have lost their livelihoods over not wanting to get vaccinated. I myself was very hesitant to get the vaccine for a while due to the way the government was handling it. Trying to implement vaccine passports and mandates has made it so society becomes more segregated, where unvaccinated would be forced to shop at different places, work at different places, and many other things. I am glad that the overall effort to actually do this has failed, but that is only because of many groups of people throughout the United States exercising their rights. I am pro-choice too, and I extend that reasoning to vaccine passports. People need bodily autonomy and vaccine mandates remove some of that.
• 
  2022-05-05

  Vaccine skeptics and anti-maskers who invoked 'my body, my choice' in the pandemic are now lining up to support the end of Roe v. Wade

  This is a news story from Business Insider by Mia Jankowicz. This is about the argument of bodily autonomy as it applies to abortion and COVID. People have argued that vaccine passports and masks are infringements of civil liberties. The author writes that this is a mirror of what pro-choice advocates say. Some have argued that the anti-vaccine and anti-mask views being conflated with bodily autonomy arguments do not make sense, as being unvaccinated poses a greater risk to others, whereas lack of abortion access could put the mother's life in danger.
• 
  2022-04-26

  WHO Warns About the Dangers of Health Misinformation as Musk Takes Over Twitter

  This is a news story from Bloomberg News by Andy Hoffman and Clara Hernanz Lizarraga. Since Elon Musk has officially acquired Twitter, it has prompted groups like the World Health Organization to give warnings on COVID misinformation. Mike Ryan, the executive director of the health emergencies program at the WHO issued a statement on Musk buying Twitter for $44 billion dollars. “When anyone reaches a position in life where they have so much influence over the way information is shared with communities, they take on a huge responsibility,” Ryan said at the media briefing in Geneva. “We wish Mr. Musk luck with his endeavors to improve the quality of information we all receive.” Throughout the pandemic, the WHO has worked to make sure correct information about the pandemic and vaccines are being spread. The WHO has an overall fear now that bad information could be spread more easily about COVID and possibly cause more death.
• 
  2022-04-14

  Biolabs

  This is an Instagram post by dehart_perks. This is a parody of the "I Stand with Ukraine" social media trend that became popular with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is making fun of people that follow the media narrative, whether it is for which side to support in a war, or getting vaccinated. The extra things that are added, are biolabs, which some believe are responsible for helping create COVID itself.
• 
  2022-04-15

  I Stand With Pfizer

  This is an Instagram post by covid_parent. This is a parody of "I Stand with Ukraine" posts that have become popular over social media since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Instead of saying that they stand with Ukraine, it is saying they stand with Pfizer, a pharmaceutical company. It is mocking the type of people that just follow any trend, whether it is vaccines, or which side to support in a war. The hashtags call the pandemic a "scamdemic" and references the "New World Order." These tags indicate the overall feeling that the pandemic is partly, or completely planned, in order to exert more control over people and limit their freedoms.
• 
  2022-04-18

  Natural Medicine

  This is an Instagram post by angelicaviator. This person suggests that more natural cures can help with COVID symptoms. Since natural cures don't make profit for the healthcare industry, this is why this person thinks that they are often overlooked. The picture that goes with this has types of juicing suggestions on what goes best against a certain ailment.
• 
  2022-04-17

  Vaccine Mandates are Harmful

  This is a Twitter update by ellymelly. She is calling the vaccine mandates "cruel and unscientific" because people who have already gotten the vaccine could get and spread COVID anyway.
• 
  2022-04-08

  The Herman Cain Award: the prize no one wants to get and creators want to destroy

  This is a news story from WBUR by Amory Sivertson, Ben Brock Johnson, and Quincy Walters. This is an interview that has been transcribed about the subreddit r/TheHermanCainAward. This subreddit has over 500,000 members. It is named after Herman Cain, a former businessman and Republican presidential candidate, who died in 2020 after getting the Coronavirus. One of the moderators, "Hammy", says that specific anti-mask and anti-vaccine people are featured on the subreddit in an attempt to influence, and in turn, take what is posted publicly, and throw it back in their faces. In order to get an "award" on the subreddit, one has to die. Nominations are for those that go to the hospital. The subreddit makes sure that all information is verified so people cannot call it "fake." They also go to lengths to black-out names, faces, and places in order to protect privacy. Though, even with attempts to make things anonymous, people are still found out. The moderator "Hammy" also does not wish to include their real name in this interview for fear of harassment. Glenn, someone that got featured in the subreddit, was also in this interview to explain his reasoning. Many of his doubts stem from the way the government has been handling it, in addition to the producers of the vaccine themselves asking for more boosters after the initial vaccine, which to him, doesn't seem normal for a vaccine. Glenn also recounts getting lots of harassment on his own Facebook page after getting featured in the subreddit, saying it isn't treatment their own kids should have to see, like people cheering on his death. Despite being vaccinated, "Hammy" contracted "long COVID." Glenn ended up with COVID pneumonia.
• 
  2022-04-13

  700 Chicago officers are refusing the city’s vaccine mandate without consequence

  This is a news story from WBEZ Chicago by Patrick Smith. This story is about 700 police officers in Chicago refusing to comply with the vaccine mandates. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot promised that officers refusing to abide by the mandate will face consequences by being placed on a no-pay status. Figures from the Chicago Police Department show that almost no officers have faced consequences for refusing vaccination. In total, the number of unvaccinated cops in Chicago is 2,110.
• 
  2022-03-02

  I Support the Current Thing

  This is an Instagram post by waking.the.dead. This is an NPC meme of people claiming they have a healthy distrust of authority, while supporting things imposed by authority. The NPC meme is a meme that gained popularity in the late 2010s and has had continued popularity in the 2020s. NPC stands for "Non Playable Character", which is a term used in gaming for pre-programed characters that have a set script for when the players interact with them. This has expanded to apply to people, with it being used as a slight towards any and all political sides, and portraying the side they don't agree with as having no original thoughts of their own. The context of the NPC meme with the "I have AIDS" thing at the bottom is a reference to the claim that some of the COVID vaccines actually weaken immune systems and sometimes give people AIDS. The mask with the Ukraine flag refers to the current war between Russia and Ukraine, and support of Ukraine in some circles has been seeing as "following the herd because the media/government said to." The top part of "I have healthy distrust of authority" is meant to be ironic, as the NPC has fallen for all the current narratives without question.
• 
  2022-04-11

  A New Stanford Study

  This is an Instagram post by newsrescue, which is a news site that claims to bust "fake news." The study that this news story is referring to is one on spike proteins, which found that the vaccinated and unvaccinated had roughly the same amount of spike proteins in their blood. This news story is designed to show that the vaccines may not be as effective as they are claimed to be.
• 
  2022-03-19

  Thought on Pfizer's Fourth Booster

  This is an Instagram post by willingtowalkaway. The poster is using a tweet to make their point. In the tweet, someone by the username of SaraVic333 says that she does not want another shot. In the hashtags in the Instagram post, the user is in agreement, saying that they do not want it either. Another thing that is tagged is "natural immunity", which some believe is enough to counteract COVID without needing a vaccine. Other tags include things like "I will not comply" and "poison." Posts like these are important because they help show what skeptics think of the vaccines from their own perspective rather than one assumed by others.
• 
  2022-03-13

  Pfizer CEO says fourth COVID-19 shot 'necessary' due to waning immunity

  This is an Instagram post by the New York Post. This is of a news story in circulation currently regarding vaccines. Below, there are commenters expressing doubts in the effectiveness in the vaccines. Of note, one commenter says that they have already been vaccinated and boosted, but do not want anymore shots. Another is asking for it to stop already. To me, this shows some of the overall fatigue some are having with the vaccines themselves.
• 
  2022-04-04

  Trust the Science

  This is an Instagram post by memefrog9000. This is another meme where it depicts a soy wojak (the wojak on the left) and the Chad wojak (the wojak on the right with the blond hair). This meme is making fun of people like the soy wojak that "trust the science", only later to get the virus despite getting vaccinated. The Chad wojak then suggests the soy wojak use some "horse paste" to help. "Horse paste" refers to Ivermectin, which is used to treat horses. There has been controversy if Ivermectin does treat COVID, or other things in humans for that matter, but the FDA currently recommends against it.
• 
  2022-04-04

  Brainwashed Sheep

  This is an Instagram post from _travelsnapz_. This post shows a picture of a massive group of sheep being led to the slaughter, which is Pfizer. It is accusing people that get the vaccine that they are sheep and doing so because they cannot think for themselves.
• 
  2022-04-05

  I Had Mild Symptoms Because I'm Fully Vaccinated

  This is an Instagram post by tsmr76. This post shows a meme making fun of people that have gotten fully vaccinated, only to later get COVID. It is meant to question the idea that the vaccines are effective. In one of the tags of this post, they mention "mass formation psychosis", which was a term coined by Dr. Robert Malone in an interview with Joe Rogan. The idea behind this term is that it refers to a mob mentality behind the vaccines, where people will essentially believe what they hear, repeat it, and get others to join in; which creates an environment where everyone seemingly agrees with each other. This creates a mob mentality towards those that think differently.
• 
  2022-04-07

  Corrupt Vaccines

  This is an Instagram post by dswlaura1. This post shows a TikTok video, with hashtags as a description. The tags refer to things like the Ottawa Freedom Convoy, which has been a massive ongoing protest against vaccine mandates in Canada. Other tags include references to "The Great Reset", which is a conspiracy theory that the pandemic was created in order to make people more subservient to elites in power, while losing both their money and freedoms in the process. "Agenda 2030" is another conspiracy theory where it was established that 2030 will be the official "end" to the virus, along with other things.
• 
  2022-04-07

  Fact Checkers Have Proven This False

  This is an Instagram post by labrini_angelidou. This is a parody of the Adam and Eve story in the Bible, but it uses the fruit in place of the vaccine. The snake is representative of those encouraging you to take the vaccine, because the fact checkers have proven death from vaccines to be false. In the tags, many vaccines are listed, such as: Johnson and Johnson; Astrazeneca; Pfizer; and Moderna.
• 
  2022-04-05

  Truth Serum

  This is an Instagram post by namastou, and is partly in French. The comic posted in addition to the caption is by Ben Garrison, a political comic artist based in the United States. The comic shows how "truth" is being injected into "medical tyranny", and with that, the truth is that the masks are akin to making you slaves to the government, the vaccines cause gene alteration, and that PCR tests can come out as a false positive.
• 
  2022-04-05

  Medical Tyranny

  This is an Instagram post by namastou. This post is partly in French. The picture depicted are people part of the European Union signing a deal with Pfizer, one of the vaccine producers. The 2030 Agenda that is referenced is about the year 2030 being the year all the problems COVID has caused will be solved. An article is linked to this post in order to give more context to the 2030 Agenda and what it means for this comic. The conspiracy theories surrounding the 2030 Agenda also have to do with the New World Order, which has been a long-standing conspiracy theory even before the pandemic happened.
• 
  2022-04-06

  The Pass Wars

  This is an Instagram post by namastou. This post is partly in French, and it is a satire on Star Wars. The post references President Emanuel Macron, the current French president in the tags. It also uses the tag #plandemie, which is a French way of saying "plandemic", which is the belief that this pandemic was planned out by the rich in order to get richer and control their populace. They also say #liberté, or "liberty", possibly referring to their side being the side of freedom. #thegreatreset is another tag that is about the pandemic triggering a "great reset" where the rich have almost near control of the population through things like vaccine passports, which would limit freedom of movement if some refused to get the vaccine, thus creating discrimination between the vaccinated and unvaccinated.
• 
  2022-04-06

  Pfizer Loyalty Card

  This is an Instagram post by 4kron2. This user posted few tags, but the picture does give a lot of information. There has been a controversy on if booster shots are even needed, with some believing that this is a ploy by Big Pharma to get more money from the pandemic. This picture is a parody of loyalty cards some places have where if you buy a certain product or service enough times, you will get a reward.
• 
  2022-04-07

  The Elephant in the Room

  This is an Instagram post by resistance_awakening_5d. This user posted a picture in reference to the "elephant in the room" regarding vaccines. This being that the unvaccinated are not dying. The user added tags like #pureblood, which means someone that has not gotten the vaccine, and is therefore "pure." Other tags include #depopulationagenda, which references the idea that the vaccines are meant to depopulate the world. #clotshot refers to the user believing the vaccines cause blood clots. These are just a few meanings of the tags used by the author of this post.
• 
  2022-04-07

  Brainwashing

  This is an Instagram post by we_stand_together_uk. The post shows a comic of a man and his brain full of different narratives, with the man looking fearful. Quite a few of the narratives depicted are COVID related, such as: "masks work", "trust the science", and "get boosted now." The poster themselves in the tags says #saynotothevaccine and #wewillnotcomply, making me believe that they think that everyone that has taken the vaccine has been brainwashed in some way to accept it, when they believe it is dangerous.
• 
  2022-03-07

  Decline the Vaccine

  This is an Instagram post from brotherkamil. This user is posting their skepticism surrounding the vaccine, believing that it will cause ill health effects. By abstaining from the vaccine, the user says that they are 100% safe from averse reactions.
• 
  2022-03-08

  Florida Will Urge Parents Not To Vaccinate ‘Healthy’ Kids, Going Against CDC Advice

  This is a news story from Scary Mommy, written by Lauren Levy. This story deals with Florida's position on vaccinating children and going against CDC guidelines. The author, Levy, is very against this and thinks it is irresponsible to be contrary to what the CDC suggests, claiming that it will make things more dangerous for kids if they don't take the vaccine. Some have been raising concerns that people are taking politicians words over those of doctors. Opponents have reminded parents that this is just a suggestion from Florida politicians, and not a mandate, meaning that they can discern for themselves if the vaccine is right for their kids. Ultimately, Levy believes parents should ignore what Florida politicians say and listen to doctors instead on what to do.
• 
  2022-04-03

  Man in Germany gets 90 COVID-19 shots to sell forged passes

  This is a story by The Hill about a German man from Magdeburg getting the COVID vaccines a copious amount of times in order to make forged vaccine cards. The man in question is 60 years old and was caught in Eilenburg in Saxony. The article states that we do not know what effects will happen after getting the vaccine 90 times. The German government has been trying to crack down on forgeries of vaccine cards. This probably speaks of a bigger nationwide issue, where people will want forgeries if forced to get the vaccines that they see as against their will. With that, brings people like this man who will get the vaccine many times in order to make money off of selling forged vaccine cards.
• 
  2020-11-12

  "2019 was a terrible year for measles. 2021 could be much worse." - Vox

  With the rise of COVID-19, it is easy to forget the risks posed by other diseases to the health of the global community. But as Vox's Julia Belluz reminds readers, the risk posed by measles is still existent and increasing as the current COVID-19 pandemic unwinds. Belluz cites data from the World Health Organization (WHO), medical institutions, and epidemiologists that demonstrate that there has been a significant increase (556%) in measles cases worldwide in the lead up to the COVID-19 pandemic. This increase in cases, according to medical officials, can be attributed to the rise of vaccine skepticism, an anti-intellectual movement that believes that vaccines cause autism and other medical ailments. In addition to the anti-vaccination movement, childhood immunizations for measles have declined significantly (250,000 dose deficit) in the wake of the pandemic, as medical doctors that would usually oversee vaccination campaigns are overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases. This massive deficit in vaccinations is creating the conditions for future outbreaks of measles, which will devastate marginalized communities already impacted by COVID-19. Belluz ends the article by calling for further vaccination campaigns, but she also acknowledges that the current Trump administration is unlikely to carry it out to fruition.