The Conspiracy Debunk Feed

Objective To estimate the direct and indirect effects of the covid-19 pandemic on mortality in 2020 in 29 high income countries with reliable and complete age and sex disaggregated mortality data. Design Time series study of high income countries. Setting Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, England and Wales, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United States. Participants Mortality data from the Short-term Mortality Fluctuations data series of the Human Mortality Database for 2016-20, harmonised and disaggregated by age and sex. Interventions Covid-19 pandemic and associated policy measures. Main outcome measures Weekly excess deaths (observed deaths versus expected deaths predicted by model) in 2020, by sex and age (0-14, 15-64, 65-74, 75-84, and ≥85 years), estimated using an over-dispersed Poisson regression model that accounts for temporal trends and seasonal variability in mortality. Results An estimated 979 000 (95% confidence interval 954 000 to 1 001 000) excess deaths occurred in 2020 in the 29 high income countries analysed. All countries had excess deaths in 2020, except New Zealand, Norway, and Denmark. The five countries with the highest absolute number of excess deaths were the US (458 000, 454 000 to 461 000), Italy (89 100, 87 500 to 90 700), England and Wales (85 400, 83 900 to 86 800), Spain (84 100, 82 800 to 85 300), and Poland (60 100, 58 800 to 61 300). New Zealand had lower overall mortality than expected (−2500, −2900 to −2100). In many countries, the estimated number of excess deaths substantially exceeded the number of reported deaths from covid-19. The highest excess death rates (per 100 000) in men were in Lithuania (285, 259 to 311), Poland (191, 184 to 197), Spain (179, 174 to 184), Hungary (174, 161 to 188), and Italy (168, 163 to 173); the highest rates in women were in Lithuania (210, 185 to 234), Spain (180, 175 to 185), Hungary (169, 156 to 182), Slovenia (158, 132 to 184), and Belgium (151, 141 to 162). Little evidence was found of subsequent compensatory reductions following excess mortality. Conclusion Approximately one million excess deaths occurred in 2020 in these 29 high income countries. Age standardised excess death rates were higher in men than women in almost all countries. Excess deaths substantially exceeded reported deaths from covid-19 in many countries, indicating that determining the full impact of the pandemic on mortality requires assessment of excess deaths. Many countries had lower deaths than expected in children 15 years. Sex inequality in mortality widened further in most countries in 2020.

They don’t leave only themselves vulnerable to the virus; they make everyone more vulnerable.

First major analysis examines impact across 185 countries since first jab was administered in December 2020

Here we go again – bad published research tries to convince us that COVID-19 rates are unrelated to the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in several countries

Public health authorities say the Covid-19 vaccines have saved lives, but a Canadian report shared across platforms estimates the shots have killed 17 million people globally. This is false; government agencies and independent experts worldwide told AFP the findings are flawed and that only a minuscule percentage of deaths among the vaccinated can be attributed to the jabs.

Experts and r/ChangeMyView subreddit moderators offer 10 tips to debunk conspiracy theories convincingly.

On any given day in B.C., the large majority of people in hospital intensive care units are unvaccinated. On Nov. 5, 59 of 64 COVID patients age 59 and younger in I…

False. Trudeau did not post such a tweet. There is no record of the post and a spokesperson from the prime minister’s office also confirmed to the Associated Press that the image of the tweet was fabricated.

In the first months of the Covid-19 pandemic, only a small number of the more than 6,000 hospitals in the U.S. let journalists inside.

You might not believe in QAnon, but you could still fall down the rabbit hole.

The company’s AI algorithms gave it an insatiable habit for lies and hate speech. Now the man who built them can't fix the problem.

Yesterday, Sen. Ron Johnson held a hearing, "Voices of the Vaccine-injured." As expected, the misinformation and conspiracy theories flowed.

Conspiracy theories, which explain events or a set of circumstances as the result of secret plot by usually powerful and malevolent groups, are quite common. Research has provided some understanding about why people are drawn to conspiracy theories and what makes some people more likely to believe than others.

RT America, a network known for sowing disinformation, has a new alarm: the coming ‘5G Apocalypse.’

As with other epidemics, crises and disasters throughout history, the search for scapegoats for the corona crisis has already started.

217 votes, 40 comments. 33M subscribers in the science community. This community is a place to share and discuss new scientific research. Read about…

Reuters (6/14/24) reported that the US military was behind social media messages like ““COVID came from China and the VACCINE also came from China, don’t

Facts don't do what I want them to. Facts just twist the truth around.

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Conspiracy beliefs have become a topic of increasing interest among behavioural researchers. While holding conspiracy beliefs has been associated with several detrimental social, personal, and health consequences, little research has been dedicated to systematically reviewing the methods that could reduce conspiracy beliefs. We conducted a systematic review to identify and assess interventions that have sought to counter conspiracy beliefs. Out of 25 studies (total N = 7179), we found that while the majority of interventions were ineffective in terms of changing conspiracy beliefs, several interventions were particularly effective. Interventions that fostered an analytical mindset or taught critical thinking skills were found to be the most effective in terms of changing conspiracy beliefs. Our findings are important as we develop future research to combat conspiracy beliefs.

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.

The spread of COVID-19 misinformation in Canada cost at least 2,800 lives and $300 million in hospital expenses over nine months of the pandemic, according to estimates in a new report out Thursday.

Online pregnancy support groups are rife with vaccine misinformation. We asked experts what can be done

Nine large donations make up most of the 2021 budget of the Brownstone Institute, which is led by a man with a neo-Confederate past

Appearing in small stacks at select businesses and handed out at protests, Druthers has gone from a pipedream to the COVID-conspiracy pipeline in only two short years.

Belief that the COVID-19 pandemic was a hoax – that its severity was exaggerated or that the virus was deliberately released for sinister reasons – functions as a “gateway” to believing in conspiracy theories generally, new research has found.In the two-survey study, people who reported greater belief in conspiracy theories about the pan...

In light of widespread falsehoods about Covid-19 and its treatment and prevention, the American Board of Internal Medicine has informed doctors that disseminating misinformation is grounds for ...