DebunkThis

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Debunking pseudoscience, myths, and spurious hogwash since 2010.

We are an evidence-based Reddit/Lemmy community dedicated to taking an objective look at questionable theories, dodgy news sources, bold-faced claims, and suspicious studies.

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Links

Suggested Fediverse Communities

• RFK Jr. Watch @lemm.ee - Discuss misinformation being spread by antivaxxer politician, Robert F Kennedy Jr.
• Skeptic @lemmy.world - Discuss pseudoscience, quackery, and bald-faced BS
• Skeptic @kbin.social - The above, just on Kbin
• Science Communication @mander.xyz - Discuss science literacy and media reporting

Useful Resources

• Common examples of misleading graphs - How to spot dodgy infographics
• Metabunk.org - a message board dedicated to debunking popular conspiracies
• Media Bias / Fact Check - Great resource for current news fact checking + checking a source's political bias
• Science Based Medicine - A scientific look at current issues and controversies
• Deplatform Disease - A medical blog that specifically counters anti-COVID-vaccine claims
• Respectful Insolence - David Gorsky's blog on antivax shenanigans, politics, and pseudoscience

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DebunkThis: CDC Director Knew Vaccines Didn't Stop COVID-19 and Mislead the Public (dailysceptic.org)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by kabe to c/debunkthis

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This piece from The Daily Skeptic claims that the CDC director knowingly lied to the public because she knew that the COVID vaccines did not stop the virus even though she promoted mass vaccination.

What do we make of this one?

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sigh. On the one hand, I want, need and deserve rigorous honesty from science (and the panoply of public-facing health officials).

On the other hand, I don't completely trust others to use that info wisely. Like: when Faucci said that N95 masking was unnecessary—and was actually trying to stall so that adequate PPE could be supplied to healthcare workers. If he hadn't said that, would the general pubic have graciously stepped to the back of the line to wait for their turn to get masks? I doubt it.

But—if PPE works for healthcare workers, why doen't it work for me? Or, if the highly touted flu vaccine merely dampens effects of the flu, why should I think this new miracle mRNA tech is going to reduce my chances of merely having milder Covid symptoms?

I don't know, but it seems to me that this muddled messaging and the 20/20 hindsight decoding may actually be contributing to the science-denying BS going around. Don't patronize me, I guess is what I'm saying.

[–] kabe 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't think many people would disagree that the CDC did a pretty poor job of their public messaging.

Granted, it wasn't easy to simplify the what ever- evolving body of research was revealing about both the virus and the vaccines, but they really didn't do themselves any favours by making confident pronouncements that were later shown to be incorrect.

It gave the conspiracy/antivax crowd a lot of ammunition.