This year we’ve faced a wave of coronavirus misinformation—we want to be ready for the next crisis

20 Nov 2020 | Full Fact news
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FACT CHECK
Full Fact brings together internet companies, governments and fact checkers fight bad information online

This year bad information has affected us all. We’ve faced a wave of false claims and conspiracy theories about the coronavirus pandemic.

In September we announced that Full Fact was working to develop a new collaborative model for tackling misinformation crises, with funding support from Facebook.

Since then, we have convened two meetings of internet companies, fact checkers, researchers and international governments to create a new model for fighting misinformation.

The group will aim to set out standards of accountability for tackling misinformation, as well as a set of aims around how all participating organisations can respond to bad information. Core principles will include the need to have a good supply of information, to empower users and to work collaboratively with relevant, responsible experts.
How will it work? ([link removed])
Vaccine conspiracies threaten to prolong the pandemic in 2021. Can you share our campaign for honesty? ([link removed])

At every stage, the coronavirus pandemic has been marked by false claims, conspiracy theories and opportunistic scams.

We all deserve better than bad information. That's why we’re taking part in this year’s Big Give Christmas Challenge ([link removed]) to help create a more honest 2021.

From 1-8 December you'll be able to donate to help us reach our target, and any amount you give will be matched by Full Fact's pledgers, meaning your gift will have double the impact.

But it's a huge target for us, and we need as many people involved as possible. Can you help our campaign go further?

Share it with someone who agrees that honesty matters:
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FACT CHECK
No evidence that there are harmful levels of aluminium or mercury in vaccines ([link removed])

Our readers asked us to look into two claims:
* That aluminium used in a new Covid-19 vaccine—or any other vaccine—can cause Alzheimer’s disease
* That new Covid-19 vaccines contain enough mercury to cause brain damage.

The amount of aluminium used in human vaccines is incredibly small, and typically weighs in at less than a milligram (between 0.2 and 0.8mg), and most aluminium taken into the body is cleaned out by the kidneys.

By comparison, an adult typically ingests seven to nine mg of aluminium per day in food like fruit, vegetables, cereals and beer and wine. Concerns about mercury in vaccines probably relates to thiomersal, a mercury-based chemical.

There are two types of mercury to which people may be exposed: methyl mercury and ethyl mercury. Methyl mercury can be toxic to people but ethyl mercury, which is in thiomersal, is quickly eliminated from the body so it does not build up to reach harmful levels. Besides, ethyl mercury is no longer used in most vaccines in the UK, Europe or the US.
What is in vaccines? ([link removed])
The latest episode of the Full Fact Podcast is out now! ([link removed])

Vaccine hesitancy has been identified by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 threats to global health. A low vaccine uptake led to the removal of the UK’s ‘measles free’ status recently, and misinformation is only exacerbating the problem. So why are people reluctant to be vaccinated? We speak to Professor Heidi Larson, the Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project.

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FACT CHECK
Toby Young wrong to claim the Covid-19 fatality rate is just 0.1% ([link removed])

In a now-deleted tweet, writer and commentator Toby Young wrongly claimed a study published in Royal Society Open Science, found that Covid-19’s infection fatality rate (IFR) is just 0.1%, which he said was comparable to seasonal flu.

As many people on Twitter had pointed out, and Mr Young subsequently acknowledged, his calculation for the IFR of Covid-19 was incorrect.

If over 5 million people had caught the virus in the UK by August, as the study argued, and you then applied the current death toll of around 50,000 people, you would get an IFR of around 1%, not 0.1%. (The current figure for deaths within 28 days of a positive test is over 52,000).

However, it’s worth noting that both the study and the Daily Mail article Mr Young cited had already assumed an infection fatality rate of 0.76%. In fact, that’s how the study calculated its figure for how many people in the UK have been infected—by “backcasting” from death figures up to the end of August and applying an estimated IFR.
What does Covid data tell us? ([link removed])
MORE FACT CHECKS
Also this week...
* Ticketmaster won’t demand proof of a Covid-19 vaccine for concert entry ([link removed])
* No, contact tracing doesn’t cost £10,000 per contact ([link removed])
* How accurate are the new rapid lateral flow tests? ([link removed])
* New data doesn’t definitively show zero increase in suicides across England ([link removed])

Read our latest fact checks ([link removed])
Bad information ruins lives. Reader, we need your support ([link removed])
In recent weeks, we have seen a surge in vaccine misinformation, which poses a huge danger to us all. We need your help to call out bad information when and where we find it. Monthly support is the best way to help sustain independent fact checking through a health pandemic and beyond.

When it’s never been more needed, can you help independent fact checking continue today?
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