Q&A on Second COVID-19 Boosters

On March 29, the Food and Drug Administration announced it was authorizing a second booster of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines for adults 50 years of age and older, four months or more after a previous shot.

But do you need it? What does the research show? What do the experts think? And, if you do want one, when is the best time to get it? 

Science Editor Jessica McDonald answers those questions for you in a new Q&A. 

Jessica found that there isn’t a lot of data showing a strong benefit, especially for the youngest eligible people. But multiple experts told her that giving doctors the flexibility to offer second boosters is reasonable, even if it’s not clear that the extra doses are needed.

Read her article "Q&A on Second COVID-19 Boosters for Older People" to learn about the available evidence and what scientists recommend.

Reader: The January 6, 2021 attempt at insurrection. How many people attended the rally? How many people broke into the Capitol building? How many people have been charged with any crime?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: I’ll answer your questions one at a time. 

How Many Died? We wrote about this in November after Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that the Capitol riot resulted in “almost 10 dead.” She meant nine people, but Ocasio-Cortez includes four law enforcement officials who responded to the Capitol that day and committed suicide in the days and months afterward and two rally participants who died of heart failure. Another rallygoer was initially believed to have been trampled to death but was later determined to have died of an accidental overdose. We explained what is publicly known about the deaths of the nine people in our article “How Many Died as a Result of Capitol Riot?”

How many people attended the rally? The Los Angeles Times writes, “The crowd size at the rally was at least 10,000, according to the Associated Press.”

How many people were charged with a crime? As of Jan. 6, 2022, more than 727 people had been arrested and charged – including “more than 225 defendants who have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding officers or employees, including over 75 individuals who have been charged with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer,” according to the Department of Justice. On Jan. 13, the Justice Department announced seditious conspiracy charges against Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, and 10 members of that organization. The Justice Department has an updated, searchable database of defendants on its website.

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "COVID-19 Data Comparing Vaccinated vs. Unvaccinated Continue to Be Available, Contrary to Viral Posts": Weekly rates of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths by vaccination status are published monthly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its website. The death data were last posted on March 17, and the hospitalization data on March 31. But a viral tweet claimed the CDC is no longer releasing the information. 
• "Strategic Petroleum Reserve Oil Stocks Declined Under Trump, Contrary to His Claim": The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was set up in the 1970s as an emergency source of oil in the event of unexpected supply disruptions. When Donald Trump took office as president in January 2017, the reserve held 695.1 million barrels of crude oil. The last full week before he left office in January 2021, it held 638.1 million barrels, or about 8% less. 
• "Clinical Trials Find No Increase in Mortality Among COVID-19 Patients Treated with Remdesivir, Contrary to Viral Claim": Remdesivir is the only antiviral medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat COVID-19. But a retired chiropractor misleadingly claims on a viral clip on social media that the drug is “killing people.” Studies have shown that remdesivir can lead to faster recovery times for hospitalized patients. 
• "Biden Repeats Misleading Talking Point on Preexisting Conditions": In praising the Affordable Care Act, President Joe Biden misleadingly warned of the consequences if Republicans ever repealed the law, saying that would mean “100 million Americans with preexisting conditions can once again be denied health care coverage by their insurance companies.” But those Americans could only be denied coverage on the individual market. 
• "League of Conservation Voters": A pro-environment nonprofit with an affiliated PAC and super PAC. (For other profiles of special interest groups, see our "Players Guide 2022.")

• "Datos de COVID-19 comparando vacunados y no vacunados sigue estando disponible, al contrario de lo que dicen publicaciones virales": Los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés) publican las tasas semanales de hospitalización y muertes por COVID-19 según estado de vacunación mensualmente en su página web. Los datos más recientes sobre muertes fueron publicados el 17 de marzo y los de hospitalizaciones el 31 de marzo. Pero un tuit que se hizo viral decía que los CDC ya no publican esos datos. 
• "Un video en Facebook tergiversa un informe de los CDC sobre las dosis de refuerzo de la vacuna contra el COVID-19": Según un informe de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC, por sus siglas en inglés), posibles efectos secundarios de las vacunas de ARNm contra el COVID-19 como dolor de brazo o de cabeza ocurrieron con menor frecuencia tras la dosis de refuerzo que tras la segunda dosis. Sin embargo, un video de una quiropráctica en Facebook tergiversa las conclusiones del informe, los sistemas que registran los eventos adversos y la disponibilidad de información sobre dichos eventos.