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Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.
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Q&A on Omicron-Updated Boosters
COVID-19 vaccines that have been updated to better match the latest circulating coronavirus strains are now available at a pharmacy near you.
You can find where the new boosters are available in your area by visiting Vaccines.gov.
People 12 years of age and older are eligible to receive Pfizer/BioNTech’s updated booster and adults 18 years or older are eligible to receive Moderna’s updated booster. The guidelines are simple: If you’ve had your primary series (one dose of J&J or two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna or Novavax) and it’s been at least two months since your last dose, then you’re eligible for one omicron-updated booster.
If you’re not sure if you’re eligible, you can take an online quiz to find out.
If you're not sure whether or when to get the updated booster, then perhaps Science Editor Jessica McDonald can help.
In her latest article, Jessica addresses some common questions that we all have about the updated boosters.
How are the updated shots different from the original ones? What evidence supports the use of these omicron-updated boosters? How effective are the new boosters? How safe are they? And what do experts say about who should get the updated shots, and when?
Read her answers to these and other questions in "Q&A on Omicron-Updated COVID-19 Boosters."
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At a recent fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, President Joe Biden boasted that the American Rescue Plan "literally turned the economy from one that was in decline to one that’s in recovery.” To check this claim, staffer D'Angelo Gore spoke to economists and reviewed some key economic indicators. D'Angelo found that when Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law in March 2021, U.S. gross domestic product had increased for three quarters straight, and the unemployment rate had decreased nearly 9 percentage points from its pandemic peak. Economists told D'Angelo that the economy was “growing,” albeit at a “slower pace,” before the legislation became law. Johns Hopkins University economist Jonathan Wright told D'Angelo: "I do not agree with the statement that the economy was in decline at the time that the ARP was passed.” Read more.
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Fox News host Tucker Carlson and others have criticized the lack of clinical data on the omicron-updated COVID-19 boosters, which were tested in mice and are in the process of being tested in people. But it’s misleading to suggest that’s the only information scientists have on these shots. To authorize the updated boosters, the Food and Drug Administration took an approach similar to the one it uses for influenza vaccines, which each year are modified to match the flu strains that are expected to circulate that season. Because the changes are only tweaks — and because it would be impractical to test the vaccines in people prior to the flu season — flu vaccines are approved without clinical studies. Regulators considered a slew of data indicating the original COVID-19 shots are safe and effective, and they had clinical data on a slightly different omicron-specific bivalent booster. Read more.
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Since our founding, FactCheck.org has been a resource not only for the public but for other journalists and news organizations. Our co-founder, Brooks Jackson, joked that our copyright policy was "steal our stuff."
So, with that in mind, we are pleased to note that our articles can be found on two new platforms.
The National Association of Black Journalists launched a news website in June called Black News & Views. The site features our work on a page called "Setting the record straight: The war on misinformation."
Also, our election articles can now be found on Flipboard, a news aggregation site that allows users to create their own “magazines” and “flip” stories into them. Flipboard editors also curate “magazines,” and recently announced the site has created a series of election-related magazines, including one on fact-checking.
“Since we are living in an age of misinformation, we offer a Fact Check Magazine with content from FactCheck.org, Politifact and others,” Carl Sullivan, the site's North America managing editor, wrote in a Sept. 19 post.
Election Day is only 38 days away. All of our 2022 election articles, of course, can be found on our website.
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Today is the last day of our first quarter for fiscal year 2023. That means it is the last day for you to help us meet our fundraising goal for this quarter!
In FY 2022, we raised a little more than $32,000 in the first quarter. Help us match that this year.
Donations from our readers are very important to us. Your support allows us to continue important projects that aren’t funded by foundation grants.
Individual donations help fund our undergraduate fellowship program for Penn students and pay for an advertising tracking service for the 2022 and 2024 elections, among other things.
Credit card donations may be made through our “Donate” page, which is managed on our behalf by the University of Pennsylvania. If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, 202 S. 36th St., Philadelphia, PA 19104-3806. The University of Pennsylvania’s tax ID number is 23-1352685.
Sincerely,
Eugene Kiely, Director of FactCheck.org
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Wrapping Up
Here's what else we've got for you this week:
- "Biden’s Misleading Claims About the Economic Recovery and Unemployment": When President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law in March 2021, U.S. gross domestic product had increased for three quarters straight, and the unemployment rate had decreased nearly nine percentage points from its pandemic peak. But Biden wrongly credited the Democratic COVID-19 relief bill with rescuing a U.S. economy “in decline.”
- "Posts Take Biden’s Vaccination and Hurricane Prep Comments Out of Context, Again": Last year, President Joe Biden made a special plea to residents in hurricane-prone states to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in advance of possible evacuations or shelter stays. Now, as Hurricane Ian approached Florida, social media posts recycled an old clip of his comments to misleadingly claim he thinks the vaccines will protect against the storm.
- "GOP Ads Use Outdated Federal Report to Attack Democrats on ‘Higher Taxes’": Republican super PACs are using an outdated Congressional Budget Office estimate to falsely claim in TV ads that Democrats voted to raise taxes by $20 billion on “lower- and middle-income families.”
- "Biden’s Misleading Boast on Medicare Premium Drop": President Joe Biden boasted of a decrease in premiums for Medicare Part B as the “first” reduction “in more than a decade.” That’s true. But he neglected to mention the drop follows a large increase the prior year, partly due to anticipated Alzheimer’s drug expenses, which didn’t actually materialize.
- "Everytown’s Misleading Ad on Johnson’s Votes ‘Against Funding for the Police’": A TV ad from a gun control advocacy group claims Republican Sen. Ron Johnson voted “against funding for the police, preventing local departments from hiring more officers.” But the two votes cited were against trillion-dollar spending bills that included a host of measures, well beyond law enforcement funding.
- "Video Makes Baseless Claim About Insurance Coverage of Vaccinated Frenchman": COVID-19 vaccines have been found to be safe and effective in trials and real-world conditions. Yet an online video baselessly claims a French life insurer refused to pay benefits for a man who died after receiving the vaccine because the insurer deemed it “a medical experiment.” It also falsely claims that the same has happened in the U.S.
- "GM, Ford Vehicles Were Donated to Ukraine by Carmakers": Two American carmakers have donated 100 pickup trucks and SUVs to assist with humanitarian aid in Ukraine. But an Instagram post makes the baseless claim that the vehicles were provided at U.S. taxpayers’ expense.
- "Illinois Law Doesn’t ‘Eliminate All Restrictions on Abortions,’ Contrary to Ad from Advocacy Group": In digital ads, a political advocacy group makes the false claim that Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Illinois Democrats voted to “eliminate all restrictions on abortions up until the day of birth.”
- "COVID-19 Vaccine Opponents Misrepresent CDC Webcast on Causes of Blood Clots": The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hosted an online seminar about the treatment of blood clots, which is expected to grow as the U.S. population ages and the obesity rate increases. But some vaccine opponents misrepresented the webinar to falsely suggest that the projected rise in blood clots is related to the COVID-19 vaccines.
Y lo que publicamos en español (English versions are accessible in each story):
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