FULL CLAIM: “For every one child saved by the shot, another 117 would be killed by the shot. The Pfizer mRNA shot fails any honest risk-benefit analysis in children ages 5 to 11.”; Based on VAERS, “there are 128 reports of fatal side effects following coronavirus mRNA injections in people 12 to 24. (That’s through October 22, 2021)”
On 1 November 2021, political economist Toby Rogers published an article on Substack claiming that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine would kill more children than it would save. Rogers arrived at this claim based on his calculation of a metric known as “number needed to vaccinate” (NNTV, also abbreviated as NNV) and reports to the U.S. Vaccine Adverse Events System (VAERS). Rogers’ claim was picked up by websites such as Gateway Pundit, which is labeled as a Questionable Source by Media Bias/Fact Check.
Individuals who previously spread vaccine misinformation, like Steve Kirsch and James Lyons-Weiler, also broadcasted the claim to their followers (see here and here). Based on the social media analytics tool CrowdTangle, Rogers’ own article received more than 3,500 engagements on Facebook to date, but his claim reached a wider audience thanks to others who amplified it. For example, Gateway Pundit’s article received more than 5,300 engagements on Facebook.
It’s not the first time that the concept of NNTV and vaccine adverse event reports have been used to promote doubt about COVID-19 vaccine safety. Health Feedback previously fact-checked...
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