A new preprint by Canadian researchers Denis Rancourt, Ph.D., and Joseph Hickey, Ph.D., challenges the basis of Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D.’s widely cited 2024 congressional testimony that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives.

Source: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/new-report-garbage-science-behind-claims-covid-shots-saved-millions/

= = = 

A new report by Canadian researchers challenges widely cited claims that COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives in the U.S. > https://zenodo.org/records/17289481

 

The authors of that preprint paper published this week by Correlation, a Canadian nonprofit research organization, argue that the claims are based on modelling studies that use flawed assumptions resulting in “fantastic and unverifiable” conclusions.

For example, Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. — in interviews and in his 2024 congressional testimony — cited a 2022 study by Meagan Fitzpatrick, Ph.D., touting 3.2 million lives saved by the vaccines.

Legacy media latched onto Fitzpatrick’s and Hotez’s claims, widely repeating and amplifying them.

But according to all-cause mortality experts Denis Rancourt, Ph.D., and Joseph Hickey, Ph.D., Fitzpatrick used a “counterfactual theoretical calculation” that yielded incorrect assumptions about infection fatality rates and vaccine efficacy.

In their new paper, Rancourt and Hickey argue that counterfactual calculations like those used by Fitzpatrick and other researchers can lead to dangerous conclusions and shouldn’t be used to drive policy.

“False claims accepted by government officials and their advisers can have a disastrous effect on public health policy and society,” they said.

 

Speaking of GARBAGE!!!

 

 

Overall, we rate the Children’s Health Defense a strong conspiracy and quackery level advocacy group that frequently promotes unsupported claims. We also rate them low for factual reporting due to the promotion of propaganda and several failed fact checks.

 

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/childrens-health-defense/

 

And more GARBAGE from a non-medical garbage academic, Denis Rancourt:

 

"Denis Rancourt is a former professor of physics at the University of Ottawa. Rancourt is widely known for his confrontations with his former employer, the University of Ottawa, over issues involving his grade inflation and "academic squatting", the act of arbitrarily changing the topic of a course without departmental permission.

...

"In 2007, Rancourt published an essay disputing the scientific consensus on climate change on his blog, which has served as a platform for climate denial by politicians such as James Inhofe.^[33] In 2024, Rancourt made statements expressing support for various fringe views regarding COVID-19, including suggesting that the virus did not exist." [emphasis added]

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Rancourt

 

 

 

--AI assisted

 

 

Review Article By Misinformation Spreaders Misleads About mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines

February 26, 2024

 

"The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have a good safety record and have saved millions of lives. But viral posts claim the contrary, citing a recent peer-reviewed article authored by known COVID-19 misinformation spreaders and published in a controversial journal. The paper repeats previously debunked claims.

...

Multiple studies have estimated that the COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives across the globe.

...

The review also uncritically cites an unpublished analysis by former physics professor Denis Rancourt that alleged that some 17 million people died from the COVID-19 vaccines. We recently explained that the report erroneously ignored deaths from COVID-19 and that such estimates are implausible." [emphasis added]

 

https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/scicheck-review-article-by-misinformation-spreaders-misleads-about-mrna-covid-19-vaccines/

 

AND

 

"Weinstein said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the 17 million deaths figure came from former physics professor Denis Rancourt. Fact-checkers have previously concluded that Rancourt’s conclusions are flawed because they rely on assumptions that spikes in deaths were caused by COVID-19 vaccines without showing evidence of this — and when COVID-19 itself is a clear contributor to excess deaths."

 

https://www.factcheck.org/2024/01/scicheck-tucker-carlson-video-spreads-falsehoods-on-covid-19-vaccines-who-accord/

 

AND

 

"Rancourt is also a member of Pandata, a group that was co-founded by South African private equity investor Nick Hudson in April 2020. The group has promoted COVID-19 denialism and vaccine misinformation. Rancourt has incorrectly claimed mask-wearing doesn’t work against COVID-19 and that “there was no pandemic”. [emphasis added]

 

https://science.feedback.org/review/analysis-claiming-covid-19-vaccines-killed-17-million-people-flawed/

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Red Phoenix said:

The authors of that preprint paper published this week by Correlation, a Canadian nonprofit research organization,

 

"Correlation" is a group that Hickey and Rancourt themselves lead, so naturally, that's the only place where they could find to sponsor a preprint of their nonsense -- as opposed to any credible scientific journal.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joseph-Hickey

 

https://correlation-canada.org/about/

 

--AI assisted

 

 

A post that violated the forum's rules on fair use quoting of published material has been removed.