There were many falsehoods spread by the mainstream media, government institutions, and politicians. These are the top 5 COVID-19 myths. Please check the disclaimer at the bottom.

Also, check out my article “How Democrats Exaggerated the Threat of COVID-19.”

1. Mask mandates made a significant difference.

This is false. When you compare states with mask mandates to states without mask mandates, there was no statistically significant difference in the outcome. A study done by the University of Louisville found mask mandates did not slow the spread of COVID-19.

“The analysis compared COVID-19 case growth rates in 33 states that imposed statewide mask mandates on or before August 2, 2020, with states that imposed mask mandates after this date, and with states that didn’t have mask mandates at all. The researchers found that case growth was not significantly different between mandate and non-mandate states.”

The study stated that “the findings do not support the hypothesis that COVID-19 transmission rates decrease with greater public mask use.”

Several peer-reviewed studies show that masks are ineffective indoors and that small aerosol particles pass through the mask. Some laboratory studies and observational studies show that the mask decreases the number of aerosol particles that you breathe in. Despite, masks working in laboratory settings, the mask mandates were ineffective at slowing the spread.

It’s not that the mask didn’t work, it’s that mask mandates didn’t work. I do believe masks on an individual level might slightly lower transmission, but the thousand other factors negate that.

2. Lockdowns made a significant difference.

This is false. States with strict lockdown orders didn’t have better outcomes than states without strict lockdowns, there was no statistically significant difference.

A team of researchers from the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy found states that imposed stricter lockdown measures didn’t see a significant difference in the rate of infection or death during the first U.S. surge.

Steve Hanke, Professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University, and associates conducted an extensive meta-analysis on the effects of lockdowns. Their results showed that lockdowns had no statistically significant benefit. The authors concluded, “While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted. In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument.”

According to a UN development report and the World Bank, the lockdowns from the COVID-19 pandemic are estimated to push an additional 150-200 million people into extreme poverty. A large percentage of these people will die.

According to a study by authors at Duke University, Harvard Medical School, and the Johns Hopkins University business school, over the next couple of decades in the U.S., as a result of the negative economic effects of the pandemic, 1.37 million more people will die.

There’s a very good chance that more people will die from the negative effects of the lockdowns than from COVID-19.

3. COVID-19 is more dangerous than pneumonia.

This is misleading. It entirely depends on the demographic. For example, according to the CDC’s numbers, children are more likely to die from pneumonia than COVID-19, while the elderly are more likely to die from COVID-19 than from pneumonia. If you compare the total annual deaths, then they’re about the same.

In 2019, 2.56 million people died from pneumonia. Almost a third of all victims were children younger than 5 years, it was the leading cause of death of children under the age of 5.

Approximately 1.8 – 3 million deaths were caused by COVID-19 throughout the world in 2020, which is around the same as the pneumonia death total in 2019.

4. The vaccine is more powerful than natural immunity.

This is false. Natural immunity is more powerful than the vaccine. It’s about 13 times stronger according to a large-scale study in Israel, conducted in August 2021.

The authors of the study concluded that “naturally acquired immunity confers stronger protection against infection and symptomatic disease caused by the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, compared to the BNT162b2 2-dose vaccine-indued immunity.”

Natural immunity protection also lasts significantly longer than protection from the vaccine.

Getting COVID-19 twice is rare. The CDC says COVID-19 reinfection happens but is rare. COVID-19 reinfection cases make up less than 1% of all COVID-19 cases. Most people who get reinfected have very mild cases, even if their first case was severe. “People don’t even realize they have gotten reinfected,” said Theodora Hatziioannou, Ph.D., a virologist at Rockefeller University.

Due to how rare reinfection is and natural immunity being more powerful than the vaccine, it didn’t make any sense to make the vaccine mandatory. Vaccine usage should be up to an individual and no one else.

5. COVID-19 poses a significant danger to children.

As I said above, those aged 0-5 years old are more likely to die from pneumonia than COVID-19.

According to an Iceland study, published in June 2020, children are not super spreaders. Children catch and spread COVID-19 half as much as adults. Even when children catch COVID-19, it’s extremely rare for the case to lead to fatality. The death rate for COVID-19 for children under the age of 9 is 0.0016%.

A majority of COVID-19 deaths were among older adults. 80% of US coronavirus deaths have been among people 65 and older, and 95% were 50 or older.

Disclaimer: This article is intended to show that many of the preventative measures didn’t make a difference. It’s also intended to show the actual threat of COVID-19, it’s not intended to downplay the threat of the virus. Make sure to stay well informed about the risk the virus might pose to you and your family, and consult your doctor for any more information.

SOURCES

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