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'Plandemic', the coronavirus anti-vaccine conspiracy that has attracted millions of people

2020-05-24T23:15:10.268Z


A documentary about an alleged secret plot that wants to take advantage of covid-19 to enrich itself with vaccines goes viral on the Internet. The main platforms have already withdrawn it


An alleged secret plot led by members of the global elite such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates or the director of the United States National Institute of Health for infectious diseases, Anthony Fauci, is taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to enrich himself by selling vaccines against the illness. This is the argument that the discredited researcher and molecular biologist Judy Mikovits maintains during an interview published on May 4 on YouTube, which is part, according to its creators, of a still unpublished documentary titled Plandemic (a play on words between “plan ”And“ pandemic ”in English).

Although the main Internet platforms have already withdrawn it for spreading arguments that may harm health, the video received at least eight million visits in the first week alone, according to The New York Times , promoted by pages of the American right linked to theories of the conspiracy and by anti-vaccine groups. And it continues its viral expansion, in different languages, probably because it has the virtue of having been able to combine the necessary components to disguise an alternative truth as a lie based on the discredited anti-vaccine theories: the testimony of a prestigious scientist censored and persecuted by the big pharmaceutical companies. , a global conspiracy that only seeks profit even at the cost of planetary health and arguments supported by supposedly scientific evidence. None of the ingredients of this fallacy cocktail is supported by certainties, but it can connect with a viewer who has seen how the pandemic has disrupted his universe and needs to find a responsible person. This search is precisely one of the reasons why conspiracy theories have a following.

These are some of the false statements it contains:

1. "Judy Mikovits is considered one of the brightest scientists of her generation"

Judy Mikovits, a doctor in Biochemistry from George Washington University (USA), was discredited by the scientific community after publishing an article in the prestigious journal Science in which she allegedly revealed that a high percentage of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome were infected with a mouse retrovirus, XMRV. However, later studies questioned this theory and claimed that the discovery was due to a false positive caused by laboratory contamination. Science withdrew the article and the prestige of Mikovits, who in the documentary states that he was the victim of censorship, was questioned.

2. "This virus was manipulated in a laboratory"

Judy Mikovits forcefully states that SARS-CoV-2 was "manipulated and studied in a laboratory." And he adds: "Someone did not go to a market, bought a bat, the virus did not jump directly to humans" because "if it were natural, it would take up to 800 years to occur". The scientific community and the available studies agree that the new coronavirus arose from a process of zoonosis, that is, from the passage of the virus from animals to humans. There is no evidence to support the Mikovits theory.

3. "Flu vaccines increase the chances of getting covid-19 by 36%"

Mikovits alludes to a scientific study by the US Army that investigates the relationship between the flu vaccine and the possibility of contracting other respiratory viruses, conducted among US Department of Defense personnel during the 2017-2018 flu season. The study itself concludes that the results do not show that the flu vaccine is linked to an increased risk of contracting another virus that affects the airways.

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4. “Using the mask literally activates your own virus”

The biologist argues that oneself can be a focus of covid-19 infection: “Wearing the mask literally activates your own virus, you are getting sick from your own expressions of reactivated coronaviruses, and, if it turns out to be SARS-CoV-2, then you have a big problem. " This is one of the arguments why the main Internet platforms have withdrawn the video, because these types of claims can put people's health at risk. The scientific community and health institutions recommend the use of a mask to prevent contagion, since it acts as a barrier that limits the spread of respiratory droplets through which the virus is transmitted.

5. "Hydroxychloroquine and zinc are working very well for patients"

One of the doctors who appear in the documentary in support of Mikovits' theories states that "hydroxychloroquine and zinc are working very well for patients." To reinforce his claim, he alludes to a survey published by Sermo , according to which doctors consider this controversial drug, defended by Donald Trump, as "the most effective therapy" against the coronavirus. The statement is not made by most doctors, as the documentary suggests, but by 37% of the 6,227 interviewed. The largest study conducted on chloroquine and its hydroxychloroquine derivative, published in the Lancet journal , maintains that they do not provide any benefit to patients hospitalized for covid-19, but rather increase the risk of arrhythmias and death, according to an analysis based on in more than 96,000 patients in 671 hospitals worldwide.

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Source: elparis

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