Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A Backlash Against Covid Vaccine Lies Gains Strength
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said Tuesday that people who spread disinformation about coronavirus vaccines are 鈥渃riminals.鈥 Bourla, in an interview with the Atlantic Council think tank, said a 鈥渧ery small鈥 group has been responsible for spreading vaccine disinformation to the millions who remain hesitant about getting vaccinated. 鈥淭hose people are criminals,鈥 he said to Atlantic Council CEO Frederick Kempe about 40 minutes into a nearly hour-long interview. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not bad people. They鈥檙e criminals because they have literally cost millions of lives.鈥 (Bella, 11/9)
US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy stressed Tuesday that parents need to recognize that "Covid is not harmless in our children" after actor Matthew McConaughey said his kids aren't vaccinated and that he's against mandating vaccines for children. "Many kids have died. Sadly, hundreds of children -- thousands -- have been hospitalized, and as a dad of a child who has been hospitalized several years ago for another illness, I would never wish upon any parent they have a child that ends up in the hospital," Murthy told CNN's Erin Burnett on "OutFront." (LeBlanc, 11/9)
Senator Warren is sued over criticizing vaccine misinformation 鈥
A publishing company is suing Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), accusing her of violating the First Amendment after she criticized Amazon's algorithm for聽allegedly promoting a book聽that contains COVID-19 misinformation. Chelsea Green Publishing, Inc., which is behind the book 鈥淭he Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal,鈥 filed the lawsuit against Warren in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on Tuesday, according to a statement from the group. (Schnell, 11/9)
A small publishing company in Vermont is suing Sen. Elizabeth Warren, saying her chastising Amazon over the sale of a book that promotes misinformation about COVID-19 amounted to censorship. The company, Chelsea Green, published a book called 鈥淭he Truth About COVID-19,鈥 which accuses the 鈥済lobal elite鈥 of using the pandemic to grab 鈥渦nprecedented power.鈥 (11/9)
On vaccine misinformation in the media, sports 鈥
People who trust Fox News Channel and other media outlets that appeal to conservatives are more likely to believe falsehoods about COVID-19 and vaccines than those who primarily go elsewhere for news, a study has found. While the Kaiser Family Foundation study released this week found the clear ties between news outlets that people trusted and the amount of misinformation they believe, it took no stand on whether those attitudes specifically came from what they saw there. 鈥淚t may be because the people who are self-selecting these organizations believe (the misinformation) going in,鈥 said Liz Hamel, vice president and director of public opinion and survey research at Kaiser. (Bauder, 11/10)
Newsmax White House correspondent Emerald Robinson has been permanently suspended from聽Twitter聽for repeatedly violating the platform's COVID-19 misinformation policy,聽a Twitter spokesperson confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday night. The permanent suspension follows a temporary 7-day Twitter suspension Robinson received last week in the wake of false claims聽she made about the COVID-19 vaccine. Social media users began noticing on Tuesday evening that Robinson's Twitter account had been shut down, just hours after she had been regranted access to the platform. (Polus, 11/9)
The NFL has fined the Green Bay Packers organization, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and wide receiver Allen Lazard for violating COVID-19 protocols, the league said in a statement to CBS News on Tuesday. The fines come nearly a week after Rodgers tested positive for the coronavirus and subsequently revealed he was not vaccinated after earlier stating he had been "immunized." "The Club was fully cooperative in the investigation into violations of the collectively bargained NFL-NFLPA protocols," the NFL said Tuesday. (Reardon, 11/9)