NBC News is being accused of alarmism after publishing a story over the weekend highlighting four people in Oregon who tested positive for COVID-19, even after receiving two doses of the vaccine.
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are effective in preventing disease in 95 percent and 94 percent of cases, respectively, according to the United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which means that a small percentage of people get sick even after they have been fully vaccinated. By framing their story around the four positive tests, rather than the decreasing number of cases in Oregon, critics fear that NBC’s story might lead people to believe that vaccines are not effective and discourage people from being vaccinated.
On Twitter, Brendan Nyhan, a professor of political science in Dartmouth and a liberal blogger, called the NBC story a “bad journalism apocalypse”.
What an apocalypse of bad journalism.
These miraculous vaccines are approximately 95% effective. If you vaccinate millions of people with them, some will still have COVID (usually less severe). That’s not news! And where is the headline of all (much more numerous) cases avoided? https://t.co/WPKqDOuucU
– Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) February 15, 2021
The story, published on Saturday afternoon, was based on a series of Friday tweets by the Oregon Health Authority providing an update on the state’s pandemic. The Health Authority has seen an almost 50 percent drop in new cases since early January, and a decline in the number of deaths and hospitalizations attributed to the new coronavirus.
The Health Authority also noted that “we are beginning to receive reports from individuals who tested positive after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine”. These so-called “innovative cases” involve people who fall ill with COVID-19 at least 14 days after completing the vaccination series. The Health Authority reported that there were four such cases in Oregon.
“What all this means is that we can expect to see more innovative cases. Vaccinating as many Oregon residents as possible remains a critical goal in ending the pandemic, ”reported the Health Authority.
“What all of this means is that we can expect to see more innovative cases. Vaccinating as many Oregon residents as possible remains a critical goal in ending the pandemic.”
– OR Health Authority (@OHAOregon) February 12, 2021
The NBC story focused on the four “innovative cases”, with a headline that read “Four people in Oregon who received both doses of the vaccine tested positive for coronavirus”. NBC has noted the decline in the number of daily cases of COVD-19 in the middle of its history. The only other Oregon-specific vaccine story that NBC has published in the past few weeks focuses on nurses driving from car to car in a snowstorm to distribute expired doses.
Attempts to contact NBC News and the Oregon Health Authority were unsuccessful on Monday.
On Monday, Fox News published its own version of the story, with the headline “’Breakthrough’ COVID-19 reported in 4 fully vaccinated individuals.” Fox’s story cited a press release that said “These cases are not unexpected”.
In a tweet, conservative radio host Erick Erickson suggested that stories like NBC’s could further discourage skeptical Americans about the vaccine from getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
Allahpundit, an anonymous conservative blogger, questioned why the story deserved to be reported.
It would be interesting to hear NBC explain what makes this story interesting. We had members of Congress who tested positive after receiving both doses. And? https://t.co/kIk5megHYE
– Allahpundit (@allahpundit) February 15, 2021
More than 50 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the United States and more than 69 million doses have been administered, according to the CDC. Even in cases where vaccinated people get COVID-19, vaccines can reduce the severity of the disease.