OPINIONS: Press should fact-check

Certainly, the Coeur d’Alene Press factually reports the news it prints in accordance with journalistic standards. These same standards should apply to Letters to the Editor.

Allen Fulleton’s assertion that COVID vaccines are responsible for tens of thousands of illnesses and deaths is blatantly untrue. The VAERS link Mr. Fulleton provided is not the official VAERS website but rather an independent website that interprets COVID statistical data through its own anti-vaccine bias.

The official CDC VAERS website [www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines /safety/vaers.html] states: “VAERS reports alone generally cannot be used to determine if a vaccine caused or contributed to an adverse event or illness. Some reports may contain information that is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental or unverifiable….”

The VAERS site also states: “COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective. … Reports of adverse events to VAERS following vaccination, including deaths, do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused a health problem.”

While Mr. Fulleton is entitled to opine there is solely a pernicious monetary motive by the government and medical community in providing COVID-19 vaccines to the public, he is not entitled to state that opinion based on distortions.

Anne Patterson likewise falsely asserted in her letter that children are not at risk from COVID-19. As recently reported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, children account for more than a fifth of COVID-19 cases. In just one week ending Aug. 21, children testing positive rose from 121,000 to 180,000, representing a 48% increase. Children, in fact, have always been at risk, albeit less so than older adults.

Unlike social media with its unvetted posts replete with fallacies and falsehoods, the Coeur d’Alene Press has a duty to scrutinize letters it receives and refrain from publishing those that contain lies.

PAMELA NILES

Hayden