Update: Chalkbeat Corrects IDPH Director Misquote
Message that masks and vaccines are comparably protective remains
After being contacted by IDPH and at least two readers (including me), Chalkbeat Chicago has corrected an article in which IDPH Director Ngozi Ezike was quoted as saying “The bottom line is that masks are as effective as vaccines are,” during an August 26th press conference.
Ezike actually said, “The bottom line is masks are effective. Vaccines are effective.”
Editor’s note for “COVID-19 surge on Illinois school campuses show need for mask, vaccine mandates, health official says”
I posted the article on Twitter this morning as part of a thread, and contacted Chalkbeat after watching the video of the August 26th presser. Twitter flagged the third post in the thread as “misleading or potentially harmful,” and gave me a 7-day vacation from posting.
Cassie Walker Burke, Chicago bureau chief at Chalkboard, replied to me this afternoon, saying, “We received your request for a correction. I wanted to let you know that we have updated that article to correctly reflect the quote as it was said in the press conference. We regret the error. Thanks for reading Chalkbeat.”
In a response to another reader, Burke emailed, “We were flagged earlier about this by IDPH. We have gone back to the tape and updated the quote accordingly. Chalkbeat regrets the error.”
I’m glad the correction was made and noted. Fox News picking up the story was a bonus.
But even in context, Ezike’s bottom line “Masks are effective. Vaccines are effective” implies masks are an adequate substitute or placeholder for vaccines. For the past year+, she and numerous other officials (including former CDC Director Robert “Masks > Vaccine” Redfield) have sent mixed messages to the public about the protective power of cloth against SARS-CoV-2 infection.
As I wrote earlier today, such messaging hurts those most vulnerable COVID-19, many of whom erroneously believe they’re protected when they and others cover their faces with cloth.
Thank you to Wirepoints for “covering the coverage” of this story in “Fabricated Fabrication And Further Follies From Illinois State Media”