evidence: The process of generating conspiracy theories interweaves uncontested facts about ongoing activities in the government, philanthropic institutions and biopharmaceutical companies (for example, that the Gates Foundation funds vaccine development or that post-vaccination deaths have been reported to the US government’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System); historical instances in which a pattern of allegedly comparable behaviour occurred (for example, that the US government authorized the 1932–1972 syphilis experiments at Tuskegee or that babies of colour were given an unlicensed vaccine in the early 1990s without their parents’ informed consent2); and pre-existing unwarranted conspiracy theories (for example, that the CDC is covering up evidence that the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism). A conspiracy theory may also convert temporal associations into causal inferences (as in a since-deleted Instagram post3 claiming that Hank Aaron and Marvelous Marvin Hagler "died after taking the COVID-19 vaccine." The COVID vaccine killed both!). "Coincidence is turning out to be quite lethal to COVID vaccine recipients", noted Kennedy4. [...] Kertscher, T. Claim blaming COVID vaccine for Hank Aaron, Marvin Hagler deaths lacks evidence. Politifact, https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/mar/16/aubrey-huff/claim-blaming-covid-vaccine-hank-aaron-marvin-hagl/ (16 March 2021).