On Thursday morning, the front page of the New York Post implored readers to “GET VAXXED,” explaining, “With only half of NYers jabbed, we need you to help get us back to normal.” This straightforward -- and responsible -- message may have come as a surprise to readers of the paper, which has for months engaged in a campaign of reckless fearmongering about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccines. 

The New York Post has blared headlines reporting on rare adverse reactions people have supposedly had to the various COVID-19 vaccines. On at least three occasions, the paper has run a scary headline strongly implying that someone died as the result of a vaccine only to follow it up days or weeks later with a clarification that no such link was found.

In January, Dr. Gregory Michael, a 56-year-old obstetrician from Florida, died following a hemorrhagic stroke. Because Michael had gotten a COVID-19 vaccine two weeks earlier, the Post deemed the story worthy of national attention, running it under the headline “Investigation into Florida doctor who died two weeks after COVID-19 vaccine.” Days later, the Post churned out a second story about Michael, this one about Pfizer and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launching an investigation. Finally, in April, the Post published a piece acknowledging that Michael “appears to have expired from natural causes,” bookending one of the first of many irresponsible vaccine story arcs the paper would go on to publish.

“Californian dies hours after getting COVID-19 vaccine, prompting probe,” reads the alarming New York Post headline of a January 23 story, touting a claim from a county sheriff’s office that linked a local death to a vaccine administration without any evidence, a claim an expert deemed “terribly responsible.” More than a week later, the Post published an update: Once again, the vaccine did not appear to have played a role in the man’s death.

On March 13, the Post published a story about a Utah woman who died four days after receiving her second Moderna vaccination. The following day, the paper once again had to dial back the vaccine panic in a story announcing that the medical examiner who investigated that woman’s death said there is no evidence she died from the vaccine.

The Post appears dead-set on finding as many stories as possible to scare readers away from vaccines.

Looking for stories about people who got vaccinated and later died? The Post has you covered, with an onslaught of alarming headlines that aren't always supported by the facts.

Interested in articles about people who potentially have had rare, unusual reactions to the vaccines? Once again, the Post checks that box.

The Post has also taken to highlighting instances where people get vaccinated but then are diagnosed with COVID-19 anyway, even though this is entirely expected; it’s part of the reason the goal is for enough people to get vaccinated so that we achieve herd immunity.

If the Post actually wants to encourage New Yorkers to get vaccinated, there's a lot it could be doing differently.

For more than a year, Poynter’s Al Tompkins has been publishing “Covering COVID-19: A Daily Coronavirus Briefing for Journalists.” I’ve found it to be an indispensable source of information when it comes to best reporting practices, considerations, and general information about the pandemic and the media’s functional and ethical responsibilities. A number of themes in Tompkins’ work stand out to me. For one, it’s important to contextualize bad news.

When someone suffers a rare side effect that may or may not have been prompted by one of the vaccines in the first place, it certainly doesn't always deserve a standalone news story with a scary-sounding headline that is then blasted across social media platforms. Especially when, by contrast, millions and millions of people have been safely vaccinated at this point.

Another relevant lesson for the Post comes from Tompkins' December 10 entry titled “Blaming the COVID-19 vaccine for unrelated health issues will be the next thing.” When trials include tens of thousands of people, as Pfizer’s did, some people — including those who don’t get the vaccine — are likely to get sick with or even die from something totally unrelated.

These are simple, commonsense tips for responsible COVID-19 coverage. Yes, people should be aware of the risks that come with vaccines, but if you’re churning out content — like the New York Post is — that strongly suggests bizarre side effects and deaths are common reactions to the vaccines, you’re not helping. No, it’s not inherently newsworthy if someone tests positive for COVID-19 after being vaccinated, and no, it’s not responsible to publish pieces about people who die in the days or weeks following vaccines when an actual cause of death has yet to be established.

We’ve reached a critical time in the pandemic. There is light at the end of the tunnel. The very last thing we need to do is to sabotage the vaccine rollout for the sake of selling a few papers or promoting a political agenda. If the Post actually wants to encourage New Yorkers to get vaccinated like its Thursday paper suggests, it can start by prioritizing responsible public health messaging instead of using the vaccines as fodder for tabloid clickbait.