Misleading: Vitamin D Prevents Covid-19
The Claim
Vitamin D prevents COVID-19 infection and reduces severity.
News posted on
Emerging story
In mid-August 2020, social media users started spreading news that vitamin D prevents COVID-19. Ross Walter, a nutritionist claimed on his Facebook page that vitamin D deficiency is a major risk factor to all respiratory infections – colds, flu, and the coronavirus. Supplementing with vitamin D can prevent COVID-19 infection and reduces its severity.
His Facebook post attracted more than 170 shares and more than 20,000 views.
Vital Plan, a medical website reported that researchers figured out that vitamin D may play a role in preventing COVID-19. Vital Plan claimed that vitamin D enhances immunity, improves heart health, and prevents diseases.
Other users posted pictures claiming the through vitamin D you can win over COVID-19.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar's investigation didn't find any evidence to support the claim. None of the posts have been supported by conclusive medical evidence, nor by experts in pharmacology, physiology, and infectious diseases. According to the University of Oxford, no clinical evidence that vitamin D supplements are beneficial in preventing or treating COVID-19.
There is currently no conclusive medical evidence that vitamin D can prevent COVID-19 or reduce its severity. The continuous spread of COVID-19 also led to calls for widespread high-dose vitamin D supplementation without support from pertinent studies.
