Scientist does TikTok rebuttal of Idaho Dr. Ryan Cole over his COVID-19 ‘baloney’
A popular TikTok creator and scientist known for her explainer videos recently took on Dr. Ryan Cole, a Garden City pathologist whose comments calling the COVID-19 vaccine “fake” have raised concern as he moves closer to a position on Central District Health’s board.
Tracy Ruscetti, whose TikTok account @scitimewithtracy has more than half a million followers, published a series of videos this week reacting to comments Cole made while in Texas at a July event called the White Coat Summit. Ruscetti, who has a doctorate in microbiology and immunology, uses her account to explain biology concepts, answer science questions and refute COVID-19 misinformation.
In a phone interview with the Idaho Statesman, she said she created the account after seeing reports that nearly half of Americans did not plan to be vaccinated against COVID-19. She said she hoped her explainer videos would clear up the science and give people more accurate information.
Ruscetti also has taught about infectious disease at the university level and said she’s familiar with the thought process that can make misinformation sound legitimate. During her time teaching, she was assistant director of a university public health program.
“I know where the misconceptions often live, so I … can very easily pick out when someone doesn’t understand (the science),” she told the Idaho Statesman. “In my mind, (the goal is) not to influence anyone to get or not to get the vaccine, but to provide information.”
Ruscetti’s videos are “duets” with videos of Cole — his speech plays on one part of a split-screen, and Ruscetti chimes in to fact-check and refute his claims. Across four videos that address Cole, Ruscetti has tens of thousands of views, likes and comments.
Videos challenge Cole’s COVID-19 claims
In the original video, Cole talks about spike proteins, which are parts of a virus structure that help it latch onto human cells. Cole claims that spike proteins from the COVID-19 vaccine move throughout the body, damaging cells in the same way that the virus itself does. As Cole talks, Ruscetti responds.
“Why are we injecting something into the human body that is the toxin?” Cole asks.
Ruscetti shakes her head in bewilderment.
“We’re not,” she says. “What are you talking about?”
In a subsequent video, Ruscetti said she believes Cole is conflating two studies: one which showed that COVID-19 vaccine components moved throughout the body before being broken down; and another which showed concentrated levels of spike protein from the SARS-CoV-2 virus damaging cells at the injection site in animals.
“What Ryan Cole does very explicitly is he links those ideas together to infer that the viral spike protein gets all over the body (after vaccination) and causes cells to die or have damage,” Ruscetti said in an interview. “Those two studies looked at two different things. You cannot extrapolate one to the other.
“Either he’s doing it in a disingenuous way or he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.“
Much of Ruscetti’s other videos rebutting Cole’s speech feature Cole repeating the same claims: that spike proteins from the vaccine are damaging human cells. Ruscetti chimes in each time Cole mentions spike proteins from the vaccine, correcting that to focus instead on the virus.
Cole shows images of damaged cells, stating: “That’s from the vaccine. Not the virus, the vaccine.”
“You keep saying that, but it’s not right,” Ruscetti says.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains that vaccines give our immune system instructions to create “a harmless piece” of the spike protein to learn to fight off SARS-CoV-2.
Ruscetti told the Statesman that Cole’s comments were “particularly dangerous” because of his position as a medical professional. At the start of his speech, Cole mentions a list of credentials, including “some Ph.D. research in immunology,” saying the topic is “right up my alley.”
Ruscetti also said Cole’s use of some factual information in his presentation makes it harder for viewers to separate the inaccuracies.
“He takes real papers and some true information, wraps it up in misinformation or conflates things or misrepresents data to make a point, and that’s what I’m calling him on,” Ruscetti said. “What he was saying was beyond just being incorrect. It was intended to sow fear and confusion.”
Videos were not motivated by Cole’s public health appointment
Ruscetti said she wasn’t aware of who Cole was or his recent appointment to the Central District Health board when she created her videos.
“I don’t do deep dives on who people are, I just rebut what they say,” she said. “I don’t want to find out what their motivations are. I don’t want to bring any bias into my rebuttals. It’s just, ‘you said this, and this is what’s true and what’s not true.’ ”
Ruscetti said Cole’s comments raise concern about his understanding of COVID-19 research and the goal of his presentation.
“For people who don’t understand the biology, don’t understand the medicine, they can be completely fooled by his baloney,” she said. “I think most medical professionals or science professionals who have a working understanding of biology … would see the way he interprets data as being problematic.”
Indeed, the claims Cole presented have been debunked numerous times by other medical professionals.
Ruscetti said she also worries that Cole’s comments are amplifying the myriad concerns and myths that have caused some to reject COVID-19 vaccines, which have been shown to be safe and effective, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“He’s making it so what people hear when they finish listening to his message is, ‘the vaccine causes damage,’ and there’s absolutely no evidence for that,” she said.
This story was originally published August 26, 2021 at 11:48 AM.
