Question

Fake news: Covid vaccines may increase the lifespan of cancer patients.

Answer 1

I love the way you note that Longoria’s attitude toward “cleanliness” emanates squarely from the propaganda and training that he received growing up. It makes his responses to people in the city appear less like personal feelings and more like something taught and sanctioned by the state. The fact that you relate to Antonio and Elena’s predicament is also powerful—the authorities are willfully neglecting their community’s water crisis while still pretending to maintain order. That contrast illustrates how the state creates violence, but blames people who are suffering. It also brought to mind the scene when Antonio remembers babies dying from dysentery, and the community holds poverty responsible — not government neglect. The scene really demonstrates that notions of “hygiene” can obscure the core reasons for violence. So when Longoria later targets Antonio, he’s acting out the same logic that made these types of people disposable. Your response illustrates how the novel employs “cleanliness” as a shield against systemic injustice and Longoria exemplifies these notions.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03432-7?utm

https://www.mdanderson.org/newsroom/research-newsroom/-esmo-2025--mrna-based-covid-vaccines-generate-improved-response.h00-159780390.html?utm

Answer 2

This claim is interesting because it contains a kernel of truth yet is framed in a sensational and potentially misleading way ("may increase the lifespan of cancer patients"). Recent research fro the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and others indicate that, in a retrospective observational study — cancer patients (specifically advanced lung cancer or metastatic melanoma) who received an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine within ~100 days of starting immunotherapy had substantially better median survival than those who did not: for example, ~37.3 months vs ~20.6 months in one cohort. 

However, there are important caveats: the studies are retrospective (not randomized controlled trials), and the authors themselves caution that we can’t yet conclude causality. Thus the claim that “Covid vaccines may increase lifespan” is partially true (there is some evidence) but misleading if one presents it as definitive proof. A more accurate statement: “Preliminary observational evidence suggests mRNA COVID-19 vaccines might improve survival for cancer patients undergoing immunotherapy, but further clinical trials are needed.”
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/health-rounds-mrna-covid-vaccines-appear-make-immunotherapy-cancer-drugs-work-2025-10-22/