Actually, you’re wrong on that “Nobody even suggested that COVID is similar” remark. Nobody credible, or Nobody who knows what they’re talking about and not lying, then sure, you’re probably right. However antivaxers and disingenuous scientists absolutely have been doing that since covid was discovered.
Despite the retraction, bad actors don’t care. They got a “study” and headline to confirm their beliefs, so they just act like retraction never happened and just lie lie lie. Echo chambers allows this to run unchecked, and then you have people believing they’re equal.