Did President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden put former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter at risk by not wearing masks inside the Carters' home? No, that's not true: Although the Centers for Disease Control
Publication: coronavirus
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: CDC Did NOT Document 3,848 Deaths Due To COVID Injections
Did a federal agency document 3,848 deaths due to COVID-19 vaccinations? No, that's not true: The claim exploits the government's rough list of unverified reports collected by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). Anyone can
Poynter→ No symptoms after a COVID-19 vaccine? Don’t worry, the vaccine is still working.
If you think vaccination is an ordeal now, consider the 18th-century version. After having pus from a smallpox boil scratched into your arm, you would be subject to three weeks of fever, sweats, chills, bleeding and purging with dangerous medicines, ac
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 IS Airborne But ‘Everybody’ Won’t Catch It
If COVID-19 is airborne would everybody have caught it by now? A viral video with an anti-vaccine message peddles false information about the coronavirus outbreak, throwing doubt on the authenticity of the virus by stating, "If it is airb
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Dr. Fauci Was NOT Insulted By Instagram Influencer At Airport
Did an Instagram influencer shout an expletive at Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, after Fauci told the influencer to lift up his mask at an airport? No, that's not true: the claim
Poynter→ The federal VAERS database is a critical tool for researchers, but a breeding ground for misinformation
An Instagram post says: “6,000% Increase in Reported Vaccine Deaths 1st Quarter 2021 Compared to 1st Quarter 2020.” An article from a media outlet called The Daily Expose carried the headline: “Number of women to lose their unborn
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Patients Who Die Within 20 Days Of Positive COVID Test Are NOT Automatically Added To Pandemic Death Tally
If you die within 20 days of testing positive for COVID-19 are you therefore added to the pandemic's death toll? No, that's not true: The claim was made with no offer of proof and in apparent ignorance of the systems by which cause of dea
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Nurse’ Video Is Full Of Recycled, Debunked Claims About COVID-19 By Tarot Card Reader
Does a video, purportedly from a nurse in Halifax, Canada, contain only accurate and true statements about COVID-19? No, that's not true: The video is chockful of fabrications, verifiably false claims that have been debunked. Among the di
Health Feedback→ Vaccines do provide immunity and can be used to achieve herd immunity
REVIEW As COVID-19 vaccination campaigns move forward in a number of countries, journalists, healthcare professionals and scientists have raised the questions of when a country can expect to reach herd immunity and if they are close to reaching it.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Journal Study ‘Confirms’ Pfizer COVID Vaccine Causes Neurodegenerative Diseases
Has a medical journal published a scientific study confirming the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes neurodegenerative diseases? No, that's not true. An anti-vaccine activist's essay is not a report on a clinical or lab study with reproducibl
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: A 5G Horse Did NOT Appear On The Lawn Of An Unvaccinated Family — It’s Art
Did a 5G horse appear on the lawn of a family's home, worrying the unvaccinated family who live there? No, that's not true: This photo of a flyer stapled to a wooden pole is an art piece by prankish artist Alan Wagner that has been altere
Health Feedback→ Insufficient evidence to claim COVID-19 vaccines cause menstrual irregularities in vaccinated women; vaccinated people aren’t making unvaccinated people ill
REVIEW In April 2021, multiple social media posts and articles claimed that COVID-19 vaccines cause menstrual problems in vaccinated women (see examples here, here, here, and here). Others even claimed that vaccinated women were causing unvaccinated
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: CDC Data Do NOT Show A ‘SIGNIFICANTLY Higher’ Death Rate For Vaccinated COVID Patients Than For Unvaccinated
Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show the death rate for people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 is higher than the death rate for those who are not vaccinated? No, that's not true: While some of the data cited wi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Final Moves Against Deep State’ Claims NOT Proved By Video
Does a video prove that "final moves against the deep state" are happening now? No, that's not true: Many of the conspiracy theories claimed in the video are false. Donald Trump is not still president or "in charge," the London 2012 Olymp
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The FDA Did NOT Announce It Wouldn’t Authorize Or Approve COVID-19 Vaccines
Did the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announce that it would not authorize or approve any COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: Stephen Hahn, then-commissioner of the FDA, did say in a statement to a Senate committee in 2020 that th
Health Feedback→ Flawed speculative study incorrectly claims that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines cause neurodegenerative diseases
REVIEW As of 27 April 2021, more than 1.04 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered worldwide, according to the New York Times vaccine tracker. Such unprecedented vaccination efforts led to viral claims that question the safety of COVID-1
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: COVID-19 Shots Are NOT Set To Contribute To The ‘Decimation Of The World’s Population’
Are COVID-19 shots set to contribute to the "decimation of the world's population"? No, that's not true: The claim is one of several presented without credible evidence during a video interview with Dr. Sucharit Bhakdi, a German microbiol
Poynter→ Why and how to proactively incorporate public health knowledge into fact-checking
Long before 2003, when Brooks Jackson and I launched FactCheck.org, I stumbled into adjudicating political misrepresentations by happenstance when editors and producers drew me into the 1988 electoral fray because I had written a book titled “Packagi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Contraceptive Guidance Found In A Clinical Trial Protocol Is NOT Proof Of Vaccine Danger
Has Pfizer instructed male COVID-19 vaccine recipients to refrain from donating sperm, to wear condoms and/or be abstinent for at least 28 days after getting a shot? No, that's not true: A screenshot used as the basis of the claim was tak
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: There’s NO Documentation Of Claims COVID Was Launched By Elites, Is Less Dangerous Than Flu
Was the novel coronavirus launched as a diversionary tactic to distract the masses from misdeeds of global elites, and is COVID-19 less dangerous than the seasonal flu? No, that's not true: Experts in public health and virology have publi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Bill Gates Is NOT Fighting To Keep COVID-19 Vaccine Ingredients Secret
Is Bill Gates fighting to keep the ingredients of COVID-19 vaccines secret? No, that's not true: The ingredients to each COVID-19 vaccine currently in use are not secret. They are publicly available, including on the FDA website. Gates, a
Health Feedback→ COVID-19 vaccines don’t cause herpes infections; a possible association with the reactivation of herpes zoster in patients with rheumatic diseases remains unconfirmed
REVIEW On 20 April 2021, the New York Post published this article claiming that “herpes infections may be a side effect of a COVID-19 vaccine”. News outlets like Fox News echoed the New York Post article, which received more than 25,000 interact
Health Feedback→ Current data from clinical trials offer no reliable evidence that ivermectin is effective against COVID-19; better-quality clinical trials are needed to resolve this question
REVIEW A Sky News segment hosted by Alan Jones and featuring Craig Kelly, a Member of the Australian Parliament, claimed that scientific studies supported the use of ivermectin for treating COVID-19. Published on 19 April 2021, the segment was share
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Unvaccinated People Do NOT Need To Stay Away From Vaccinated People — mRNA Vaccines Don’t Deliver Virus
Should unvaccinated people stay away from vaccinated people because the COVID-19 vaccine sheds and causes problems including miscarriages in pregnant unvaccinated people? No, that's not true. "This claim is false," Dr. George Rutherford,
Health Feedback→ DARPA developed a hydrogel sensor which monitors blood for infections at early stages, not a microchip for COVID-19 identification or location tracker
REVIEW On 11 April 2021, infectious disease physician and retired U.S. Army colonel Matt Hepburn gave an interview on the American television news program 60 Minutes, where he described a new technology developed by the researchers at the U.S. Defen
Poynter→ Florida Gov. DeSantis and YouTube are sparring over a video takedown. Is it censorship or misinformation?
In early April, YouTube took down a video featuring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and a group of controversial scientists at a March 18 coronavirus roundtable. The online video platform, owned by Google, cited as its rationale that the video contained fals
Logically→ Double masking provides extra protection against COVID-19.
The CDC has said that wearing two masks could provide twice as much protection against the virus, but ensuring a proper fit is vital.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Oft-Cited Article Proposes A Hypothesis, Does NOT Provide New Data Against Mask-Wearing, Is NOT A ‘Stanford Study"
Did this "Stanford Study" prove that face masks don't slow the spread of COVID-19 and harm the health of mask-wearers? No, that's not true: Stanford University disavows the article, which is not a report on new research and is full of the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Prove PCR Test Can Kill You, Be Used To Vaccinate You
Can the PCR test kill you and be used to vaccinate you? No, that's not true: The claim is made without proof, and PCR test experts say it's not possible. The claim originated in a video published on brandnewtube.com on February 9, 2021, b
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Danish Official Fainted Because Of COVID Vaccine
Did Denmark's top health official faint from a COVID shot? There is no evidence backing this claim that the vaccine is what caused her to faint. On April 14, 2021, Tanja Erichsen, the head of the drug monitoring unit of the Danish Medicin
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Vaccines Are NOT Poison And Fact Checkers Are NOT Bots
Are vaccines poison? Can fact checkers not read cursive? No, both claims are not true: the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has a listicle on its website titled, "14 Diseases You Almost Forgot About (Thanks to Vaccines)," describing disea
Health Feedback→ The World Health Organization doesn’t recommend ivermectin as a COVID-19 treatment; the drug’s safety and effectiveness remains uncertain in COVID-19 patients
REVIEW On 13 April 2021, Collective Evolution published this article claiming that data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows ivermectin reduced COVID-19 mortality and hospitalizations by 81% and 64% respectively, compared to standard of ca
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence COVID-19 Death Totals Are Off By Nearly 25%
Are COVID-19 death totals off by nearly 25%? No, there's no evidence that's true. A post making the claim provided no sourcing except to urge users to check out a news website. Lead Stories found nothing on that site to back up the claim.
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Answers To Tucker Carlson’s Questions About COVID-19 Are Abundant And NOT Being Withheld
Have Tucker Carlson's questions about COVID-19 vaccines gone unanswered? No, that's not true: There are answers for the questions the FOX News host posed regarding COVID-19 vaccines, despite him saying there are none and despite long-esta
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: U.S. Burger Kings Do NOT Require ID To Dine-In
Does Burger King Corporation require its patrons to provide identification verifying a shared address in order to dine in at the same table? No, that's not true: While the Canadian province Manitoba implemented such a COVID-19 policy for
Poynter→ Answers to common questions and concerns about coronavirus vaccines
If you’re not one of the 120 million Americans who have already received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, you may be wondering: Is the shot worth it? And is it safe? You’re not alone. A March poll found that 13% of Americans say they w
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Vaccine Claims Debunked: NO Evidence 2,342 Fatalities From COVID-19 Vaccine
Have there been over 2,342 fatalities from the COVID-19 vaccine and were Hank Aaron and "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler killed by a vaccine? No, that's not true: There is no evidence of these claims. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventi
Health Feedback→ COVID-19 vaccines were developed in record time due to scientists’ good understanding of similar coronaviruses and unprecedented investments from companies and governments
REVIEW Vaccines for COVID-19 became available to the public less than a year after the virus was first detected, much faster than any other vaccine development in history. Some social media users have used the speed of development to imply that COVID-
Poynter→ Fact-checking unproven claims that DMX suffered a heart attack after getting a COVID-19 vaccine
DMX died April 9 at a hospital in New York, where he had been on life support after suffering a heart attack days earlier. The rapper, born Earl Simmons, was 50. The hospital where DMX died said in a statement that he died “peacefully with fami
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The Fact That Flu Cases Plummeted Does NOT Cast Doubt On COVID and 2020 Flu Statistics
Does the fact that flu cases plummeted during the pandemic raise questions about infection statistics? No, that's not true: A post suggesting it should relies on misleading stats. It makes an apples-to-oranges comparison by considering la