The measure provides up to $1,400 direct payments to most Americans, extended emergency unemployment benefits and hundreds of billions for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, schools, state and local governments and ailing industries from airlines to co
Publication: covid-19
Snopes→ Will Prison Inmates Receive COVID-19 Stimulus Checks?
Sen. Tom Cotton tweeted that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the man responsible for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, would also receive a check as part of a relief bill.
Health Feedback→ Data from Israel showed that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine reduces the likelihood of dying from COVID-19; analysis in a forum post claiming the opposite is flawed
REVIEW A forum post made by Haim Yativ on a Hebrew-language discussion board claimed that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine “killed […] about 40 times more [elderly people] than the disease itself would have killed, and about 260 times mo
Health Feedback→ COVID-19 vaccines start to provide protection within two weeks of the first dose, with no evidence they increase the risk of infection before then
Review A Gateway Pundit article by Niall McCrae, a mental health researcher, claimed that a report from Public Health England showed a “48% rise in infections after the first dose of Pfizer and Astra Zeneca vaccines”. The report from Public Health
Snopes→ No, Sloan Kettering Scientists Did Not Discover That mRNA Vaccines ‘Promote Cancer’
Reporters at Natural News would apparently be shocked to learn that mRNA molecules are already present in every cell of their bodies.
Poynter→ Facebook has an apparent double standard over COVID-19 misinformation in Brazil, researchers say
Researchers want Facebook’s Oversight Board to evaluate the platform’s exemption of politicians from fact-checking after new research from Brazillian fact-checking organization Agência Lupa pointed to 29 examples of President Jair Bolsonaro spread
Health Feedback→ Six residents in a German nursing home died from COVID-19, not from vaccines
REVIEW On 1 March 2021, Children’s Health Defense published an article claiming that 25 percent of the residents in a nursing home in Berlin, Germany died after receiving the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. In a few days, the article receive
Snopes→ Biden, Dems Prevail As Senate OKs $1.9T Virus Relief Bill
Bleary-eyed senators approved the sprawling package on a 50-49 party-line vote.
Snopes→ California OKs Reopening Ball Parks, Disneyland
The state relaxed guidelines for reopening outdoor venues. COVID-19 infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths have plunged, and vaccination rates are rising.
Snopes→ Fighting Biden Virus Aid, GOP Rekindles Obama-Era Strategy
Senate Republicans prepared to vote lockstep against the relief bill, taking the calculated political risk that Americans will sour on the big-dollar spending.
Snopes→ Senate Nears Relief Bill Votes After Half-Day GOP Delay
The chamber planned to begin voting around midday on a mountain of amendments, mostly by GOP opponents and virtually all of which were destined to be rejected.
Health Feedback→ The U.S. leads the world in number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered, but not in the proportion of the population vaccinated
REVIEW The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world since early 2020, causing more than 100 million confirmed cases and more than 2.5 million deaths worldwide to date, 500,000 of which happened in the U.S. Since the first COVID-19 vaccines were authori
Health Feedback→ Yes, COVID-19 vaccines will help us safely resume normal activities like going to restaurants and meeting people, once enough people are vaccinated for herd immunity
REVIEW Facebook posts purporting to look at “facts” about the COVID-19 vaccines called into question the purpose of the vaccines (see example). Based on one version, the text may have originated from a Telegram group named “Corona Investigativ
Snopes→ Health Minister Condemns Blast at Dutch Virus Test Center
Police in the province of North Holland said in a statement that forensic investigations revealed that the blast was caused by a “homemade device” that exploded close to the glass façade of the test center.
Snopes→ Fans from Abroad Unlikely for Postponed Tokyo Olympics
“If the situation is tough and it would make the (Japanese) consumers concerned, that is a situation we need to avoid from happening,” organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said.
Health Feedback→ Scientific evidence demonstrates that wearing face masks and implementing lockdowns reduce the spread of COVID-19
REVIEW On 23 February 2021, this Facebook post by Kimberly Klacik, a previous Republican nominee for Maryland’s 7th congressional district, claimed there is no evidence demonstrating that wearing face masks or implementing lockdowns reduce the
Snopes→ Are Boston Public Schools Suspending Advanced Classes Because of Too Many White and Asian Students?
A few headlines missed the mark on this story.
Snopes→ Did Trump Receive COVID-19 Vaccination Before Leaving Office?
A number of political figures publicly shared their inoculation experience via social media.
Snopes→ Will mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Wreak ‘Havoc on The Lungs’ in 4 to 14 Months?
Sherri Tenpenny might want to use research conducted after 2019 when presenting her next scientifically baseless claim about COVID-19.
Health Feedback→ Pregnant women can decide whether to receive the COVID-19 vaccine; safety monitoring suggests that COVID-19 vaccines don’t pose any specific risk for pregnant women
REVIEW On 23 February 2021, Children’s Health Defense published an article claiming that “public health officials push pregnant women to get COVID-19 shots, despite known risks”. The article received more than 7,000 interactions on Facebook an
Snopes→ Highlights of the COVID-19 Relief Bill Advancing in Congress
The Senate, which Democrats control with a tie-breaking vote from the vice president, will consider the bill next.
Snopes→ Highlights of the COVID-19 Relief Bill Advancing in Congress
The Senate, which Democrats control with a tie-breaking vote from the vice president, will consider the bill next.
Snopes→ Is US Government Requiring Pantyhose Worn Over Masks?
During the pandemic, more people are looking for ways to make their cloth masks more effective.
Snopes→ Dems Near Relief Bill OK by House, Ponder Wage Plan Rescue
A virtual party-line House vote was expected on the COVID-19 relief measure.
Snopes→ House to Vote on Virus Bill; Arbiter Says Wage Hike a No-Go
Biden, a supporter of the $15 increase, was “disappointed” in the outcome but respected the parliamentarian's ruling, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
Snopes→ Did NHS Warn Against Gwyneth Paltrow’s COVID-19 Advice?
Paltrow recommended "intuitive fasting" and goop-sponsored products to recover from lingering symptoms. We recommend consulting a doctor instead.
Snopes→ Is ‘Pandemicide’ a New Word Coined To Describe Trump’s COVID-19 Response?
The earliest use of the term we found was from 2020.
Snopes→ Do These Photos Show Staph Infections Caused by Face Masks?
"Having a staph infection [from wearing a face mask] is a pretty rare occurrence, and it usually involves multiple things for it to happen."
Snopes→ Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Flu Has Disappeared in the US
Flu has virtually disappeared from the U.S., with reports coming in at far lower levels than anything seen in decades.
Hoax-Slayer→ Watch Out for ‘Remote Job’ Scam Emails
In these days of COVID-19 restrictions and high unemployment, many people are looking for work. And “remote”, work-from-home jobs may be especially… The post Watch Out for ‘Remote Job’ Scam Emails appeared first on Hoax-Sl
Truth or Fiction?→ Are Life Insurance Policies Being Canceled Because of the COVID-19 Vaccine?
As an example of how disinformation can get laundered through Facebook, witness the attempt to spread a lie about the current vaccination efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic. The claim originated with a post from a user based in England reading: Che
Snopes→ Was a $380M Deal To Sell TGI Fridays Canceled Due to COVID?
The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted restaurants across the world, but the story of a TGI Fridays deal was unfortunately one of a kind.
Health Feedback→ More evidence needed for the claim that vitamin D supplements reduce risk of COVID-19 infection
REVIEW An Instagram post claimed that a study had shown that vitamin D supplements reduced the risk of COVID-19 infections by 34 percent. The study[1], published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, used data from the U.K. Biobank, a large
Health Feedback→ The number of new COVID-19 cases fell and daily vaccination increased in early 2021, but no indication that it was due to U.S. president Biden taking office
REVIEW The COVID-19 pandemic that swept across the U.S. since early 2020 has caused almost 28 million identified cases and 500,000 deaths in the country. In the midst of this major health crisis, the U.S. have seen an important political shift with
Snopes→ Pandemic Makes Prostitution Taboo in Nevada’s Legal Brothels
These days, even in the state known for sin, the business of paying for sex is taboo.
Health Feedback→ COVID-19 vaccines don’t increase the incidence of poor outcomes during pregnancy, according to current safety data on COVID-19 vaccines
REVIEW Facebook posts claiming that the COVID-19 vaccine caused a healthcare worker to have a miscarriage went viral in early February 2021. These posts (see example) show a photo of a healthcare worker receiving a COVID-19 vaccine and tweets by phy
Snopes→ Did CDC Warn Against Traveling to Mexico Due to COVID-19?
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was called out for traveling to Cancun, Mexico, as both a devastating winter storm and a pandemic impacted his state.
Poynter→ Facebook’s fact-checking partners in Australia are blocked from posting on their own pages but can still assess content for the platform
It’s been two days since Australian fact-checkers have been able to publish their content on Facebook’s NewsFeed. Their URLs have been considered news content and are now blocked on the social media platform. While trying to find other ways
Poynter→ Facebook’s fact-checking partners in Australia are blocked from posting on their own pages but can still assess content for the platform
It’s been two days since Australian fact-checkers have been able to publish their content on Facebook’s NewsFeed. Their URLs have been considered news content and are now blocked on the social media platform. While trying to find other ways
Snopes→ US Life Expectancy Drops a Year in Pandemic, Most Since WWII
“What is really quite striking in these numbers is that they only reflect the first half of the year ... I would expect that these numbers would only get worse,” said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, a health equity researcher and dean at the Universit