REVIEW During the summer of 2021, many countries experienced a new COVID-19 surge mainly driven by the spread of the more contagious Delta variant. First identified in India in October 2020, this variant became rapidly dominant in many countries inc
Search Results (962) for: dying
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘Don’t Get Vaccinated’ Funeral Home Truck
On September 19 2021, images of a truck appeared on social media, appearing to show a purported funeral home’s box truck advertisement reading, “don’t get vaccinated”: @RexChapman @davenewworld_2 This truck is making laps a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: You Can NOT Update Voicemail In An Emergency With No Phone Service
Can you change your voicemail on your landline or cellphone when the phone has no service, data or connection to Wi-Fi? No, that's not true: Both T-Mobile and AT&T said that that was not possible. The claim appeared in a Facebook post
FactCheck.org→ Ongoing Clinical Trials Will Decide Whether (or Not) Ivermectin Is Safe, Effective for COVID-19
SciCheck Digest Studies on whether ivermectin is beneficial in treating COVID-19 patients haven’t been conclusive, and health officials have warned people not to self-medicate. But multiple large trials are continuing to assess the antiparasitic
Full Fact→ Covid-19 is almost certainly killing more people than suicide
Suicide is killing more people than Coronavirus. How about we all stock up on smiling at strangers instead? Facebook user, 13 September 2021. A post claiming that more people are dying of suicide than the coronavirus is being shared on Facebook. When
Full Fact→ Poster claiming bread is healthy for ducks gets its facts in a flap
A Facebook post shows a photograph of a poster claiming it’s safe to feed bread to ducks. The poster suggests the idea that bread makes ducks ill is wrong and has led to the birds “dying of starvation”. It also encourages
Truth or Fiction?→ Norm Macdonald ‘When I Hear a Guy Lost a Battle to Cancer’ Quote
On September 14 2021, the death of comedian Norm Macdonald was widely reported; soon after the news broke, a purported quote of Macdonald’s about “cancer” and “battles” began circulating on Imgur: Across news outlets, Mac
Truth or Fiction?→ Todd Starnes: ‘Biden Says Even Fox News Has A Mandatory Vaccine Policy’
On September 14 2021, a popular Imgur post showed a screenshot of a Todd Starnes tweet, in which Starnes questioned whether Fox News had a “mandatory vaccine policy”: Biden says even @FoxNews has a mandatory vaccine policy. Is that tru
Truth or Fiction?→ ‘I Know More Than the Scietists’ Protester
On September 13 2021, a photograph of a man with a poorly spelled sign (“I know more than the scietists”) went viral on Twitter: this is where we’re at and it hurts. pic.twitter.com/GwM28DIBG2 — Andrew Baback Boozary MD (@drandrew
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Pelosi, Schumer And Many Others Did Not Make Confessions In Military Tribunals
Did House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and many others make confessions in military tribunals? No, that's not true: A video does not show a military tribunal with Pelosi and Schumer on trial. Instead, it's a
Full Fact→ An influencer muddled his maths on vaccines for children
The online influencer Nohun (real name Raurie Williams) has wrongly described the risks and benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine for children in an Instagram video that has been viewed more than 330,000 times. The video was posted on 7 September 2021, and
Full Fact→ A survey of diversity in children’s books is flawed
A study revealed just 10% of publications had characters from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds. BBC News, 25 August 2021. A BBC News article reports that 10% of children’s books in 2019 had characters from ethnic minority back
Full Fact→ Video falsely claims that you cannot refuse the Covid-19 vaccines
A widely shared post on social media includes a video featuring the former Pfizer scientist Mike Yeadon. The video includes lots of misleading or incorrect information about the Covid-19 vaccines. We haven’t fact checked every single claim,
FactCheck.org→ Biden’s Controversial COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Plan
Last month, the Biden administration announced a plan to begin administering third shots of the two mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to healthy people in mid-September to shore up potentially flagging immunity to the coronavirus. But many scientists say that g
Truth or Fiction?→ Was George Orwell’s ‘1984’ Banned in the United States and the USSR for Conflicting Reasons?
On September 2 2021, a Facebook post featured an image suggesting that George Orwell’s 1984 was banned in the United States for pro-communist sentiments, but that it was also banned in the USSR for anti-communist sentiments. A screenshot from Tu
Full Fact→ Deaths from vaccines have not overtaken Covid-19 deaths
An article on the website TCW, formerly known as Conservative Woman, warns against teenagers receiving the Covid-19 vaccine, citing claims that vaccine deaths have overtaken the number of Covid-19 deaths in “healthy” people during the whole
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: CNN Did NOT Publish An Article Describing A Healthy 40-Year-Old COVID-19 Victim’s Sentiments Toward Unvaccinated People — It’s Satirical
Did CNN publish an article describing a 40-year-old COVID-19 victim's sentiments toward unvaccinated people? No, that's not true: The satirical story about a severely obese woman who was vaccinated and is now dying from COVID-19 was not p
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Man Touted By Others As ‘Ph.D., Oxford’ Did NOT Make True Statements About COVID-19 Vaccines To A School Board — Did NOT Attend Oxford University
Does a doctor share evidence of vaccine harm to an Ohio school board? No, that's not true: A man who appeared at a school board meeting in Ohio repeated multiple COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy theories that Lead Stories has previously debunk
Health Feedback→ Janci Chunn Lindsay’s claims that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe are inaccurate and unsupported by scientific evidence
REVIEW In early August 2021, several posts (see examples here, here, and here) claiming that COVID-19 vaccination will cause fertility problems, blood clotting, and increase the chances that the virus bypasses previous immunity to it (immune escape)
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘The Shot’ Is NOT Failing — It Prevents Most Infections And Reduces Symptoms Of Breakthrough Infections
Is a meme correct in implying vaccination ("the shot") is not working to prevent COVID-19? No, that's not true: Since it uses an image of a comedian's fictional rapper character, "Ali G," it may be satire. But the apparent reference to va
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Scientifically Speaking,’ The Vaccinated Are NOT The Disease Vectors ‘Spreading The Mutant Variants’ of COVID-19
Are people vaccinated against COVID-19 "superspreaders," serving as the transmitting vectors for the virus that caused the midsummer 2021 increase in hospitalizations, and did the delta variant and other new forms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
Health Feedback→ Video shared by Sebastian Gorka Facebook page shows nurse making false and unsubstantiated claims about ivermectin, COVID-19 PCR tests, and COVID-19 vaccine safety
REVIEW On 13 August 2021, the Facebook page “America First With Dr. Sebastian Gorka” published a video of nurse Nicole Whitley, who made several claims about ivermectin, COVID-19 vaccine safety, and the COVID-19 PCR tests. Sebastian Gork
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ICU Nurse Offers NO Proof Ivermectin Is Effective At Treating COVID-19
Does an ICU nurse give proof that ivermectin is effective at treating COVID-19? No, that's not true: Ivermectin, which is frequently used to treat or prevent parasites in animals, is not approved for treating or preventing COVID-19 in hum
Truth or Fiction?→ U.S. Military Dogs Being Evacuated From Afghanistan
On August 16 2021, CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand shared an image on Twitter which puportedly showed dogs with the United States military dogs as they were getting moved out of Afghanistan as its cities rapidly fell to the Taliban: U.S. military dogs
Health Feedback→ Face masks can filter small airborne particles, including respiratory droplets, and are effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19
REVIEW The wearing of face masks is one of the public health measures that has been adopted to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Multiple scientific studies have shown that mask-wearing is effective in reducing the number of infections. COVID-19 is tra
FactCheck.org→ Indiana Doctor Piles On Bogus COVID-19 Claims in Viral Video
SciCheck Digest In a viral video, an Indiana physician baselessly claimed that the COVID-19 vaccines, which have been shown to be safe and effective, “fight the virus wrong and let the virus become worse than it would with native infection.”
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Alberta Man Did NOT Prove COVID-19 Is Hoax, Restrictions NOT Dropped Because Of Him
Did Alberta, Canada resident Patrick King prove that COVID-19 is a hoax, causing an end to COVID restrictions in Alberta? No, that's not true: King's attempt to subpoena the province's chief medical officer for his COVID-19 ticket was den
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: It’s NOT True That Whether Vaccines Work Or Don’t Work For Others, You Don’t Need One
Is it true that whether a vaccine works or doesn't work for other people, you don't need one? Paradoxically, neither of these claims is true: You need protection even if others are vaccinated and especially when the vaccine, like many oth
Truth or Fiction?→ Ashli Babbitt Cremation Request
On August 3 2021, longtime disinformation purveyor Judicial Watch issued a “press release” provocatively titled, “New Documents reveal the DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Submitted a Request to Cremate Ashli Babbitt Two Days
Health Feedback→ Vaccinated people are much more protected from COVID-19 than unvaccinated individuals; the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccines outweigh their risks
REVIEW After authorizing the first COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in late 2020, the U.S. entered a nationwide vaccination campaign. As of 28 July 2021, 49% of the population has been fully vaccinated. Claims raising doubts about the effectivenes
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: VAERS Data Does NOT Establish Link Between ‘2,000 Deaths’ And COVID-19 Vaccines — There Was A Data Entry Error
Did the CDC report that deaths related to COVID-19 vaccines had skyrocketed and that more people were dying of the vaccine than the disease? No, that's not true: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not make any such announc
FactCheck.org→ Vaccines Remain Largely Effective Against Delta Variant, Counter to Claims From Fox News Guest
SciCheck Digest Multiple studies show the FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines continue to be effective against the delta variant of the coronavirus, even if the potency of the vaccines is somewhat reduced. But a guest on Fox News falsely claimed the delta
Full Fact→ Israel’s travel policy doesn’t view vaccinated passengers as higher risk
Israel recently postponed its plan to allow vaccinated tourists to enter the country from 1 August in an easing of coronavirus restrictions. This news has been shared on Facebook alongside the claim that vaccinated people account for nearly all s
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: The Increase In COVID-19 Cases Is NOT Made Up And Is Not From The Vaccinated
Do the non-vaccinated and people who don't wear masks not get tested for COVID-19 and therefore was the July, 2021 increase in cases faked or from the vaccinated? No, that's not true. There is no proof that unvaccinated people and people
Truth or Fiction?→ Does a Hospital in France Allow Terminal Patients to Meet With ‘Peyo the Horse’?
The story of a French hospital’s unusual relationship with a former dressage horse — and the horse’s relationship with terminal patients there — recirculated online in July 2021. Interest in “Doctor Peyo” reignited f
Full Fact→ Vaccines reduce the risk of death but don’t eliminate it altogether
A widely shared Facebook post asks “If the jabbed are apparently dying from the unjabbed. Why are the unjabbed not dying? And why are the jabbed dying?” As we have written about before, the Covid-19 vaccines have been shown to be high
Health Feedback→ VAERS reports may initiate investigations into potential associations between a vaccine and adverse events, but on their own cannot prove causality
REVIEW On 21 July 2021, multiple social media posts drew attention to the website of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a doubling of death reports made to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System. The specific sta
FactCheck.org→ Fauci and Paul, Round 2
At a July 20 Senate hearing, Republican Sen. Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, once again had a testy exchange over whether the U.S. funded gain-of-function research in China, with e
Full Fact→ Vaccines have not caused daily cases to increase
A post on Instagram seems to imply that the vaccine is causing more Covid-19 cases, by comparing the number of new cases at the start of July 2021, with the same time last year. It correctly states that there were 27,989 new cases reported on 1 July 20
Full Fact→ Children are very unlikely to die of Covid-19
Readers have asked us to explain a public argument between scientists over the dangers of Covid-19 to children. The argument took place on Twitter, and concerned a BBC News article published on 9 July about recent scientific research that assessed the