&Quot;Sudden Deaths&Quot;

Did Japan ban COVID vaccinations over "soaring sudden deaths" in the country? No, that's not true: There is no ban. Japan, like many other countries, has actively promoted COVID-19 vaccinations as a tool in combating the spread of the virus and protecting public health. The only change in Japan's vaccination program is that starting in April, residents will need to…

Did Iceland ban COVID-19 vaccinations? No, that's not true: The Nordic nation has not banned COVID vaccines as of this publication and was actually encouraging at-risk populations to maintain a recommended vaccine schedule. Social media users and publications that pushed the false information regarding a ban did not provide verifiable evidence to support or corroborate the claim. Lead Stories determined…

Does a "secret CDC report" show hundreds of thousands of children "died suddenly" in the United States following the COVID-19 vaccine rollout? No, that's not true: The author or authors of the article making the claims did not find any such report; instead, they created their own document using publicly available Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data they found…

Does an article listing 1,616 "athlete collapses and deaths" between January 2021 and December 2022 prove a connection between these mishaps and the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: While the article documents scores of "athletes" who have died or collapsed for various reasons (some of them clearly non-cardiac in nature, like cancer, suicide, drug overdose or accidents), their vaccine…

Does a new study claim that artificial sweeteners are to blame for "soaring rates of heart attacks and sudden deaths the past two years"? No, that's not true: The study does not suggest any such link but instead says "The findings ... suggest a potential direct association between higher artificial sweetener consumption ... and increased cardiovascular disease risk." The U.S.…

Have COVID-19 vaccine rollouts increased "sudden deaths" in Germany by four times? No, that's not true: The claim misuses billing data to make medical claims, according to the chairman of the board of the doctors who provide health under the national system and Germany's federal institute for vaccines and biomedicines The claim appeared in an article (archived here) published by…

Does the "Died Suddenly" movie trailer demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccinations cause widespread sudden death or severe medical events? No, that's not true: The trailer recycles previously debunked claims that the vaccine is lethal. To support its implications, the trailer stitches together footage and screenshots of acute medical events unrelated to COVID vaccination. Public health experts, relying on clinical safety trials…

Are "all the soccer players getting heart attacks"? And can the recent cluster of cardiac events suffered by athletes be attributed to any one cause? No, that's not true: Several of the recent incidents are clearly unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine, and others do not point to the vaccine as a cause, but this has not prevented anti-vaccine activists from…

Are symptoms of the omicron variant being used to cover up effects of COVID-19 vaccines? No, there is no evidence that there is a cover-up of COVID vaccine adverse effects via symptoms of the new omicron variant. An article making that claim gives no scientific, medical or reputably published proof. It also repeats a false claim that 183 professional athletes…

Did 108 FIFA-registered players and coaches die in six months of 2021, as stated in a viral tweet? No, this claim is unsubstantiated. The number cited in the post, 108, seems to have originated from a source making a different claim that was not specific to FIFA, nor even the sport of soccer, nor a six month time frame. A…