Are COVID-19 vaccines 98 times worse than the virus itself? No, that's not true: There's no evidence to suggest that getting sick with coronavirus is a better option for the population as a whole than the benefits of immunization. While a pre-print (non-peer-reviewed) draft of an article discusses the ethics of vaccine booster mandates for university students and their possible…

Did governments around the world kill 12 million people by giving them COVID-19 shots? No, that's not true: There's no evidence that anywhere near that number of people have died due to vaccination for the disease as of mid-August 2022. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have only identified "nine…

Is there a global recall of all COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: There is no evidence of global public health agencies pulling their support for and endorsement of vaccinations to protect against SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus disease) and its variants. The World Health Organization told Lead Stories, "COVID-19 vaccines are being continuously assessed for their benefits versus risks. The consistent observation…

Are Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines associated with an increased risk of serious adverse events of special interest? No, that's not true: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an email to Lead Stories that the vaccines meet the agency's rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. In addition, the authors of this study created their…

Did 58 percent of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) cases reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) happen within three days of vaccination and 78.3 percent within seven days? No, that's not true: Since the VAERS system began in 1990, the public database shows 1,066 reports of SIDS deaths. Of that total, 527 or 49.4 percent occurred within…

Does data given to the Food and Drug Administration before Pfizer COVID-19 shots were officially approved show up to 97 percent of vaccinated pregnant women lost their babies? No, that's not true: The Pfizer document that was released as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit does not provide the total number of pregnant women in 63 countries…

Did a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study find COVID-19 vaccination increases the risk of suffering autoimmune disease myocarditis by 13,200%? No, that's not true: The study never mentions autoimmune myocarditis, which is an extremely rare condition. The most common cause of myocarditis, which is rare on its own, is a viral infection, Johns Hopkins Medicine says. The…

Do COVID-19 vaccines suppress innate immunity and increase the risk of infectious disease and cancer? No, that's not true: There's no evidence that COVID (SARS-CoV-2) mRNA vaccines are causing these maladies. The data used to make those claims are based on information from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), a database that keeps a record of reported but often…

Do the reported adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines in the United States include more than 4,000 fetal or newborn deaths? No, that's not true: A Lead Stories analysis of the numbers found in the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), based on data through April 8, 2022, wasn't able to duplicate the claimed results plus no conclusions can be reached…

Does a Pfizer document list thousands of side effects from its COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: The nine pages of potential side effects are part of a government-required adverse event (AE) report prepared by the pharmaceutical company. It's not meant to be a list of the expected side effects from the shot, but instead, "expert groups and regulatory authorities"…