Are a new round of stimulus checks being issued in the U.S. on July 30, 2021? No, that's not true: This is a prank post intended to lure people in and play a crude joke. There were, as of July 15, 2021, no bills working their way through the U.S. government aimed at issuing further stimulus checks to all Americans.…

Do these numbers from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) document 895 deaths or serious injuries of military veterans from COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: Anyone with internet access can add a report to the VAERS list; the public access link to it expressly warns against unwarranted conclusions based on VAERS material. The list only provides a tally…

Do people need to "remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from the virus they got vaccinated against because you're not vaccinated"? No, that's not true. Mocking public health advice, this meme leaves out the primary purposes of vaccination: Preventing you from becoming infected; Preventing you from infecting others. Both unvaccinated and (to a far lesser…

Did a Politico article suggest the Biden administration monitoring private text messages of Americans to combat vaccine "misinformation"? No, that's misleading. The Politico article stated that "Biden allied groups" are working with SMS carriers to distribute messages attempting to "dispel misinformation about vaccines that is sent over social media and text messages." The article did not state that the administration…

Will COVID-19 vaccines lose emergency use authorization (EUA) when "there is no longer an emergency and everything opens back up"? No, that's not true: That's not how the process works. Whether or not a drug has an EUA is not dependent on lockdowns. Also, manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines are seeking full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),…

Does a Public Health England report on COVID variants show the case fatality rate for the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant is .08 percent and that, compared to the virus that started the pandemic, Delta is not as lethal? No, that's not true: The report a radio host linked to clearly says the proportion of patients who will die of infection with…

Does a video show "Joe Biden's green shirt vaccine pushing shock troops" being confronted on camera? No, that's not true. The video has nothing to do with the COVID-19 vaccine. The video shows workers from a construction company and is labeled "Paramount Builders Illegal Solicitors." They are not "troops" attempting to "push" a COVID-19 vaccine to people by going door-to-door.…

Are people going door-to-door to "see your papers" on COVID-19 vaccination? No, there's no evidence that's true: The claim riffs off a comment that President Joe Biden made on vaccine outreach. As his administration has made clear, the door-to-door effort is about education and access. It's being staffed by local public health officials and volunteers. Although they may ask whether…

Did a court in Lisbon rule that the COVID-19 death toll in Portugal was 152 and not the 17,000 reported by public health officials? No, that's not true: The claim is based on misidentification of court documents and on excerpting that changes their meaning, leaving out context about autopsy-documented deaths that is vital to understanding what was and was not…

Does Australian legislation that classifies the COVID-19 vaccine as a "poison" mean that the shot is toxic or harmful? No, that's not true: It's a matter of semantics. Medicines and vaccines are normally classified as poisons under the "Poisons Standard" in Australia, but only in the sense that they can cause harm if taken incorrectly or in the wrong amounts.…

Did the New England Journal of Medicine find that women who received the COVID-19 vaccine -- within 30 days of becoming pregnant and up to 20 weeks pregnant -- had a miscarriage rate of 82%? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Lead Stories that number was "incorrect" and a "misrepresentation of…

Is the emergence of the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 "fake news"? No, that's not true: The variant, which has been identified in at least 96 countries, is diagnosed by doctors and public health experts as the cause of deaths and illness around the world. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on July 5,…

Does an interview with Dr. Sherri Tenpenny contain only accurate and factual statements about COVID-19 and vaccines? No, that's not true: The interview, which appeared on the "Stew Peters Show," is full of false and misleading claims. For example, Tenpenny alleges that COVID-19 vaccines are not effective, that they cause harm and that they make our bodies magnetic. None of…

Is the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine composed of 99.99% graphene oxide, does it have the effect of making vaccinated people magnetic and was this ingredient added to the vaccine to murder people? No, none of these claims are true: Host Stew Peters and Jane Ruby, frequent guest to his online show, have extrapolated from their distortion of a report by a…

Does a "research letter" published by JAMA Pediatrics prove that face masks are dangerous for children? No, that's not true: The medical journal that published the lab report on July 16, 2021 announced editors have retracted it, after peer scientists pointed out the measuring device was unsuitable, the data dubious and therefore the conclusions unwarranted. Despite being published in a…

Have scientists confirmed that most of those vaccinated against COVID-19 will die soon? No, that's not true: There's no evidence the vaccines will cause widespread deaths. In fact, scientists almost universally agree that the shots will do the opposite -- that they will help prevent deaths that otherwise would have been caused by the virus. The claim appeared in a…

Are COVID-19 deaths a major cause of staff shortages in the United States? No, that's not true: Although economists can debate the relative importance of different factors contributing to the staff shortage -- and even whether there is a widespread shortage -- it's generally agreed that the deaths caused by COVID-19 are not playing a major role. Nearly 80% of…

Is it true that there has "never EVER" been a virus mutation that resulted in a virus that was more lethal? No, that is a misleading claim. Two experts told Lead Stories that while the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus may be less lethal, that statement ignores the effects a more transmissible strain will have on the health care…

Does Reiner Fuellmich prove in a new video that COVID-19 PCR tests do not detect the virus? No, that's not true: This is one of several debunked conspiracy theories he recycles in a new video that have been refuted by published peer-reviewed scientific studies, government agencies and private physicians, all independent of each other. The claim appeared in a post…

Does medical research show natural immunity to COVID-19 is stronger than that gained from vaccines, and that those vaccines are ineffective against emerging variants of the virus? No, that's not true: The person making these claims, although introduced as an epidemiologist, is board-certified as a cardiologist and does not list his certification in epidemiology. Directly refuting the claims, the Centers…