Does a video show a microchip reader used for pets presumably registering a chip in a person's arm where she was vaccinated? No, that's not true: The company that makes the reader couldn't find any information linked to the number that flashed on the screen briefly when the reader was held near a woman's arm. Lead Stories researched the microchip…

Is "The Great Reset" a secret plan masterminded by global elites to limit freedoms and push radical policies? No, that's not true: It's the name of a public policy initiative the World Economic Forum (WEF) launched in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The phrase has been hijacked by conspiracy theorists who believe an evil cabal is using the pandemic as…

Are thousands of flights being canceled as vaccinated pilots fall ill or die? No, there's no evidence that's happening. The claim is made without offering proof pilots who have been vaccinated are either getting sick or dying, forcing cancellations. The article making the claim mis-states research into incidence of thromboembolism among pilots and also repeats the false claim that four…

Are doctors giving men estrogen patches to treat COVID-19 since women are better at fighting the virus? No, that's misleading. An article published by the New York Times with the online headline "Women are better at fighting COVID-19, so doctors are giving men estrogen patches," was published in April 2020 -- at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. The article…

Does material plucked from the European Union's list of reports of possible drug reactions justify an essay's claim that vaccine side effects have killed two people for every three who were saved from dying of COVID-19? No, that's not true: The essay did not pass through customary scientific peer review and editing. Staff members of the journal it appeared in…

Is this video correct in its claim that the federal Vaccine Adverse Events Report System (VAERS) delivers data proving 6,000 people were killed by COVID vaccines? No, that's not true: The VAERS website repeatedly warns users against making faulty assumptions based on the VAERS list of reports. As the VAERS webpage itself explains, the list of reports is a wide-open,…

Did the headline on this Facebook post correctly describe a draft report about the effect of lockdowns on the spread of COVID-19 in the U.S. and other countries? No, that's not true: The paper is, by its own wording, still a working draft and has not yet been subjected to professional peer review. That's the customary process through which the…

Does this blog post prove 25,800 people have died of reactions to COVID vaccines? No, that's not true: The claim recycles an oft-rebuked misuse of the U.S. government's unverified list of vaccine reaction reports called VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System). Multiple peer-reviewed studies by medical doctors and infectious disease Ph.D.s have found the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines both effective and…

Does a screenshot of a Newsweek headline tell the whole story about 10,000 COVID infections reported in fully vaccinated people? No, this headline has been intentionally separated from the Newsweek article that describes what the CDC reported on May 25, 2021, about the incidence of "breakthrough infections" in the first four months of the year. The Newsweek article was published…

Does messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine technology have catastrophic side effects, including death? No, that's not true: Health officials widely consider such technology to be safe and effective. Millions of people have gotten a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and have not suffered catastrophic side effects. At the time of writing, the mRNA vaccination has not been causally linked to any deaths, according…

Did a Moderna "representative" make a "HORRIFIC admission" about the COVID-19 vaccine in a recorded phone call featured on "The Stew Peters Show"? No, that's not true: The relationship with Moderna of the person whose voice was recorded -- and the extent of that person's knowledge of Moderna -- is unknown. As is the case with many companies, the person…

Is this video correct in suggesting there's a "we know" consensus that mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 cause the body to create "very dangerous" toxic proteins? No, that's not true: There's no peer-reviewed medical study proving this assertion has been accepted. The CDC rejects the claim, saying there is no medical evidence to support it. Part of the claim rests on…

Do "leaked" airline documents reveal horrific details about vaccinated pilots? No, that's not true: The so-called leaked documents consist entirely of an informational brief from United Master Executive Council, a pilots' union. The memo to members provides background on negotiations with United management as they relate to the question of COVID-19 vaccination. It's a detailed and reasoned document that does…

Was Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrested by U.S. Navy SEALs on June 1, 2021? No, that's not true: Not only is there no credible information about such an arrest, but Fauci has made several telecommunications and public appearances since June 1, 2021 and federal law bars the U.S. military from taking…

Did four British Airways pilots die in one week after getting the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true. Four pilots for the airline did pass away but they did not all die within one week, and there is no proof they died from a COVID-19 vaccine. "There is no truth whatsoever in the claims on social media speculating that the…

Did a director of China's largest baby formula company, Feihe, reveal information about the COVID-19 vaccine and pregnancy, saying many women cannot bear children within six months of receiving a coronavirus vaccination and that he expected a steep drop in powdered milk sales in the next year or two because of this? While it is true that the Feihe director,…

Does a post that claims the World Health Organization now recommends against COVID-19 vaccination of children tell the whole story about the agency's recommendation? No, that's not true: WHO's June 3, 2021 guidance says more evidence is needed to make general recommendations. The public health agency's webpage on vaccination goes on to explain that children -- who tend to get…

Were COVID-19 vaccine "candidates" transferred to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in December 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak? No, that's not true: The vaccine materials transferred were for MERS-CoV, the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, not for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a spokesperson at the National Institute of Allergy and…

Does this colorful graphic chart, with a footnote that the data was sourced from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fairly represent the impact of vaccines on vaccine-preventable diseases? No, that's not true: By carving off the prevaccine years, the chart de-emphasizes the sharp reduction in death by infectious diseases. And by calculating the mortality as a portion of…

Were Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls created as symbols to represent children who died from vaccinations? No, that's not true: Although Johnny Gruelle, an illustrator and the creator of the dolls, had a daughter who died after getting a smallpox vaccination at her school, the patent for Raggedy Ann dolls was granted several months before her death. Some evidence suggests…