Has the COVID-19 vaccine program killed more active-duty military than the virus? No, that's not true: There had not been any deaths from the vaccine as of September 14, 2021, and no fully vaccinated service members had died from COVID-19 , the Department of Defense told Lead Stories. There had been 43 deaths from COVID-19 among active military members as…

Are Walmart locations in Canada requiring shoppers to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination and a government-issued ID to shop in stores, effective November 1, 2021? No, that's not true: a Walmart Canada spokesperson confirmed that the claim is false. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published on September 13, 2021. It used a Walmart Canada Corporation logo…

Does a 2017 Oklahoma state law pave the way for vaccination mandates and are there plans to sort people at roadblocks, fit them with tracking chip bracelets and send the unvaccinated to FEMA camps? No, that's not true: This video is made of three different elements: text captioning that does not accurately represent the Oklahoma legislation, a 2009 video of…

Did New South Wales Health, an Australian government health organization, use actors to portray COVID-19 patients in a public health video? No, that's not true: The people featured in the video are real COVID-19 patients. The shortened news report appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) published on September 13, 2021. The beginning of the video featured footage of a…

Does an article that makes the claim that 80% of COVID-19 deaths occurred within the vaccinated population in Scotland in August 2021 tell the whole story? No, that's not true: The article is misleading because it leaves out the important fact that Scotland has high vaccination coverage. According to the latest figures, more than 91% of people over the age…

Does a Nigerian study done in 2011 show that men who took ivermectin as a treatment for onchocerciasis, or river blindness, were made sterile by the anti-parasitic drug? No, that's not true: The study, which only included 37 patients and no control group, did not conclude that the participants had been rendered sterile, but noted changes to sperm count and…

Did the Secretary of Defense send a text to all active military personnel telling them to get the COVID-19 vaccine by 10 a.m. or they would be court-martialed, and did 12 F-22 pilots walk off the job because of the text? No, that's not true: "The Secretary of Defense has never sent any kind of force-wide text message about anything,…

Did a Chinese restaurant advertise giving customers 95% off their lunch total if you show them a vaccination card? No, that's not true: The sign was made by a prank website where you can create your own Chinese restaurant sign. The story originated from an Instagram post published on September 5, 2021. The sign read: LUNCH: $150 (GET 95% OFF…

Did the Taliban survive from February 2020 through August 2021 with no vaccines, no masks or business shutdowns and capture Afghanistan with no mass deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic? No, that's not true: These claims were made without evidence, while independent reports by health experts and others actually working there show thousands died and that Afghanistan public officers fought the…

Did Oklahoma gunshot victims wind up having to wait to be seen at the hospital because there were too many people who had overdosed on the horse worming medication ivermectin? No, that's not true: Reports in various outlets painted a highly exaggerated picture of what Dr. Jason McElyea had described in an interview. Further complicating the issue, when one hospital,…

Does the use of ivermectin as a dewormer for horses mean it is only a veterinary medicine? No, that's not true: There are ivermectin doses for 1,000-pound animals and different doses and forms to treat rosacea and parasites in humans. But, while the active ingredient is the same, the veterinary formulation is not the same as the human product, and…

Did 27 U.S. Air Force pilots resign their commissions after the announcement of the implementation of a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all U.S. active duty and National Guard service members? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no evidence the claim was valid; and Real Raw News, the site where the claim was originally published, is known for parody and…

Did the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) force COVID-19 vaccines onto Hurricane Ida evacuees who were leaving New Orleans? No, that's not true: FEMA told Lead Stories this is false and a spokesperson for the mayor said it is not happening. The claim originated in an article published by Real Raw News on September 1, 2021, titled, "FEMA FORCIBLY VACCINATING…

Did the Pfizer lab in Madrid suffer a fire or burn to the ground? No, that's not true: Pfizer officials confirmed there was a lightning-caused fire near the pharma giant's lab, but it burned a biocomposting lot near the the Pfizer plant without spreading to the Pfizer facility. The viral video was taken from an angle that made it appear…

Does an Israeli study based on medical records of the Maccabi Healthcare Services HMO prove vaccines are less effective than natural immunity? No, that's not true: While the study does indicate people who survived infection with SARS-CoV-2 resisted the delta variant better than those who had been vaccinated, it also notes that people who have been infected and vaccinated fare…

Are disposable medical swabs that have been sterilized using ethylene oxide gas carcinogenic and considered dangerous? No, that's not true: It is commonly used to sterilize medical equipment and disposable products like swabs and wound dressings that might not be able to withstand sterilization methods that include heat or moisture. However, it is true that the Department of Health and…

Did Germany halt all COVID-19 vaccines because they are unsafe and no longer recommended? No, that's not true: Clickbait headlines, capitalizing on the language barrier, are representing as factual a multiday broadcast event that made clear that its "global pandemic exit exercise" was a type of political theater. The video shows a "planspiel," a scenario-based simulation presenting what the new…

Does the state of Hawaii say it has had 45,000 deaths caused by COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true. Neither the state of Hawaii nor a representative of the state made this claim. The claim was made in part by an attorney who is taking legal action against Hawaii's state vaccine mandate on behalf of union members. The attorney referred…

Did the U.S. Supreme Court rule that the COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe? Did Dr. Anthony Fauci and "Big Pharma" lose a lawsuit to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others over the safety of COVID vaccine? No, neither of those are true: There has been no recent court proceeding, or ruling, from the Supreme Court stating that COVID vaccine is unsafe.…

Did a new, more-deadly virus arise in August 2021 called "COVID-22"? No, that's not true: social media users grabbed the phrase "COVID-22" from a German news site's interview with an immunologist, causing a worldwide health scare. He used the phrase as casual shorthand for his prediction that there will be more variants of SARS-CoV-2 beyond the delta variant that caused…