Coronavirus

Does the word "coronavirus" mean "heart attack virus" in Latin? No, that's not true: A translation shown in a video circulating on social media relied on the intentional misspelling of the word, which triggered Google Translate glitches. The claim appeared in a video published on Instagram on January 7, 2023. The caption said: @ericmoutsos_ if #you #go to #god #forsaken…

This article lays out the evidence Alan Gray (CEO of alternative news site NewsBlaze) is quite likely the key person behind the anonymously published website named Real Science hosted on the domain name goodsciencing.com. It was recently in the news because it was the source for some spectacular (but wrong) statistics about athletes suffering cardiac arrests (here's our fact…

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…

Did Japan launch an official investigation into "millions of COVID vaccine deaths" in December 2022 or early January 2023? No, that's not true: As of January 4, 2023, there is no available evidence to suggest that "millions" of people in Japan had died as a result of COVID vaccines, nor had any such investigation been announced by public health officials…

Did Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and philanthropist, "announce" when and where the next pandemic will take place? No, that's not true: A video circulating on social media reused audiovisual material labeled as fictitious. The clip summarized a hypothetical scenario that was a part of an October 2022 international exercise aimed at improving preparedness for future pandemics. The story originated…

Does a reanalysis of Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccine data show an increased risk of serious adverse events of special interest? No, that's not true: The authors of this study created their own subset of serious adverse events of special interest (AESI), which give the appearance of there being a strong correlation between them and the vaccines when, in…

Did police in Washington, D.C., arrest top virologist Dr. Anthony Fauci after Twitter CEO Elon Musk released information that Fauci lied about COVID-19 research and imposed unnecessary restrictions on Americans? No, that's not true: The claim appears in a story on a site that publishes satirical takes on the news. The claim appeared in a December 27, 2022 article by…

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.…

Do COVID-19 vaccines contain an "HIV protein" that is causing "vaccine AIDS," resulting in an increase in people "showing up HIV-positive"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence to suggest COVID mRNA vaccines currently available in the U.S. contain an HIV protein. Neither of the ingredient lists for the Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty or the Moderna Spikevax COVID vaccines contain an…

Does Jacques Attali's book "Verbatim," published in 1993, contain a prediction of a man-made pandemic that would eliminate the elderly and other vulnerable parts of the population? No, that's not true: There is no such quote in his book. The claim appeared on Instagram on December 21, 2022. The caption read: #pandemic #conspiracy#control #media #lies #viral #wow #fyp #reels This…

Did the Food and Drug Administration report that the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine "causes" blood clots? No, that's not true: In remarks to Lead Stories, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that the vaccine meets its safety standards and denied that the agency had found that the vaccine causes health problems. The authors of a recent study, conducted in part…

Is colloidal silver in humidifiers and nebulizers a safe and effective method to treat viral infections like COVID-19 and RSV in children? No, that's not true: A medical toxicologist and pediatrician told Lead Stories that silver has "no natural function in the body's metabolism" and that there is no scientific evidence that ingesting or inhaling colloidal silver will treat viral…

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…

Is the new Er blood group due to a genetic variation caused by COVID-19 mRNA vaccines or vaccine injury? No, that's not true: An expert from the United Kingdom's National Institute for Health and Care Research told Lead Stories that the blood type has been recognized in research for decades. The claim appeared in a video on Instagram on December…

Were there zero influenza cases worldwide in 2021 because flu cases were fraudulently recorded as COVID-19 cases? No, that's not true: Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, flu cases have been categorized separately from COVID by national and international surveillance programs. Global flu cases significantly decreased during the 2020-2021 flu season -- in large part due…

Did country singer Jake Flint die from COVID-19 or complications related to the COVID-19 vaccine, as a social media post implies? No, that's not true: Flint's publicist told Lead Stories that Flint's death was not related to the vaccine or the virus, and that his two vaccinations were more than a year before his death. The implied claim appeared in…

Did the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) "quietly" confirm in late 2022 that at least 118,000 children and young adults have "died suddenly" in the U.S. since rollout of COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: Experts told Lead Stories that excess death data has been publicly published by the CDC since COVID was declared a pandemic in March…

Did a 20-year-old woman from Kansas die shortly after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: Although Regan Lewis did experience cardiac arrest and die shortly after receiving a vaccine, Regan's mother Connie Lewis clarified that the vaccine was not for COVID after mistakenly saying so previously. There is also no confirmation that Regan's cardiac arrest and subsequent death…

Is stiff person syndrome, the disease Celine Dion announced in December 2022 that she was diagnosed with, included in a list of adverse reactions reported after vaccination with the Comirnaty (Pfizer-BioNTech) mRNA COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: Stiff person syndrome was included in the appendix of an April 2021 Pfizer report as part of a "list of adverse events…

Was Jeff Zients, a former White House coordinator for COVID-19 response under President Joe Biden, arrested by the military on December 12, 2022? No, that's not true: The Department of Defense told Lead Stories that the claim, which was posted by a website notable for its satirical content, is false. The claim originated from an article titled "Military Arrests Covid-19…