Coronavirus

Does a string of edited-together U.S. news clips with the words "33 COVID cases" in one form or another in each prove that COVID-19 and the pandemic were fabricated or orchestrated? No, that's not true: The cherry-picked soundbites -- all appearing to be from early days of the pandemic -- reveal no particular conspiracy or that the virus doesn't exist.…

Does a "new report" prove that an estimated "26.6 million people were injured, 1.36 million disabled, and 300,000 excess deaths can be attributed to COVID-19 vaccine damages in 2022 alone"? No, that's not true: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided data from a government report, which told a much different story. It said that tens of millions…

Do images circulating on social media show press photos of Anthony Fauci under arrest and in police custody? No, that's not true: Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has not been arrested. These are not photos of a real incident but are images generated by an artificial intelligence program. Jack Posobiec posted the…

Do Pfizer documents show that the company's COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide? No, that's not true: The section of the document in question describes a procedure for analyzing a protein sample from the virus under a sophisticated microscope that includes the use of graphene oxide to help with imaging. Graphene oxide is not among the ingredients for the COVID shots.…

Is Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and former chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, facing imminent arrest for lying to Congress? No, that's not true: The allegation is part of a followbait or clickbait scheme. In a typical bait-and-switch move, the poster of this claim promises social media users a…

Does a medical case study prove there's a link between the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and a fivefold increase in a cancer biomarker? No, that's not true: The case report looks at one person, a 79-year-old woman with ovarian cancer. It doesn't establish a causal link between the vaccine and the increased level of a biomarker, which are molecules that don't…

Did Sarah Ferguson, the host of the Australian daily current affairs news program "7.30," pose several testy and loaded questions to Bill Gates when she interviewed him, resulting in Gates finally declaring, "OK that's enough. This interview is over. Thank you"? No, that's not true: It's a deepfake video circulating on social media. Ferguson did have Gates as a guest…

Is the "biggest increase in registered deaths in 100 years" in New Zealand due to the nation's high vaccination rate? No, that's not true: "There is absolutely no evidence that the increase in mortality in 2022 is related to Covid-19 vaccination," Dr. Michael Baker, a public health professor at the University of Otago, told Lead Stories in a March 7,…

Was an arrest warrant for Bill Gates issued by the "Heinous Crimes Court" in the Philippines for "premeditated murder" linked to vaccine roll out? No, that's not true: A legal expert told Lead Stories, "Philippine courts do not have the authority to issue international arrest warrants under the Philippines Rules of Criminal Procedure." The expert says there's no such entity…

Did Russian President Vladimir Putin order the destruction of all COVID-19 vaccine supplies in Russia? No, that's not true. The claim originated from a website known for spreading false claims, and no other independent credible source has published anything to back up this theory. On March 4, 2023, the Russian Ministry of Health publicly confirmed sending additional doses to different…

Did COVID-19 vaccines lead to the number of stillbirths being "nearly doubled" in Singapore? No, that's not true: The former journalist who posted the claim retracted it on his blog, noting that he missed the fact a law change in Singapore makes it mandatory to report all births, infant deaths and stillbirths, including those that occur outside hospitals. That resulted…

Does a video on social media show that China has successfully cloned several species of dinosaurs? No, that's not true: The video's clips, shot at different locations, show Jurassic-Park-themed animatronics and puppetry. The dinosaurs are not alive. And, cloning of the species shown would be impossible as they predate the oldest known DNA fragments, which were found in Greenland's permafrost…

Did a "bombshell new study" prove that mRNA "jabs" have "caused tens of millions of serious new health problems worldwide," including a condition known as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)? No, that's not true: The 2022 study, conducted by researchers from Cedars-Sinai and Brigham and Women's Hospital, found that COVID-19 vaccinations were associated with an increased risk of certain health…

Do COVID-19 shots cause "vaccine-induced AIDS" (VAIDS) and did they cause a 500 percent increase in HIV in the U.S. military during 2021? No, that's not true: "The claims are false," U.S. Department of Defense spokesperson Lisa Lawrence told Lead Stories in a March 3, 2023, email. Only one thing causes AIDS and that's HIV. Even if there had been…

Do Medicare data show that COVID-19 vaccines increase your risk of dying? No, that's not true: "There is no credible scientific evidence that COVID-19 vaccines are causing excess deaths," or deaths that wouldn't have otherwise happened, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) wrote in a March 2, 2023, email. Such deaths are calculated by subtracting the expected number…

Does a draft of a World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic treaty supplant U.S. sovereignty, giving the international organization the authority to dictate American policies? No, that's not true: Nothing in the draft states the U.S. will lose its sovereignty. In fact, the draft says the opposite by "[r]eaffirming the principle of sovereignty of States Parties in addressing public health matters,…

Are vaccines proven ineffective by a U.K. report published in February 2023, which found that 92 percent of "deaths involving COVID-19" occurred in fully vaccinated individuals? No, that's not true: Implying causality from a limited set of data leaves out consequential variables such as the ages of the dead, other underlying diseases, and whether booster recommendations had been followed. While…

Do gene editing mRNA vaccine patent holders own vaccinated people outright once injected, and does mRNA alter natural human DNA? No, that's not true: A Stanford University professor of law specializing in bioethics told Lead Stories that these claims are "too absurd even to be wrong." Also, many credible medical organizations have debunked the claim that mRNA vaccines alter the…

Does a line graph in a peer-reviewed medical study published by The Lancet show that the oral anti-COVID-19 medication Paxlovid starts working before the patient ingests it? No, that's not true: The lead author of the study told Lead Stories that blue and orange lines on the graph start at zero, which is the origin of the graph's X-axis (horizontal…

Can 49 percent of COVID-19 vaccine ingredients produced under emergency use authorization (EUA) be changed without telling the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? No, that's not true: Even very small changes to a vaccine must be reported to the regulatory agency. A member of the FDA's vaccine advisory panel said such a notion about vaccines could only come from "someone…