Fauci

Are coronavirus vaccines primarily designed to improve survival rates of those already infected? No, that's not true: Vaccines are designed to reduce the risk of infection in the first place. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published by Chad Prather on December 18, 2020. The post read: How will we know the vaccine is working? Will the…

Did the post-Thanksgiving surge in COVID-19 cases after people traveled and gathered in groups -- which was predicted by Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health officials had warned would happen -- end up being a 'no-show'? No, that's not entirely true if you look at the absolute numbers: 70% of states set new peaks for cases of the novel coronavirus…

Is it true that the novel coronavirus has not crossed borders, that 2020 death rates are not higher than an average year, that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe and ineffective and that COVID is no more lethal and infectious than the flu? No, none of those claims is true. Full-time virologists, vaccinologists, epidemiologists and public health officials cite peer-reviewed professional studies…

Did Time Magazine select the frontline medical workers during the coronavirus pandemic as the person of the year? No, that's not true: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were announced as Time's person of the year on December 10, 2020. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) where it was published on December 7, 2020 with the caption: For…

Does the 99% COVID survival rate prove lockdowns are "no longer about health," but instead about government control? No, that's not true: A 1% fatality rate is not low for an infectious disease, public health experts point out. And, because COVID spreads easily from person to person -- even with some Americans wearing masks and following social distancing guidelines --…

Is it true the lethality of COVID-19 is being overblown by government mortality data, and was a Johns Hopkins University student paper censored when it posted a story about that claim? No, that is not true. There is no evidence that official COVID-19 death tallies have hidden some other cause of unexpected deaths in 2020. The student paper's retracted article…

Was Dr. Anthony Fauci indicted for treason, conspiring with the enemy and fraud? No, that's not true. A video posted by David Zublick on his "Truth Unsealed" Facebook page in May 2020 has gone viral, claiming that Fauci was indicted for crimes including "treason, conspiring with the enemy and fraud." Fauci has not been indicted. There are no court documents…

Did President Trump post a meme about Dr. Anthony Fauci on Facebook? No, that's not true: the meme was posted by a parody account but garnered tens of thousands likes, shares and comments, many from people who didn't realize it did not come from the President's own Facebook account. The meme appeared in a post (archived here) where it was…

Was the COVID-19 pandemic pre-planned with help from billionaire Bill Gates and have the illnesses associated with it been spread by 5G technology? No, that's not true: The claims made in the "Covid-19 Genocide of 2020" video are a rehash of conspiracy myths previously debunked by Lead Stories and other fact checkers. The claims originated in a video of an…

Does Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data "reveal" that COVID-19 death totals have been exaggerated by hospitals counting heart attacks as COVID deaths? No, that's not true: Hospitals don't fill out death certificates, doctors and/or medical examiners do. The claim relies on misinterpretation of death certificates. Death certificates record the sequence of events by which humans succumb to a…