Are Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines associated with an increased risk of serious adverse events of special interest? No, that's not true: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said in an email to Lead Stories that the vaccines meet the agency's rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality. In addition, the authors of this study created their…

Do a new study and Pfizer documents prove COVID-19 vaccination will cause mass depopulation through infertility and premature death? No, that's not true: The shot temporarily lowers sperm count, much the same as after a "simple viral infection," according to Itai Gat, one of the authors of a study published June 17, 2022, that looked into the connection. The Centers…

Did the now-suspended COVID vaccine mandate for flight attendants cause a shortage in staffing that was to blame for widespread June 2022 flight delays? No, that's not true: None of the airlines that responded to inquiries by Lead Stories blamed the previous vaccination requirement for impacting summer operations. The federal government stopped enforcing the vaccine mandate in December 2021. The…

Do American children receive up to 72 doses of recommended childhood vaccines between birth and 18? No, that's not true: Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Child and Adolescent Immunization Schedule, Lead Stories could not match that number. We counted around 60 doses of recommended vaccines, which includes annual flu shots and two COVID-19 shots with a booster.…

Does an "official study" confirm that COVID-19 shots increase the risk of infection from the virus? No, that's not true: One of the authors of the study, Laith Jamal Abu-Raddad, said the article uses several numbers from the report out of context. "Our study confirms that vaccines protect," he told Lead Stories in a June 24, 2022, email. The claim…

Did the head of Bayer's pharmaceutical division admit the COVID-19 vaccines are gene therapy? No, that's not true: The comments made by Bayer's Stephan Oelrich were taken out of context. Speaking about innovation in the pharmaceutical industry, he said the COVID vaccines were an example of technological innovations that are paving the way for the public to trust future new…

Does the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine have a long-term impact on the production of sperm? No, that's not true: The shot temporarily lowers sperm count, much the same as after a "simple viral infection," according to Itai Gat, one of the authors of a study published June 17, 2022, that looked into the connection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

Do COVID-19 vaccines reduce breast milk supplies, which has caused the baby formula shortage, and is billionaire Bill Gates behind the whole scheme? No, that's not true: A September 2021 study found that a small proportion of women reported a reduction in their breast milk supply immediately following COVID vaccines but the milk "came back fully within 72 hours after…

Did singer Justin Bieber say that the COVID-19 vaccine ruined his life? No, that's not true: A Daily Mail article that describes Bieber's bout with facial paralysis due to Ramsay Hunt syndrome doesn't mention any of Bieber's thoughts on COVID vaccines. A claim on a satirical blog falsely cites the Daily Mail article as the source of Bieber's purported anti-vaccine…

Does a video show students serving a lawsuit at a Virginia school board meeting? No, that's not true: Although students did present a so-called "affidavit" disputing the Loudoun County Public Schools mask mandate to the Loudoun County School Board during a meeting, the document did not represent any legitimate legal action against the board. The claim appeared in a video…

Are "young and fit women under 40" dying from blood clots that are caused by the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: The screengrab of the article posted is missing the context -- that the article was about a study in Scotland that ended before COVID vaccines were available to the public. The claim appeared in an Instagram post by…

Does data given to the Food and Drug Administration before Pfizer COVID-19 shots were officially approved show up to 97 percent of vaccinated pregnant women lost their babies? No, that's not true: The Pfizer document that was released as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit does not provide the total number of pregnant women in 63 countries…

Does a new National Institutes of Health study find that long COVID isn't real? No, that's not true: Nowhere in the study do the authors say long COVID, also known as post-acute sequelae of SARS CoV-2 infection (PASC), is fake. Lead study author Dr. Michael C. Sneller with the National Institutes of Health told Lead Stories, "I want to be…

Did Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla say by 2023 that "we will reduce" the number of people in the world by 50%? No, that's not true: This is a doctored video and Bourla did not say that. The phrase clipped out of this video -- about reducing the number of people who can't afford medications -- changes Bourla's meaning. The video…

Did a rapper named Dr. Creep predict the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, also known as COVID-19, in a song he created titled "Pandemic"? No, that's not true: The musician outright refuted this claim in a Facebook post near the beginning of the pandemic, stating that he was referencing the coronavirus pandemics that were ongoing in 2013 -- which was different from…

Does data from England show children are up to 303 times more likely to die from COVID-19 following vaccination than unvaccinated children? Yes, that's true, but raw numbers don't tell the full story. "The numbers appear correct, but ... are highly misleading. Mortality rates should be interpreted carefully for children because of the way children at risk were prioritised in…

Do COVID-19 vaccines cause monkeypox and shingles? No, that's not true: There's no evidence that either disease is caused by the shot for COVID. Both monkeypox and shingles are caused by specific viruses, neither of which are included in COVID-19 vaccines. But, even if the viruses were the same, the COVID shots still couldn't cause infection. "Because none of the…

Did the Canadian government publish data suggesting those triple-vaccinated against COVID-19 develop vaccine-associated enhanced disease (VAED) or antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) and have higher COVID case rates than others? No, that's not true: The data does not show COVID vaccines make people worse. Instead, people who have had them are better protected from severe illness, hospitalization and death. COVID vaccines boost…

Did conservative commentator Candace Owens quote a tweet made by Fox News about ivermectin's hidden cost -- that many are suffering long-term bowel and urinary incontinence? No, that's not true: Both of the tweets shown in the screenshot -- the one spoofing Fox News and the response spoofing Candace Owens -- are fake. The right border of the fake Fox…

When President Joe Biden took office, was there no COVID-19 vaccine available? No, that's not true: The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine both received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) emergency use authorizations (EUA) in December 2021. The vaccines were available but not widely available to the public while former President Donald Trump was still in office. The…