Did the U.S. military destroy a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine warehouse? No, that's not true: The claim was made on the website Real Raw News, which has a history of publishing completely made-up and false stories. "There is no truth here," a Pentagon spokesperson told Lead Stories of the claim.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on May 2, 2022, titled, "Military Destroys Vaccine Warehouse | Real Raw News" (archived here), which opened:
U.S. Special Forces on Saturday raided a Moderna-leased warehouse on the outskirts of Kansas City and destroyed approximately 250,000 vials (25,000 boxes) of the pharmaceutical giant's Covid-19 vaccines, a source in Gen. David H. Berger's office told Real Raw News.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
Military Destroys Vaccine Warehouse | Real Raw News
A spokesperson for the Pentagon denied the claim to Lead Stories, writing, "There is no truth here," via email on May 2, 2022.
The fabricated claim uses the name of a real person, Gen. David H. Berger, who is the commandant of the Marine Corps as of May 2, 2022. He is often cited in Real Raw News stories. Previous debunks of false stories that included his name are here.
Lead Stories reached out to Moderna for a comment and will update the story when one is received.
Real Raw News has a long history of publishing false claims in mock news stories, many of them about convictions and executions of various public figures at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. For example, the site reported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hanged (she wasn't); former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta was executed (he wasn't); and that "the military" convicted former Attorney General William Barr on charges of treason (it didn't).
The website for Real Raw News includes a disclaimer that warns readers not to take its content too seriously. Specifically, it says:
Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humor, parody, and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel.
(Source: RealRawNews.com screenshot taken Tue Aug 3 16:39:48 UTC 2021)
Lead Stories has covered claims published by Real Raw News in the past. Previous Lead Stories debunks of Real Raw News items is collected here.
