COVID-19 vaccine candidates are rigorously tested for safety during clinical trials, unlike thalidomide; misleading to equate the two

CLAIM
“Thalidomide was a rapid approved drug introduced in 1957 to counteract nausea and insomnia in pregnant women. It was [...] withdrawn in 1962 due to malformations in newborns [...] Be very careful with what’s coming.”

SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook, Twitter

Published: 04 Dec 2020

VERDICT

More deaths occurred in 2020 than in previous years; Johns Hopkins student article compared proportion of deaths per age group, which can obscure changes in raw numbers

CLAIM
“Johns Hopkins study mysteriously disappears after it revealed, in spite of COVID, no more deaths in 2020 than in prior years”

SOURCE: Joe Hoft, Michael Haynes, Gateway Pundit, LifeSiteNews

Published: 30 Nov 2020

VERDICT

No evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause more severe disease; antibody-dependent enhancement has not been observed in clinical trials

CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccines will cause more severe disease through antibody-dependent enhancement

SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook

Published: 27 Nov 2020

VERDICT

Face masks, handwashing, and vaccination do not weaken the immune system, and are effective measures to reduce the spread of infectious diseases

CLAIM
Public health measures aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 including face masks, vaccines, and frequent handwashing “suppress our immune systems”

SOURCE: Anonymous, Instagram

Published: 26 Nov 2020

VERDICT

Danish face mask study did not show that masks were ineffective at reducing spread of COVID-19; study was underpowered and results were inconclusive

CLAIM
“Masks make no significant difference”; “Masks have no significant effect”

SOURCE: Sharyl Attkisson, Alex Berenson, Buck Sexton, Anthony Sabatini, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Published: 20 Nov 2020

VERDICT

Non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as lockdowns and wearing face masks, are effective measures to reduce COVID-19 transmission, contrary to claims in viral video

CLAIM
Lockdowns and face masks do not work to control the COVID-19 pandemic

SOURCE: Tom Woods, Young Americans for Liberty

Published: 19 Nov 2020

VERDICT

Article claiming that “masks don’t work” misleads readers by inaccurately interpreting a withdrawn study and a published study conducted on U.S. Marine Corps recruits

CLAIM
“Pro-mask study withdrawn after virus spread in counties analyzed by researchers”; “masks don’t work”

SOURCE: Daniel Horowitz, The Blaze

Published: 18 Nov 2020

VERDICT

Although fetal-derived cells are used to grow viruses for some COVID-19 vaccines, the cells are not part of the vaccines

CLAIM
“CONFIRMED - aborted male fetus in [COVID-19] vaccine”

SOURCE: Anonymous, Facebook

Published: 16 Nov 2020

VERDICT

The U.S. sees record numbers of daily new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in November 2020

CLAIM
“There were 144,305 newly reported COVID-19 cases in the United States today. This beats the previous record of 133,819 cases reported on Monday, November 9. This is the 8th day in a row with over 100,000 cases reported.”

SOURCE: Ali Velshi, Twitter, NBC News

Published: 13 Nov 2020

VERDICT

Pfizer is part of Operation Warp Speed, a partnership to produce and distribute a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, but it developed a vaccine without direct funding from the partnership

CLAIM
Pfizer is part of Operation Warp Speed; “Thanks to the public-private partnership forged by President, [Pfizer] announced its Coronavirus Vaccine trial is EFFECTIVE, preventing infection in 90% of its volunteers”

SOURCE: David Marcus, Mike Pence, The Federalist

Published: 12 Nov 2020

VERDICT