Claim reviews
More evidence needed for the claim that vitamin D supplements reduce risk of COVID-19 infection
CLAIM
“Habitual use of vitamin D supplements was associated with a 34% lower risk of COVID-19 infection”; “This is an observational study so causation cannot be established”
SOURCE: Rhonda Patrick, Instagram
Published: 22 Feb 2021
VERDICT
The number of new COVID-19 cases fell and daily vaccination increased in early 2021, but no indication that it was due to U.S. president Biden taking office
CLAIM
COVID-19 cases are “down by 50%” and “daily vaccinations have increased by 85%” since “Biden took office”
SOURCE: Anonymous, Occupy Democrats
Published: 22 Feb 2021
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines don’t increase the incidence of poor outcomes during pregnancy, according to current safety data on COVID-19 vaccines
CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccines caused miscarriages
SOURCE: Facebook users, Twitter, Facebook
Published: 19 Feb 2021
VERDICT
Misleading to compare the safety of COVID-19 and flu vaccines based solely on VAERS reports; VAERS reports alone cannot demonstrate that a vaccine caused an adverse event
CLAIM
One person is 300 to 900 times “more likely to die” after getting the COVID-19 vaccine than the flu vaccine; “Adverse events are widely underreported”
SOURCE: Alex Berenson, Twitter, Facebook
Published: 17 Feb 2021
VERDICT
The CDC didn’t introduce a “major rule change” to inflate COVID-19 deaths; there have been more than 490,000 excess deaths in the U.S. to date
CLAIM
“CDC illegally inflated the COVID fatality number by at least 1,600 percent”; “the NVSS COVID-19 Alert No. 2 [deemphasized] underlying causes of death [...] by recording them in Part II rather than Part I of death certificates [...] This was a major rule change [...] from the 2003 guidance on certification of death
SOURCE: Patty McMurray, Gateway Pundit
Published: 14 Feb 2021
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines protect individuals from developing the disease and are necessary tools to end the pandemic along with physical distancing measures
CLAIM
There is no reason to get COVID-19 vaccines because vaccinated people can still get sick and are still required to wear masks
SOURCE: Facebook Users, Facebook
Published: 12 Feb 2021
VERDICT
COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use prevent the disease and are generally safe based on rigorous clinical trials and ongoing monitoring
CLAIM
“No one can possibly know if the [COVID-19] vaccine is safe and effective because the trial is still underway; “Thousands of people who had the vaccine have died or been seriously injured by it”
SOURCE: Vernon Coleman, Charlie Ward
Published: 11 Feb 2021
VERDICT
Article claiming that masks contribute to cancer development misrepresents a study about lung cancer that didn’t involve masks
CLAIM
“Long-term Mask Use May Contribute to Advanced Stage Lung Cancer, Study Finds”
SOURCE: Philip Schneider, Blacklisted News, GlobalResearch.ca
Published: 10 Feb 2021
VERDICT
The lethality of COVID-19 is much higher than the flu; the Biden press corps didn’t say COVID-19 was a hoax
CLAIM
the “case fatality rate of COVID-19 is 0.1% to 0.3% which is the same exact case fatality rate as the regular seasonal flu”; “Biden’s press corps admits” COVID-19 was “a hoax”
SOURCE: Anonymous, Bitchute
Published: 04 Feb 2021
VERDICT
Vaccines are useful even when there is a treatment for a disease, contrary to claim by Lee Merritt in The New American video
CLAIM
“We have vaccines because we didn't have treatment for smallpox and it was a very deadly disease that made sense to have a vaccine. [...] but [COVID-19]? Even without doing anything, this disease has a 99.991[%] chance of survival.”
SOURCE: Lee Merritt, The New American
Published: 04 Feb 2021
VERDICT
