Claim reviews

Heart attack victims shouldn’t use “cough CPR” on themselves, contrary to chain email dating back to 1999

CLAIM

Heart attack “victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously”

SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook

Published: 30 Mar 2021

VERDICT

Going vegan may lead to fewer pandemics, but it won’t eliminate them completely

CLAIM

“In a vegan world there would be no pandemics. 100% of pandemics are zoonotic in origin.”

SOURCE: Richard Melville Hall (aka Moby), Facebook

Published: 26 Mar 2021

VERDICT

Clinical trials showed that the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine is safe; its side effects are mostly mild

CLAIM

80% of people taking the Moderna vaccine had significant side effects; children in Sudan got polio from the polio vaccine

SOURCE: Joe Rogan, The Joe Rogan Experience

Published: 26 Mar 2021

VERDICT

Bill Gates quoted out of context about injecting kids with genetically modified organisms in discussion on GM crops

CLAIM

Bill Gates stated that 'We’re taking things that are genetically modified organisms, and we’re injecting them into little kids’ arms; we just shoot them right into the vein'

SOURCE: Anonymous, YouTube

Published: 26 Mar 2021

VERDICT

Both viruses and bacteria cause disease; pathogenic viruses aren’t naturally created in the body as a response to damage

CLAIM

“You don’t catch viruses, you naturally create them inside of your body”; “bacteria and viruses don’t cause disease.”

SOURCE: Melissa Sell, Facebook

Published: 24 Mar 2021

VERDICT

COVID-19 vaccines are critical for controlling the pandemic; vaccines still offer partial protection against new variants of the virus

CLAIM

COVID-19 mass vaccination will select for more virulent variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, which will escape vaccine-induced immunity and cause more severe disease

SOURCE: Geert Vanden Bossche, Children’s Health Defense, The HighWire

Published: 23 Mar 2021

VERDICT