Claim reviews
Unsupported claim about COVID-19 vaccines, anti-spike antibodies, and myocarditis misrepresented conclusions from a New England Journal of Medicine article
CLAIM
“antibodies that people produce against the coronavirus spike protein may lead to myocarditis”
SOURCE: Jim Hoft, Alex Berenson, Gateway Pundit
Published: 09 Dec 2021
VERDICT
No, a fence in a shopping mall wasn’t used to segregate vaccinated and unvaccinated people; photo was taken in Romania, not Germany
CLAIM
“In Germany, a fence separates vaccinated and unvaccinated people. The biggest symptom of COVID is insanity”
SOURCE: Young Americans for Liberty, Facebook
Published: 08 Dec 2021
VERDICT
Misleading claims linking the spread of Omicron variant to vaccinated people rely on partial data and are unsubstantiated
CLAIM
'Omicron COVID Variant Found ONLY in Fully Vaccinated'
SOURCE: Bill Hennessy, Gateway Pundit
Published: 03 Dec 2021
VERDICT
Inaccurate clickbait headline in Forbes article used to promote the false claim that COVID-19 vaccines change our DNA
CLAIM
Forbes article is evidence that COVID-19 vaccines change our DNA
SOURCE: Social media users, Facebook, Instagram
Published: 02 Dec 2021
VERDICT
Pathogens can evolve to be more virulent over time, contrary to nutritionist’s claim
CLAIM
“Pathogens evolve to become less, not more, virulent over time”
SOURCE: Mike Mutzel, Facebook
Published: 01 Dec 2021
VERDICT
No evidence that the low COVID-19 case rate in Sweden is due to herd immunity; vaccines don’t lead to new variants of SARS-CoV-2
CLAIM
“Sweden obliterates the lie of ‘vaccines’ as ticket to ending pandemic”; mass vaccination create vaccine-mediated viral enhancement
SOURCE: Daniel Horowitz, The Blaze
Published: 29 Nov 2021
VERDICT
Natural News, others jump to conclusions unsupported by the study they cite to claim COVID-19 vaccines destroy the immune system and cause cancer
CLAIM
COVID-19 vaccine spike proteins accumulate in the nucleus of cells, “destroy DNA repair pathways, paving the way for CANCER” and “destroy the immune system”
SOURCE: Ethan A. Huff, Natural News
Published: 26 Nov 2021
VERDICT
Claim that the COVID-19 vaccine is riskier than the disease for children is based on an economist’s incorrect calculation of the metric “number needed to vaccinate”
CLAIM
“more children will die from the vaccine than will die from COVID in the first place and there’s proof”
SOURCE: Toby Rogers, Substack
Published: 26 Nov 2021
VERDICT
Claim that previously infected people don’t transmit COVID-19 is unsupported, originates from misinterpretation of CDC’s FOIA response
CLAIM
Previously infected individuals who get reinfected don’t transmit the virus to others; previous infection provides “better protection” than vaccination and this immunity “does not wane”
SOURCE: Aaron Siri, Cristina Laila, Substack, Gateway Pundit
Published: 24 Nov 2021
VERDICT
Contrary to claim in Becker News article, not all cases of infection lead to immunity; falsely claims that most COVID-19 deaths weren’t caused by COVID-19 but by comorbidities
CLAIM
“The CDC Finally Admits a Massive Number of Americans Have ‘Natural Immunity’: 146.6 Million People”; 94% of Covid-related deaths were not caused by Covid-19
SOURCE: Kyle Becker, Becker News
Published: 21 Nov 2021
VERDICT