Claim reviews
Dozens of clinical trials ongoing to investigate whether vitamin D prevents COVID-19; no firm evidence yet
CLAIM
“Vitamin D insufficiency [...] may account for the majority of COVID-19 deaths”
SOURCE: Facebook users, Facebook
Published: 04 Dec 2020
VERDICT
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 withdrawn in 1962 due to malformations in newborns [...]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
