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A Project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center

Issues: coronavirus

No ‘Bombshell’ On COVID-19 Origins, U.S. Intelligence Rebuts Claims About ‘Sick’ Lab Workers

No ‘Bombshell’ On COVID-19 Origins, U.S. Intelligence Rebuts Claims About ‘Sick’ Lab Workers
June 29, 2023

It remains unknown how the virus that causes COVID-19 originated, but many scientists think a natural spillover is most likely. Online posts have cited unnamed sources to claim that scientists in Wuhan, China, were the first to get sick with COVID-19. But U.S. intelligence says the researchers’ symptoms were non-specific or inconsistent with COVID-19, and the information has no bearing on the origin of the pandemic.

TikTok Video Mangles American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Estimates

TikTok Video Mangles American Cancer Society Breast Cancer Estimates
June 23, 2023

Breast cancer in younger women has been increasing gradually in recent decades. But a social media post misrepresents case number projections for 2022 and 2023 to falsely claim they show a dramatic rise in early-onset breast cancer — and then baselessly ties its faulty comparisons to COVID-19 vaccines.  

Cleveland Clinic Study Did Not Show Vaccines Increase COVID-19 Risk

Cleveland Clinic Study Did Not Show Vaccines Increase COVID-19 Risk
June 16, 2023

Numerous studies have found that additional COVID-19 shots are generally associated with extra protection against the coronavirus. Many people on social media, however, have shared a preliminary finding from a Cleveland Clinic study and misrepresented it as proving that getting more doses increases a person’s risk of infection.

Ventilators Save Lives, Did Not Cause ‘Nearly All’ COVID-19 Deaths

Ventilators Save Lives, Did Not Cause ‘Nearly All’ COVID-19 Deaths
June 1, 2023

Ventilators can be lifesaving for critically ill COVID-19 patients. A social media claim that a new study shows ventilators killed “nearly all” COVID-19 patients is “quite wrong,” according to the study’s co-author. Ventilator-associated complications can contribute to deaths, but patients are typically put on ventilators when they would otherwise die.

Masking Has Minimal Effects on Respiratory System, Does Not Cause Long COVID

Masking Has Minimal Effects on Respiratory System, Does Not Cause Long COVID
April 25, 2023

Long COVID is a collection of health problems caused by COVID-19 that remain or appear following the initial infection. It is implausible that face masks cause long COVID, contrary to claims made online. Mask use can temporarily cause discomfort, but physiological effects are not biologically meaningful.

No Evidence Excess Deaths Linked to Vaccines, Contrary to Claims Online

No Evidence Excess Deaths Linked to Vaccines, Contrary to Claims Online
April 17, 2023

COVID-19 vaccines substantially reduce the risk of dying from COVID-19, and serious side effects are very rare. Excess deaths among working-age adults in 2021 and 2022 were due to COVID-19 and other factors, not vaccination. Faulty logic underlies claims that vaccines caused mass disability and economic harm.

Fewer Cases of Flu Due to Pandemic Precautions, Contrary to Viral Claim

Fewer Cases of Flu Due to Pandemic Precautions, Contrary to Viral Claim
April 14, 2023

Public health organizations have explained that the reason there were far fewer cases of the flu in 2020 and 2021 was likely due to measures adopted to slow the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, such as handwashing and social distancing. But a post on social media has spread the false claim that the dip in flu cases suggests that COVID-19 was a hoax.