FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy. It was launched in January 2015 with a grant from the Stanton Foundation. The foundation was founded by the late Frank Stanton, president of CBS for 25 years, from 1946 to 1971.
What appear to be ordinary postmortem blood clots are held up in a viral online video as supposed evidence that there’s a depopulation plot underway using COVID-19 vaccination to kill people. There’s no evidence for this theory. The hourlong video also repeats numerous falsehoods that have previously been debunked.
In response to a civil suit, lawyers for the Food and Drug Administration described the agency’s warnings about the unapproved use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19 as “recommendations.” Although that description doesn’t reveal new information, some conservative outlets have falsely claimed it’s an “outrageous” revelation and a change in the FDA’s position.
Paxlovid, Pfizer’s COVID-19 antiviral pill, has been shown to prevent severe COVID-19 and death. An online post alleging the drug is a “fraud” and “should be taken off the market” neglects to mention this important information, and falsely says ivermectin is superior.
Hospitals across the country are seeing a spike of respiratory syncytial virus infections among children. Experts say the spike is most likely caused by an immunity gap created by the lack of exposure to the virus over the past couple of years. There’s no evidence the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine is the cause, as viral posts falsely claim.
There is no link between COVID-19 vaccination and an increased risk of stillbirth, despite such claims online. In fact, vaccination has been shown in multiple studies to reduce the risk of stillbirth by protecting pregnant people and their babies from the coronavirus.
A 62-year-old bodybuilder who had heart disease died after contracting COVID-19. But vaccine opponents are falsely suggesting that he died from the COVID-19 vaccine. He didn’t. He’d been vaccinated 18 months before his death.
A rigorous vaccine safety monitoring system has shown that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe and only rarely have serious side effects. But an article shared on social media falsely says that CDC data show more than 18 million people “were injured so badly” by a Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine “that they had to go to the hospital.”
Seasonal influenza vaccines are recommended because they help prevent illness and death. Dr. Robert Malone incorrectly suggested that the annual shots are only given in the U.S. to support vaccine manufacturing in case of an influenza pandemic.
To study the role of the spike protein in the severity of COVID-19 illnesses, researchers exposed 10 mice prone to develop severe disease to a hybrid version of the virus. Eight mice died. Social media posts say researchers created a dangerous new variant with an “80 PERCENT Kill Rate,” potentially leaving the false impression that this pertains to humans. Also, the hybrid virus used in the study had a lower mortality rate than the original virus had on mice.
Vaccines are added to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization schedule after consultation with an outside advisory group and when the benefits outweigh the risks. Contrary to claims from Tucker Carlson and others, the COVID-19 vaccines will not become mandatory in schools just by being added to the CDC schedule. States and local districts make those determinations.