SciCheck Digest A businessman’s post on Instagram and Facebook wrongly claims that the U.S. government “changed the definition of pandemic” in 2004, suggesting that COVID-19 would not have qualified under the old definition. There’s no evidence for those claims — and COVID-19 is by all means a pandemic. How lethal […]
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Mayim Bialik and Sons Got COVID-19 Vaccine
SciCheck Digest Actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik has expressed skepticism about vaccines in the past, but she says she and her two teenage children have received the COVID-19 vaccine. A Facebook post says Bialik “refuses to vaccinate,” leaving the false impression that she opposes COVID-19 vaccines. How do we know […]
CDC Data Contradict Julián Castro’s Texas COVID-19 Claims
Cases of COVID-19 are increasing in Texas, but it doesn’t have the “highest COVID positivity rate and case count in the nation” — contrary to what Democrat Julián Castro recently tweeted. Castro, a former mayor of San Antonio and secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the […]
Photo Shows 2018 France World Cup Celebration, Not Vaccine Protest
SciCheck Digest Social media posts are misrepresenting an old photo from France by suggesting the sea of people in the streets shows “[p]eople are waking up against vaccine tyranny.” The photo actually shows a celebration in Paris after France won the 2018 World Cup. How do we know vaccines are […]
More Trump Election Distortions
Continuing to claim there is “so much evidence” of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump offered two new distortions of the facts about election results in Georgia, a state where recounts showed he narrowly lost by 12,670 votes. He falsely claimed “they deleted in Georgia […]
CDC Data Thus Far Show COVID-19 Vaccination Safe During Pregnancy
SciCheck Digest Federal vaccine monitoring systems have identified no safety concerns with the COVID-19 vaccines for pregnant people. Preliminary Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show that miscarriage is not more frequent than expected in vaccinated people. Online posts, however, falsely contend that such data, as reported in a CDC publication, […]
Meme Spreads Falsehood About Vaccine Transfer Through Eating Meat
SciCheck Digest Livestock and poultry are not being vaccinated against COVID-19. But a meme is spreading the falsehood that those who eat meat from vaccinated animals will get “VAXXED” by consuming the meat. That simply isn’t possible, according to immunologists. How effective are the vaccines? How effective are the vaccines? […]
Barr Disputes U.S. Attorney’s Vote Fraud Claim
Former President Donald Trump says a former U.S. attorney in Pennsylvania was forbidden by then-Attorney General Bill Barr to investigate voter fraud in the presidential election. Barr says that’s false. A day after making the claim, Trump released a letter from former U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain — dated June 9 […]
Baseless Conspiracy Theory Follows Deaths of Haitian President, Other National Leaders
SciCheck Digest Following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, social media posts baselessly suggest that he and other world leaders were killed or died because they opposed COVID-19 vaccination in their countries. All the leaders named in the posts, except Moïse, died of natural causes. At least one supported […]
Greene’s Deceptive Claims of Forced COVID-19 Vaccinations and Vaccination ‘Deaths’
SciCheck Digest There is no evidence that a door-to-door campaign to encourage vaccinations against COVID-19 means President Joe Biden and Democrats “are coming to your front door to force you to take the vax,” as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted. She also cited a figure for reported deaths after vaccination, […]