In a Dec. 8 town hall meeting, Sen. Ron Johnson may have left a misleading impression in saying “standard gargle, mouthwash, has been proven to kill the coronavirus.” In the laboratory, some mouthwashes have been shown to block infectivity or suppress SARS-CoV-2, but studies involving people using mouthwash are not […]
Facts Check
Post Makes Unfounded Claims About Omicron ‘Symptoms’ and COVID-19 Vaccines
SciCheck Digest Scientists are still learning about the omicron variant’s ability to spread or cause severe illness and the effectiveness of the current COVID-19 vaccines in fighting it. But a Facebook post misleadingly claims to list seven “symptoms” of the new variant, then suggests they are caused by the vaccines. […]
Analyzing Republican Attacks on Biden for Increase in Fentanyl Seized
U.S. border officials reported seizing 10,856 pounds of fentanyl being smuggled across the southwest border in fiscal year 2021, a 132% increase from fiscal year 2020. Some Republicans have misleadingly suggested that the amount of drugs seized is a negative development attributable to the immigration policies of President Joe Biden. […]
U.S. Oil Reserve Created for Supply Disruptions, Not Strictly Military Use
Quick Take The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was set up as an emergency source of oil to keep supplies flowing in the event of unexpected disruptions. It’s not just designed “for when we get attacked and need the fuel to keep our Air Force in the air,” as social media […]
Q&A on the Omicron Variant
On Nov. 24, South Africa told the World Health Organization that amid a recent increase in COVID-19 cases, it had identified a new variant — later named omicron — with a high number of mutations, raising concerns that it could spread more easily than other variants of the coronavirus. The […]
Social Media Posts Misrepresent Old Biden Tweet on Travel Ban
SciCheck Digest President Joe Biden restricted travel from eight African nations on Nov. 26 to slow the spread of the omicron variant. Conservative commentators have misleadingly cited a Biden tweet from last year to claim he was critical of “the same travel ban” implemented by then-President Donald Trump. But that […]
Viral Post Misrepresents Facts in Rittenhouse Trial
Quick Take Kyle Rittenhouse said that he went to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to defend a car dealership during protests against police brutality in August 2020. He was not there to defend his grandparents’ gas station, as a viral social media post falsely claims. He was not related to the family that […]
Media Allowed to Attend Ghislaine Maxwell’s Trial, Contrary to Social Media Posts
Quick Take The federal trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is charged with assisting accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, opened on Nov. 29 with extensive media coverage. But social media posts falsely claim the judge issued a “gag order” and the media is “barred from courtroom.” The judge’s order allows “substantial […]
Benefits Outweigh Risks of Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine, Contrary to Posts Misusing VAERS Data
SciCheck Digest The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System can detect possible safety issues in vaccines. Anyone can submit an unverified report, regardless of whether a vaccine is known to have caused the problem. Yet viral messages continue to misuse the VAERS data, and flawed calculations, to claim the Pfizer COVID-19 […]
Virginia Lt. Gov.-Elect Sears Distorts Facts on COVID-19 Vaccines
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Virginia Lt. Gov.-Elect Winsome Sears spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines that we have previously debunked. CNN Host Dana Bash, Nov. 21: So, why is it OK to mandate childhood vaccines in Virginia for so many diseases, but not COVID? Sears: Well, […]