diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore index c10d095..2ed4b0d 100644 --- a/.gitignore +++ b/.gitignore @@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ EuvsdisinfoFactCheckingSiteExtractor_extraction_failed.log PolitifactFactCheckingSiteExtractor_extraction_failed.log TruthorfictionFactCheckingSiteExtractor_extraction_failed.log CheckyourfactFactCheckingSiteExtractor_extraction_failed.log +AfricacheckFactCheckingSiteExtractor_extraction_failed.log +AfpfactcheckFactCheckingSiteExtractor_extraction_failed.log output_dev_fatabyyano.csv output_dev_vishvasnews.csv output_dev_aap.csv @@ -28,3 +30,5 @@ output_dev_snopes.csv output_dev_politifact.csv output_dev_truthorfiction.csv output_dev_checkyourfact.csv +output_dev_africacheck.csv +output_dev_afpfactcheck.csv diff --git a/Exporter.py b/Exporter.py index 82e7e31..54522bb 100644 --- a/Exporter.py +++ b/Exporter.py @@ -38,8 +38,8 @@ def main(argv): if opt == '--maxclaims': criteria.maxClaims = int(arg) if criteria.website != "": - criteria.setOutputDev("output_dev_" + criteria.website + ".csv") - criteria.setOutputSample("output_sample_" + criteria.website + ".csv") + criteria.setOutputDev("samples/output_dev_" + criteria.website + ".csv") + criteria.setOutputSample("samples/output_sample_" + criteria.website + ".csv") if opt == '--annotation-api': criteria.annotator_uri = arg diff --git a/claim_extractor/extractors/__init__.py b/claim_extractor/extractors/__init__.py index ffcb82c..3ffcf81 100644 --- a/claim_extractor/extractors/__init__.py +++ b/claim_extractor/extractors/__init__.py @@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ def __init__(self, configuration: Configuration = Configuration(), ignore_urls: self.configuration = configuration self.ignore_urls = configuration.avoid_urls self.language = language - self.failed_log = open(self.__class__.__name__ + "_extraction_failed.log", "w") + self.failed_log = open("failed/" + self.__class__.__name__ + "_extraction_failed.log", "w") self.annotator = EntityFishingAnnotator(configuration.annotator_uri) def get_all_claims(self): diff --git a/claim_extractor/extractors/afpfactcheck.py b/claim_extractor/extractors/afpfactcheck.py index 247f7b2..9219105 100644 --- a/claim_extractor/extractors/afpfactcheck.py +++ b/claim_extractor/extractors/afpfactcheck.py @@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ def retrieve_urls(self, parsed_listing_page: BeautifulSoup, listing_page_url: st str]: urls = self.extract_urls(parsed_listing_page) for page_number in trange(1, number_of_pages): + if ((page_number*15) + 14 >= self.configuration.maxClaims): + break url = listing_page_url + "?page=" + str(int(page_number)) page = caching.get(url, headers=self.headers, timeout=20) current_parsed_listing_page = BeautifulSoup(page, "lxml") @@ -102,6 +104,8 @@ def extract_claim_and_review(self, parsed_claim_review_page: BeautifulSoup, url: claim.set_date(data['@graph'][0]['itemReviewed']['datePublished']) except Exception: pass + except KeyError: + pass try: date = data['@graph'][0]['datePublished'] @@ -118,9 +122,10 @@ def extract_claim_and_review(self, parsed_claim_review_page: BeautifulSoup, url: try: if child.name == 'aside': continue - elems = child.findAll('a') - for elem in elems: - links.append(elem['href']) + if (child != "\n" and not " " ): + elems = child.findAll('a') + for elem in elems: + links.append(elem['href']) except Exception as e: continue claim.set_refered_links(links) diff --git a/claim_extractor/extractors/africacheck.py b/claim_extractor/extractors/africacheck.py index 961932a..514df08 100644 --- a/claim_extractor/extractors/africacheck.py +++ b/claim_extractor/extractors/africacheck.py @@ -23,12 +23,14 @@ def get_all_claims(criteria): if 0 < criteria.maxClaims <= len(urls_): break - url = "https://africacheck.org/latest-reports/page/" + str(page_number) + "/" + url = "https://africacheck.org/search?rt_bef_combine=created_DESC&sort_by=created&sort_order=DESC&page=" + str(page_number) + try: page = requests.get(url, headers=headers, timeout=5) soup = BeautifulSoup(page.text, "lxml") soup.prettify() links = soup.findAll("div", {"class": "article-content"}) + if (len(links) != 0) or (links != last_page): for anchor in links: anchor = anchor.find('a', href=True) @@ -141,20 +143,24 @@ class AfricacheckFactCheckingSiteExtractor(FactCheckingSiteExtractor): def __init__(self, configuration: Configuration): super().__init__(configuration) - def retrieve_listing_page_urls(self) -> List[str]: - return ["https://africacheck.org/latest-reports/page/1/"] + def retrieve_listing_page_urls(self) -> List[str]: + return ["https://africacheck.org/search?rt_bef_combine=created_DESC&sort_by=created&sort_order=DESC&page=0"] + def find_page_count(self, parsed_listing_page: BeautifulSoup) -> int: - last_page_link = parsed_listing_page.findAll("a", {"class": "page-numbers"})[-2]['href'] - page_re = re.compile("https://africacheck.org/latest-reports/page/([0-9]+)/") - max_page = int(page_re.match(last_page_link).group(1)) + last_page_link = parsed_listing_page.findAll("a", {"title": "Go to last page"})[0]['href'] + max_page = int(last_page_link.replace("?rt_bef_combine=created_DESC&sort_by=created&sort_order=DESC&search_api_fulltext=&sort_bef_combine=created_DESC&page=","")) return max_page def retrieve_urls(self, parsed_listing_page: BeautifulSoup, listing_page_url: str, number_of_pages: int) \ -> List[str]: urls = self.extract_urls(parsed_listing_page) - for page_number in tqdm(range(2, number_of_pages)): - url = "https://africacheck.org/latest-reports/page/" + str(page_number) + "/" + for page_number in tqdm(range(0, number_of_pages)): + # each page 9 articles: + if ((page_number*9) + 18 >= self.configuration.maxClaims): + break + #url = "https://africacheck.org/latest-reports/page/" + str(page_number) + "/" + url = "https://africacheck.org/search?rt_bef_combine=created_DESC&sort_by=created&sort_order=DESC&page=" + str(page_number) page = caching.get(url, headers=self.headers, timeout=5) current_parsed_listing_page = BeautifulSoup(page, "lxml") urls += self.extract_urls(current_parsed_listing_page) @@ -162,10 +168,10 @@ def retrieve_urls(self, parsed_listing_page: BeautifulSoup, listing_page_url: st def extract_urls(self, parsed_listing_page: BeautifulSoup): urls = list() - links = parsed_listing_page.findAll("div", {"class": "article-content"}) + links = parsed_listing_page.findAll("div", {"class": "node__content"}) for anchor in links: anchor = anchor.find('a', href=True) - url = str(anchor['href']) + url = "https://africacheck.org" + str(anchor['href']) max_claims = self.configuration.maxClaims if 0 < max_claims <= len(urls): break @@ -185,142 +191,144 @@ def extract_claim_and_review(self, parsed_claim_review_page: BeautifulSoup, url: claim.set_title(global_title_text) # date - date = parsed_claim_review_page.find('time') + date = parsed_claim_review_page.find("span", {"class": "published"}).next global_date_str = "" if date: - global_date_str = search_dates(date['datetime'].split(" ")[0])[0][1].strftime("%Y-%m-%d") + # global_date_str = search_dates(date['datetime'].split(" ")[0])[0][1].strftime("%Y-%m-%d") + global_date_str = search_dates(date)[0][1].strftime("%Y-%m-%d") claim.set_date(global_date_str) - # rating - global_truth_rating = "" - if parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "verdict-stamp"}): - global_truth_rating = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "verdict-stamp"}).get_text() - if parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "verdict"}): - global_truth_rating = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "verdict"}).get_text() - if parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "indicator"}): - global_truth_rating = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "indicator"}).get_text() - if parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "indicator"}).find('span'): - global_truth_rating = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "indicator"}).find( - 'span').get_text() - - claim.set_rating(str(re.sub('[^A-Za-z0-9 -]+', '', global_truth_rating)).lower().strip()) - # author - author = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "sharethefacts-speaker-name"}) + author = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "author-details"}) if author: claim.set_author(author.get_text()) - # when there is no json - - date = parsed_claim_review_page.find("time", {"class": "datetime"}) - if date: - claim.set_date(date.get_text()) - + if parsed_claim_review_page.select( 'div.author-details > a > h4' ): + for child in parsed_claim_review_page.select( 'div.author-details > a > h4' ): + try: + claim.author = child.get_text() + continue + except KeyError: + print("KeyError: Skip") + + if parsed_claim_review_page.select( 'div.author-details > a' ): + for child in parsed_claim_review_page.select( 'div.author-details > a' ): + try: + claim.author_url = child['href'] + continue + except KeyError: + print("KeyError: Skip") + + # tags tags = [] for tag in parsed_claim_review_page.findAll('meta', {"property": "article:tag"}): tags.append(tag["content"]) claim.set_tags(", ".join(tags)) - - global_claim_text = "" - report_claim_div = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "report-claim"}) - if report_claim_div: - claim.set_claim(report_claim_div.find("p").get_text()) - else: - claim.set_claim(claim.title) - - inline_ratings = parsed_claim_review_page.findAll("div", {"class", "inline-rating"}) - entry_section = parsed_claim_review_page.find("section", {"class", "entry-content"}) # type: Tag - entry_section_full_text = entry_section.text - - # There are several claims checked within the page. Common date, author, tags ,etc. - if inline_ratings and len(inline_ratings) > 0: - entry_contents = entry_section.contents # type : List[Tag] - current_index = 0 - - # First we extract the bit of text common to everything until we meed a sub-section - body_text, links, current_index = get_text_and_links_until_next_header(entry_contents, current_index) - claim.set_body(body_text) - claim.set_refered_links(links) - - while current_index < len(entry_contents): - current_index = forward_until_inline_rating(entry_contents, current_index) - inline_rating_div = entry_contents[current_index] - if isinstance(inline_rating_div, NavigableString): - break - claim_text = inline_rating_div.find("p", {"class": "claim-content"}).text - inline_rating = inline_rating_div.find("div", {"class", "indicator"}).find("span").text - previous_current_index = current_index - inline_body_text, inline_links, current_index = get_text_and_links_until_next_header(entry_contents, - current_index) - if previous_current_index == current_index: - current_index += 1 - inline_claim = Claim() - inline_claim.set_source("africacheck") - inline_claim.set_claim(claim_text) - inline_claim.set_rating(inline_rating) - inline_claim.set_refered_links(",".join(inline_links)) - inline_claim.set_body(inline_body_text) - inline_claim.set_tags(", ".join(tags)) - inline_claim.set_date(global_date_str) - inline_claim.set_url(url) - if author: - inline_claim.set_author(author.get_text()) - inline_claim.set_title(global_title_text) - - local_claims.append(inline_claim) - elif "PROMISE:" in entry_section_full_text and "VERDICT:" in entry_section_full_text: - entry_contents = entry_section.contents # type : List[Tag] - current_index = 0 - - # First we extract the bit of text common to everything until we meed a sub-section - body_text, links, current_index = get_text_and_links_until_next_header(entry_contents, current_index) - claim.set_body(body_text) - claim.set_refered_links(links) - - while current_index < len(entry_contents): - inline_rating_div = entry_contents[current_index] - if isinstance(inline_rating_div, NavigableString): - break - claim_text = entry_contents[current_index + 2].span.text - inline_rating = entry_contents[current_index + 4].span.text - current_index += 5 - previous_current_index = current_index - inline_body_text, inline_links, current_index = get_text_and_links_until_next_header(entry_contents, - current_index) - if previous_current_index == current_index: - current_index += 1 - inline_claim = Claim() - inline_claim.set_source("africacheck") - inline_claim.set_claim(claim_text) - inline_claim.set_rating(inline_rating) - inline_claim.set_refered_links(",".join(inline_links)) - inline_claim.set_body(inline_body_text) - inline_claim.set_tags(", ".join(tags)) - inline_claim.set_date(global_date_str) - inline_claim.set_url(url) - if author: - inline_claim.set_author(author.get_text()) - inline_claim.set_title(global_title_text) - - local_claims.append(inline_claim) - + + # claim + entry_section = parsed_claim_review_page.find("section", {"class", "cell"}) + verdict_box = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class", "article-details__verdict"}) + + if verdict_box and len(verdict_box) > 0 and "Verdict" in verdict_box.text: + report_claim_div = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "field--name-field-claims"}) + if report_claim_div: + claim.set_claim(report_claim_div.get_text()) + else: + claim.set_claim(claim.title) + + # rating + inline_ratings = parsed_claim_review_page.findAll("div", {"class", "rating"}) + + if inline_ratings: + if (hasattr( inline_ratings[0], 'class')): + try: + if ('class' in inline_ratings[0].attrs): + if (inline_ratings[0].attrs['class'][1]): + rating_tmp = inline_ratings[0].attrs['class'][1] + claim.rating = rating_tmp.replace('rating--','').replace("-","").capitalize() + except KeyError: + print("KeyError: Skip") else: - # body - body = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"id": "main"}) - claim.set_body(body.get_text()) - - # related links - divTag = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"id": "main"}) - related_links = [] - for link in divTag.findAll('a', href=True): - related_links.append(link['href']) - claim.set_refered_links(",".join(related_links)) + # alternative rating (If there is no article--aside box with verdict) + global_truth_rating = "" + if parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "verdict-stamp"}): + global_truth_rating = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "verdict-stamp"}).get_text() + if parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "verdict"}): + global_truth_rating = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "verdict"}).get_text() + if parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "indicator"}): + global_truth_rating = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "indicator"}).get_text() + if parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "indicator"}).find('span'): + global_truth_rating = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "indicator"}).find( + 'span').get_text() + + # If still no rathing value, try to extract from picture name + if (global_truth_rating == ""): + filename ="" + if parsed_claim_review_page.select( 'div.hero__image > picture' ): + for child in parsed_claim_review_page.select( 'div.hero__image > picture' ): + # child.contents[1].attrs['srcset'] + if (hasattr( child, 'contents' )): + try: + filename=child.contents[1].attrs['srcset'] + continue + except KeyError: + print("KeyError: Skip") + + if (filename != ""): + filename_split = filename.split("/") + filename_split = filename_split[len(filename_split)-1].split(".png") + filename_split = filename_split[0].split("_") + if len(filename_split) == 1: + global_truth_rating = filename_split[0] + else: + global_truth_rating = filename_split[len(filename_split)-1] + + claim.set_rating(str(re.sub('[^A-Za-z0-9 -]+', '', global_truth_rating)).lower().strip().replace("pfalse","false").replace("-","").capitalize()) + + if (not self.rating_value_is_valid(claim.rating)): + print ("\nURL: " + url) + print ("\n Rating:" + claim.rating) + claim.rating = "" + + # body + body = parsed_claim_review_page.find("div", {"class": "article--main"}) + claim.set_body(body.get_text()) - local_claims.append(claim) - - return local_claims + # related links + related_links = [] + for link in body.findAll('a', href=True): + related_links.append(link['href']) + claim.set_refered_links(related_links) + if claim.rating: + return [claim] + else: + return [] + + def rating_value_is_valid(self, rating_value: str) -> str: + dictionary = { + "Correct": "1", + "Mostlycorrect": "1", + "Unproven": "1", + "Misleading": "1", + "Exaggerated": "1", + "Understated": "1", + "Incorrect": "1", + "Checked": "1", + "True": "1", + "False": "1", + "Partlyfalse": "1", + "Partlytrue": "1", + "Fake": "1", + "Scam": "1", + "Satire": "1" + } + + if rating_value in dictionary: + return dictionary[rating_value] + else: + return "" def get_text_and_links_until_next_header(contents: List[Tag], current_index) -> (Tag, List[str], int): links = [] # type : List[str] @@ -358,3 +366,4 @@ def forward_until_inline_rating(contents: List[Tag], current_index) -> int: div_rating = current_element.find("div", {"class", "inline-rating"}) return current_index + diff --git a/claim_extractor/extractors/fullfact.py b/claim_extractor/extractors/fullfact.py index 5dfb9e5..236c11a 100644 --- a/claim_extractor/extractors/fullfact.py +++ b/claim_extractor/extractors/fullfact.py @@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ def extract_claim_and_review(self, parsed_claim_review_page: BeautifulSoup, url: # Create multiple claims from the main one and add change then the claim text and verdict (rating): c = 0 - while c < len(claim_text_list)-1: + while c <= len(claim_text_list)-1: claims.append(claim) claims[c].claim = claim_text_list[c] claims[c].rating = claim_verdict_list[c] diff --git a/claim_extractor/extractors/truthorfiction.py b/claim_extractor/extractors/truthorfiction.py index ab6d0c0..b7962a1 100644 --- a/claim_extractor/extractors/truthorfiction.py +++ b/claim_extractor/extractors/truthorfiction.py @@ -63,12 +63,22 @@ def extract_claim_and_review(self, parsed_claim_review_page: BeautifulSoup, url: article = parsed_claim_review_page.find("article") # date - date_ = parsed_claim_review_page.find('meta', {"property": "article:published_time"})['content'] if date_: date_str = date_.split("T")[0] claim.set_date(date_str) + # author + author_ = parsed_claim_review_page.find('meta', {"name": "author"})['content'] + if author_: + author_str = author_.split("T")[0] + claim.set_author(author_str) + + ## auth link + author_url = parsed_claim_review_page.find('a', {"class": "url fn n"})['href'] + if author_url: + claim.author_url = author_url + # body content = [tag for tag in article.contents if not isinstance(tag, NavigableString)] body = content[-1] # type: Tag @@ -99,12 +109,15 @@ def extract_claim_and_review(self, parsed_claim_review_page: BeautifulSoup, url: else: claim.set_rating(rating_text) claim.set_claim(claim_text) - + + # tags tags = [] + if parsed_claim_review_page.select('footer > span.tags-links > a'): + for link in parsed_claim_review_page.select('footer > span.tags-links > a'): + if hasattr(link, 'href'): + #tag_link = link['href'] + tags.append(link.text) - for tag in parsed_claim_review_page.findAll("meta", {"property", "article:tags"}): - tag_str = tag['content'] - tags.append(tag_str) claim.set_tags(", ".join(tags)) return [claim] diff --git a/output_got.csv b/output_got.csv index 0591060..286cbcf 100644 --- a/output_got.csv +++ b/output_got.csv @@ -1,40 +1,31 @@ ,rating_ratingValue,rating_worstRating,rating_bestRating,rating_alternateName,creativeWork_author_name,creativeWork_datePublished,creativeWork_author_sameAs,claimReview_author_name,claimReview_author_url,claimReview_url,claimReview_claimReviewed,claimReview_datePublished,claimReview_source,claimReview_author,extra_body,extra_refered_links,extra_title,extra_tags,extra_entities_claimReview_claimReviewed,extra_entities_body,extra_entities_keywords,extra_entities_author,related_links -0,,,,Misleading,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/23/fact-check-mayim-bialik-refuses-vaccinate/,Viral Image Claims Mayim Bialik ‘Refuses To Vaccinate’,2021-07-23,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Viral Image Claims Mayim Bialik ‘Refuses To Vaccinate’5:34 PM 07/23/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook claims actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik “refuses to vaccinate.” Verdict: Misleading While Bialik has said that she hasn’t been vaccinated in 30 years, she has stated that she received the COVID-19 vaccine and that her children are vaccinated. Her publicist said she and her children are “fully vaccinated” against COVID-19. Fact Check: The meme features a picture of “The Big Bang Theory” actress Bialik, who received a doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA. It alleges she “refuses to vaccinate” and contains the hashtag “SmartParentsDon’tVax.” (RELATED: Image Claims To Show A CDC Infographic Saying ‘Refusing To Take The Vaccine Is A Form Of Racism’) Bialik, who has faced criticism for prior comments she has made about vaccines, has said she and her children are vaccinated, however. In an October 2020 YouTube video, Bialik stated that she would be getting both the COVID-19 and flu vaccine this year and that her two children would also be getting flu vaccines. “This year I’m going to do something I literally haven’t done in 30 years. I’m going to get a vaccine. And guess what? I’m actually going to get two,” Bialik said in the video. “Number one vaccine that I’m going to get is the COVID vaccine. I can’t wait for it, bring it on. Number two vaccine, I’m going to get a flu vaccine.” She also stated in the video, “My 12- and 15-year old children have never received a flu vaccine. This year, roll up them shirt sleeves, boys, vaccines for everyone.” At one point in the video, she says that she believes the perception that she is anti-vaccination stems from a book she wrote about her experience parenting, noting, “At the time my children had not received the typical schedule of vaccines, but I have never, not once, said that vaccines are not valuable, not useful or not necessary, because they are.” “As of today, my children may not have had every one of the vaccinations that your children have, but my children are vaccinated. I repeat: my children are vaccinated,” she said in the October 2020 YouTube video. In a February 2015 tweet, she also said her kids are vaccinated. Bialik expressed support for COVID-19 vaccines in a January 2021 interview with Yahoo! Life and in a May 2021 interview with Cheddar News. In both interviews, she said her children were vaccinated and, in the Cheddar News interview, confirmed she received the COVID-19 vaccine. “It’s not ‘I’m pro every single vaccine that anyone talks about all the time everywhere, every single minute,'” she said, according to Yahoo! Life. “I have a lot of questions about the vaccine industry, as do a lot of people. I have a lot of questions about the profits involved. [But] when it comes to this virus, the insidiousness of this virus, the way this virus works, the way that it adapts, we absolutely need to see this as distinctly different from the flu. It’s different than the common cold. This is something we need absolute protection from.” if(dc_showing_ads) { var scr = document.createElement('script'); scr.async= true; scr.src = ""https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js""; document.getElementsByTagName(""body"")[0].appendChild(scr); } Heather Besignano, Bialik’s publicist, told Check Your Fact that “Mayim and her children are all fully vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus.” share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/StayingAliveisNotEnough/photos/a.430627040320230/4188723184510578/?type=3&theater,https://www.facebook.com/StayingAliveisNotEnough/photos/a.430627040320230/4188723184510578/?type=3&theater,https://news.psu.edu/story/650373/2021/03/09/academics/neuroscientist-and-actor-mayim-bialik-speak-penn-state-harrisburg,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/04/27/fact-check-cdc-refusing-vaccine-racism/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov_Jw02uHGY&feature=youtu.be,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov_Jw02uHGY&feature=youtu.be,https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Beyond-the-Sling/Mayim-Bialik/9781451662184,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov_Jw02uHGY,https://twitter.com/missmayim/status/565346126430478336,https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/mayim-bialik-covid-vaccine-anxiety-single-parenting-005615132.html,https://cheddar.com/media/mayim-bialik-talks-call-me-kat-and-a-year-of-covid-19,https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/mayim-bialik-covid-vaccine-anxiety-single-parenting-005615132.html,https://www.icon-publicity.com/team/,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Viral Image Claims Mayim Bialik ‘Refuses To Vaccinate’,,,,,, -1,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/23/fact-check-video-french-police-setting-down-helmets-protesters-july-2021/,Does This Video Show French Police Setting Down Their Helmets In Support Of Protesters In July 2021?,2021-07-23,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show French Police Setting Down Their Helmets In Support Of Protesters In July 2021?3:56 PM 07/23/2021Trevor Schakohl | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA video shared on Facebook purportedly shows police officers in France putting their helmets down in the street in solidarity with protesters during July 2021 demonstrations against COVID-19 restrictions. Verdict: False The footage actually shows French police showing support for health care workers protesting in June 2020. Fact Check: Protests broke out in multiple French cities after French President Emmanuel Macron announced new COVID-19-related rules on July 12, Reuters reported. The rules include mandating health care workers be vaccinated by September 15, and requiring health passes showing proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test in order to enter venues such as restaurants, bars and theaters, as well as board trains and planes, according to the outlet. A video shared on Facebook on July 17 purportedly shows a scene from the recent protests in which law enforcement personnel placed their helmets on the ground as civilians gathered around them and applauded. “Police in France with the people of France take off their helmets,” the video’s caption reads. “This happened during this weeks protests ! Let’s goooo France.” (RELATED: Does This Image Show An ‘Electric Car Cemetery’ In France?) The video, however, predates the recent demonstrations against COVID-19 restrictions in France. Through a reverse image search of key frames, Check Your Fact found similar footage published on YouTube by French magazine L’Obs in June 2020, with the title: “Police officers and caregivers applaud during the demonstration in Nîmes.” The video showed police in Nimes, France, on June 16, 2020, acknowledging health care workers who were protesting in support of a public hospital there, according to a translation of the video’s description. Tens of thousands of French medical workers demonstrated on June 16, 2020, advocating for the country’s government to raise health service wages, pause service cuts and stop hospitals from closing amid the pandemic, France 24 reported. The government signed an agreement with unions on July 13, 2020 enacting roughly $9 billion in wage increases for health care personnel, according to BBC News. share on facebook tweet this show commentsTrevor SchakohlFact Check ReporterFollow Trevor on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion?  Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/cynara.issa/posts/10159363056387180,https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-police-quell-protest-against-covid-health-passport-rules-2021-07-14/,https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-make-covid-19-shot-mandatory-health-workers-bfm-tv-2021-07-12/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/14/fact-check-image-electric-car-cemetery-france/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLlvS7Fnyb0,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLlvS7Fnyb0,https://www.france24.com/en/20200616-enough-applause-french-health-workers-rally-anew-for-post-coronavirus-reforms,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53398208,https://twitter.com/tschakohl,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#15616770637a6755767d70767e6c7a6067737476613b767a78",Does This Video Show French Police Setting Down Their Helmets In Support Of Protesters In July 2021?,,,,,, -2,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/23/fact-check-canada-prohibit-pilots-covid-vaccine-flying/,Does Canada Prohibit Pilots Who Received COVID-19 Vaccines From Flying?,2021-07-23,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does Canada Prohibit Pilots Who Received COVID-19 Vaccines From Flying?2:21 PM 07/23/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook claims Canada prohibits all pilots who received COVID-19 vaccines from flying. Verdict: False The Canadian government allows pilots who have received Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccines to fly. Fact Check: The image shows the headline of a July 11 post from the website Alt News that reads, “Canada Prohibits All Vaxxed Pilots From Flying. The Corona Vax Is A ‘Medical Trial’ And Such ‘Vaccinations’ Are Ruled To Ground All Pilots.” (RELATED: Viral Post Claims Fox News Isn’t Available In Canada) Below the headline, there is a screen grab of the Canadian government’s website from the Transport Canada section titled “COVID-19 vaccines and Aviation Medical Certificate holders.” A highlighted line in the screen grab states that “participation in medical trials is not considered compatible with aviation medical certification.” While the post attempts to allege that all Canadian pilots who received COVID-19 vaccines are prohibited from flying because the vaccines are supposedly considered a “medical trial,” that is not the case. The Canadian government’s website explicitly states that COVID-19 vaccines approved by Health Canada “are considered compatible with Transport Canada aviation Medical Certification.” That means pilots who received them are allowed to fly. Health Canada has approved the COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. The Canadian government’s website states, “Only vaccines that are proven to be safe, effective and of high quality are authorized for use in Canada. The COVID-19 vaccines have been rigorously tested during their development and then carefully reviewed by Health Canada.” Sau Sau Liu, a spokesperson for Transport Canada, confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact that the post’s claim is inaccurate, saying, “Transport Canada does not prohibit pilots vaccinated with Health Canada-approved vaccines to fly nor do we impose grounding periods for aviators who wish to take vaccines approved by Health Canada.” The Transport Canada section of the Canadian government’s website also states, “Transport Canada (TC) Civil Aviation Medicine (CAM), does not impose grounding periods for aviators who wish to take vaccines approved by Health Canada.” “All COVID-19 vaccines currently available in Canada have gone through clinical trials and been tested on tens of thousands of adult volunteers before being authorized for use,” Liu also said. “They were deemed to be safe and effective and have been licensed and authorized by Health Canada. They are not medical trials.” The notice about it being the “general position of TC CAM that participation in medical trials is not considered compatible with aviation medical certification” on the webpage was included earlier in the pandemic “when aviators started asking if they could take part in the vaccine trials that Health Canada was undertaking prior to the approval of the vaccines for general distribution,” according to Liu. if(dc_showing_ads) { var scr = document.createElement('script'); scr.async= true; scr.src = ""https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js""; document.getElementsByTagName(""body"")[0].appendChild(scr); } Liu told Check Your Fact that because Health Canada has approved the COVID-19 vaccines for use and the notice about medical trials “is less relevant,” Transport Canada has since removed it from the webpage. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/maureen.weeres/posts/10159844933439101,https://www.facebook.com/maureen.weeres/posts/10159844933439101,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/09/04/fact-check-fox-news-unavailable-canada/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210204183406if_/https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/medical-fitness-aviation/covid-19-vaccines-aviation-medical-certificate-holders,https://www.facebook.com/maureen.weeres/posts/10159844933439101,https://www.facebook.com/maureen.weeres/posts/10159844933439101,https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/medical-fitness-aviation/covid-19-vaccines-aviation-medical-certificate-holders,https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/covid19-industry/drugs-vaccines-treatments/vaccines.html,https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/vaccines/safety-side-effects.html,https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sau-sau-liu-40bb8450,https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/medical-fitness-aviation/covid-19-vaccines-aviation-medical-certificate-holders,https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/medical-fitness-aviation/covid-19-vaccines-aviation-medical-certificate-holders,https://web.archive.org/web/20210204183406if_/https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/medical-fitness-aviation/covid-19-vaccines-aviation-medical-certificate-holders,https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/medical-fitness-aviation/covid-19-vaccines-aviation-medical-certificate-holders,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5c39313530251c383d3530253f3d3030392e32392b2f3a332932383d2835333272332e3b",Does Canada Prohibit Pilots Who Received COVID-19 Vaccines From Flying?,,,,,, -3,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/22/fact-check-emmanuel-macron-unvaccinated-people-stay-home/,Did Emmanuel Macron Say Unvaccinated People Need To Stay Home?,2021-07-22,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did Emmanuel Macron Say Unvaccinated People Need To Stay Home?4:46 PM 07/22/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA post shared on Facebook claims French President Emmanuel Macron said, “This time you stay at home, not us” in reference to people who refuse to be vaccinated. Verdict: False There is no record of Macron making this statement. Fact Check: The French government recently announced that it would mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for all health care workers, according to Reuters. The government also set forth requirements that people would need passes documenting they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, recently tested negative for the virus or recovered from the illness in order to enter venues such as restaurants, bars and theaters, the outlet reported. Now, an image on Facebook shows what appears to be a screen grab of a tweet seemingly quoting the French president. “I no longer have any intention of sacrificing my life, my time, my freedom and the adolescence of my daughters, as well as their right to study properly, for those who refuse to be vaccinated,” Macron purportedly said. “This time you stay at home, not us.” There is, however, no record of Macron saying the quote attributed to him in the Facebook post. Check Your Fact reviewed a speech Macron gave on July 12, but found no mention of him saying people who refuse to be vaccinated should stay home. The supposed quote was not found on the Élysée Palace website either. A search of Macron’s verified social media accounts likewise turned up no instances of the alleged quote. Furthermore, the French president has three adult stepchildren and no biological children of his own, The Sun reported in 2020. (RELATED: Does This Image Show A 2021 Protest Against France’s COVID-19 Measures?) The misattribution may stem from confusion surrounding an Instagram post from Italian journalist Selvaggia Lucarelli. Lucarelli posted a picture of Macron and included a similar quote to the one erroneously attributed to Macron as the caption. The quote is not attributed to Macron in the post. “I’m for the French line right now. I no longer have any intention whatsoever of sacrificing my life, my time, and my son’s adolescence, in addition to his right to study properly, for those who refuse to get vaccinated,” a translation of Lucarelli’s Instagram caption reads. “This time you stay home, not us.” share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10225518847582566&set=a.1233810169881&type=3,https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-broadens-use-covid-19-health-pass-slashes-fines-2021-07-19/,https://www.elysee.fr/emmanuel-macron/2021/07/12/adresse-aux-francais-12-juillet-2021,https://www.elysee.fr/recherche?prod_all%5Bquery%5D=reste%20%C3%A0%20la%20maison,https://twitter.com/search?q=rester%20%C3%A0%20la%20maison%20(from%3AEmmanuelMacron)&src=typed_query,https://www.instagram.com/emmanuelmacron/,https://www.facebook.com/EmmanuelMacron/,https://www.the-sun.com/news/1000817/brigitte-trogneux-emmanuel-macron-wife-french-president/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/20/fact-check-protest-france-covid-measures/,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRRAjrGFlHG/,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRRAjrGFlHG/,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Did Emmanuel Macron Say Unvaccinated People Need To Stay Home?,,,,,, -4,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/22/fact-check-raul-castro-flee-venezuela/,Did Raul Castro Flee To Venezuela?,2021-07-22,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did Raul Castro Flee To Venezuela?4:24 PM 07/22/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook claims to show former Cuban President Raul Castro disembarking from a plane after fleeing from Cuba to Venezuela. Verdict: False There is no evidence that Castro has fled Cuba. The image featured in the post was taken in 2015 and shows Castro landing in Costa Rica to attend a summit. Fact Check: Thousands of Cubans angered by food and medicine shortages participated in anti-government protests on July 11, with many calling for freedom and for Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel to resign, CNN reported. Now, an image on Facebook shows Castro exiting a plane and claims he fled to Venezuela during the protests. “BREAKING – Cuba: Former President Raúl Castro flees to Venezuela,” reads the image’s caption. “He arrived in Caracas around 11:37 pm, Sunday, July 11, 2021 as massive anti-government protests erupted in the socialist regime.” There is no evidence, however, that Castro fled to Venezuela on July 11. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the photo in a January 2015 article published by La Nación, explaining it shows him arriving in Costa Rica to attend that year’s Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit. “Raúl Castro arrived at the Juan Santamaría airport to attend the Celac Summit that starts tomorrow in the country,” reads a translation of the image’s caption on La Nación. “He is the first president to arrive on Costa Rican soil and was received by Vice President Ana Helena Chacón.” The photo was also included in articles published by Cuba Debate and teleSUR. Both outlets also reported the image showed Castro arriving in Costa Rica for the CELAC summit. (RELATED: Does This Video Show A Recent Anti-Government Protest In Cuba?) Had Castro actually fled Cuba during the July 11 protests, media outlets likely would have reported on it, yet none have.”Raúl Castro is very well and in Cuba,” said Noraimis Ramos Ruiz, a spokesperson for the Cuban government, in an email to Check Your Fact. Castro appeared at a pro-government rally in Havana, Cuba on July 17, according to the Associated Press. if(dc_showing_ads) { var scr = document.createElement('script'); scr.async= true; scr.src = ""https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js""; document.getElementsByTagName(""body"")[0].appendChild(scr); } share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/grissel.c.ramos/posts/6370004673013486,https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/11/americas/cuba-protests/index.html,https://www.nacion.com/el-pais/raul-castro-madruga-para-asistir-a-cumbre-de-celac-en-costa-rica/5U5ZGOHFVZFKJFTHIAAHIB2AQA/story/,http://celacinternational.org/,https://www.nacion.com/el-pais/raul-castro-madruga-para-asistir-a-cumbre-de-celac-en-costa-rica/5U5ZGOHFVZFKJFTHIAAHIB2AQA/story/,http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2015/01/27/presidente-cubano-raul-castro-llego-a-costa-rica-para-iii-cumbre-de-la-celac/,https://www.telesurtv.net/news/Raul-Castro-arriba-a-Costa-Rica-para-participar-en-Cumbre-Celac-20150127-0027.html,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/19/fact-check-video-protest-cuba-argentina-soccer/,https://www.google.com/search?q=raul+castro+fled+to+venezuela&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS820US820&ei=MGL4YN7NKtCMtAaxxprwBg&oq=raul+castro+fled+to+venezuela&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyAggASgQIQRgBUJISWI8cYPseaAFwAHgAgAFxiAH-ApIBAzMuMZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwjepY7C4PTxAhVQBs0KHTGjBm4Q4dUDCA4&uact=5,https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-health-cuba-caribbean-9ed6c6dd50ddb764a482099e44cdc25c,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#17727a7e7b6e5773767e7b6e74767b7b726579726064717862797376637e787939786570",Did Raul Castro Flee To Venezuela?,,,,,, -5,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/22/fact-check-susan-rice-convicted-treason/,Has Susan Rice Been Convicted Of Treason?,2021-07-22,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Has Susan Rice Been Convicted Of Treason?3:04 PM 07/22/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA post shared on Facebook claims Susan Rice, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, has been convicted of treason. Verdict: False There is no evidence Rice has been convicted of treason or sentenced to death. The claim stems from a website that says it publishes “humor, parody, and satire.” Fact Check: The lengthy post claims the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps on July 8 convicted Rice of “high treason” for “her participation in a 2017 scheme to defame” former President Donald Trump in connection to alleged “Russian collusion.” Rice, who served as former President Barack Obama’s national security adviser from 2013 to 2017, faced scrutiny for her role in “unmasking” some Trump transition officials in intelligence reports on communications with foreigners under surveillance, according to CNBC. In the post, it also alleges Navy Vice Admiral John Hannink was involved in her trial. At the end of the trial, a “three-officer panel unanimously agreed Rice be put to death for her crimes against America,” the post claims. There is, however, no evidence Rice was convicted of treason or sentenced to death. A search of press releases put out by the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense didn’t turn up any announcements to that effect. National media outlets haven’t reported on Rice getting convicted of treason. She has also been active on Twitter since July 8, the date she was supposedly sentenced to death, further adding to the post’s dubiousness. “No truth to this claim,” a Department of Defense spokesperson said in an email to Check Your Fact. (RELATED: No, Donald Rumsfeld Did Not Commit Suicide At A Military Tribunal) The text in the Facebook post matches that in a July 20 article published by Real Raw News, a website that states on its “About Us” page that it “contains humor, parody, and satire.” While Real Raw News includes that disclaimer, the Facebook post does not, resulting in some users seemingly believing the story is real. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=117576263925817&id=100070203318567,https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=117576263925817&id=100070203318567,https://ballotpedia.org/Susan_Rice,https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/04/the-susan-rice-controversy-the-latest-twist-in-the-trump-wiretapping-saga-explained.html,https://www.navy.mil/Leadership/Biographies/BioDisplay/Article/2236279/vice-admiral-john-hannink/,https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=117576263925817&id=100070203318567,https://search.justice.gov/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&affiliate=justice&sort_by=&query=Susan+Rice,https://search.usa.gov/search/news?utf8=%E2%9C%93&affiliate=defensegov&channel=10132&sort_by=r&query=Susan+Rice&commit=Search,https://twitter.com/AmbRice46,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/21/fact-check-donald-rumsfeld-not-commit-suicide-military-tribunal/,https://realrawnews.com/2021/07/military-convicts-susan-rice-of-treason/,https://realrawnews.com/about-us/,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#26434b4f4a5f6642474f4a5f45474a4a435448435155404953484247524f494808495441",Has Susan Rice Been Convicted Of Treason?,,,,,, -6,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/21/fact-check-donald-trump-statement-tom-brady-shady/,Did Donald Trump Release A Statement Calling Tom Brady ‘Shady’?,2021-07-21,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did Donald Trump Release A Statement Calling Tom Brady ‘Shady’?6:25 PM 07/21/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook allegedly shows a statement put out by former President Donald Trump calling Tom Brady “shady” after the NFL quarterback made a joke about people denying the 2020 presidential election results. Verdict: False There is no evidence Trump released the statement. The fabricated press release appears to originate from a Twitter user as a joke. Fact Check: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won Super Bowl LV in February, marking Brady’s seventh Super Bowl win, according to CBS Sports. Brady and his teammates on July 20 visited the White House, where the quarterback cracked a joke about people not believing the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, footage from The Hill shows. “Not a lot of people think that we could have won and, in fact, I think about 40 percent of people still don’t think we won,” Brady said, referencing people who deny President Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election. Shortly after Brady made the joke, social media users started sharing a screen grab of what looks like a statement from Trump. In the alleged press release, the former president appears to respond to Brady’s joke, calling the quarterback “shady.” “Tom ‘Shady’ needs to do his research and realize how Rigged (and Rigged it was) the last election was,” the purported Trump statement reads. “Maybe he was too busy Deflating balls (weak grip?) to follow what is happening all around our Great Country (including Maricopa County, Georgia and Pennsylvania). When I’m back in the White House we’ll see who he jokes with (the answer is Me, your favorite ‘President’, if I even invite him). So much Voter Fraud!” There is, however, no record of Trump putting out the statement pictured in the Facebook post. A search of Trump’s website, as well as his 45office.com website, didn’t turn up any statements calling Brady “shady.” (RELATED: Did Tom Brady Say, ‘If Anybody On This Team Kneels, I Walk’?) Brady’s joke at the White House was widely covered by national news outlets. If Trump had put out the statement in response, it would have been picked up by the media, yet no major news outlets have reported on it. Multiple Twitter users also shared the fake statement on Twitter. The fabricated press release appears to have been originally posted by the Twitter user @skolanach, whose handle is visible in the upper-left corner. The Twitter user later clarified it was a joke. if(dc_showing_ads) { var scr = document.createElement('script'); scr.async= true; scr.src = ""https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js""; document.getElementsByTagName(""body"")[0].appendChild(scr); } I made it. Parody. — ElElegante101 (@skolanach) July 20, 2021 “I made it,” the Twitter user wrote. “Parody.” share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/richard.taylor.1029/posts/10158642904304285,https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2021-super-bowl-score-tom-brady-wins-seventh-ring-as-buccaneers-dominate-chiefs-and-patrick-mahomes/live/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziaDENNwPSc,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziaDENNwPSc,https://www.facebook.com/richard.taylor.1029/posts/10158642904304285,https://www.facebook.com/richard.taylor.1029/posts/10158642904304285,https://www.donaldjtrump.com/news,https://www.45office.com/news,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/07/29/fact-check-tom-brady-team-kneels-walk/,https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/07/20/tom-brady-biden-election-joke-white-house-visit-vpx.cnn,https://www.foxnews.com/sports/tom-brady-trump-jokes-biden-bucs-white-house-visit,https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/20/us/politics/tom-brady-bucs-white-house.html,https://sports.yahoo.com/tom-brady-jokes-about-election-denialism-to-president-joe-biden-as-bucs-visit-white-house-162442956.html,https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/buccaneers/2021/07/20/tom-brady-election-joke-tampa-bay-white-house/8026885002/,https://www.google.com/search?q=donald+trump+tom+brady+shady&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi20PyfjPXxAhUbGVkFHUjRCDQQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1301&bih=744,https://web.archive.org/web/20210720201337/https://twitter.com/scottfeinberg/status/1417578399430758409,https://twitter.com/dplaz19761/status/1417616664347258887,https://twitter.com/moore_oliver/status/1417660174425264133,https://twitter.com/skolanach/status/1417524223715602433/photo/1,https://twitter.com/skolanach/status/1417611889069084674,https://twitter.com/skolanach/status/1417611889069084674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://twitter.com/skolanach/status/1417611889069084674,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Did Donald Trump Release A Statement Calling Tom Brady ‘Shady’?,,,,,, -7,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/21/fact-check-donald-rumsfeld-not-commit-suicide-military-tribunal/,"No, Donald Rumsfeld Did Not Commit Suicide At A Military Tribunal",2021-07-21,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: No, Donald Rumsfeld Did Not Commit Suicide At A Military Tribunal4:52 PM 07/21/2021Trevor Schakohl | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA post shared on Facebook claims late Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld committed suicide during a military tribunal. Verdict: False Rumsfeld’s cause of death was multiple myeloma. The claim appears to stem from a website that says it publishes “humor, parody, and satire.” Fact Check: Rumsfeld, the Defense secretary to former Presidents Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, died on June 29 at 88 years old, according to CNBC. Now, some social media users are sharing a post claiming Rumsfeld actually died by suicide during a military tribunal. Rumsfeld did not, however, commit suicide, and was never on trial before a military tribunal. No mention of such a trial or any charges against him can be found in press releases published by the Justice Department or the Defense Department. Current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tweeted on June 30 that he was “saddened to hear” about Rumsfeld’s death, stating, “I extend my deep condolences to his family and loved ones.” Had Rumsfeld committed suicide at a military tribunal, media outlets certainly would have reported on it, yet none have done so. Keith Urbahn, Rumsfeld’s spokesperson, said multiple myeloma caused his death, USA Today reported. (RELATED: Viral Image Claims To Show Article About Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin Considering ‘Defunding, Maybe Disbanding’ The US Army) The claim appears to stem from a July 18 article published by Real Raw News bearing the headline: “Rumsfeld Committed Suicide at Military Tribunal; Did Not Die of Natural Causes.” The article goes on to claim Rumsfeld was arrested on May 27, and that he killed himself after the military tribunal found him responsible for the deaths of American soldiers during the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. Real Raw News includes a disclaimer on it’s “About Us” page that states, “This website contains humor, parody, and satire.” Despite the disclaimer, social media users have shared the claim without such a warning, seemingly believing it to be true. This is not the first time a claim stemming from a Real Raw News article has been shared as misinformation. In June, Check Your Fact debunked the baseless claim that former FBI Director James Comey was sentenced to death by guillotine. share on facebook tweet this show commentsTrevor SchakohlFact Check ReporterFollow Trevor on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion?  Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/suzanne.m.kelly1/posts/10223920952805678,https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/30/former-defense-secretary-donald-rumsfeld-dead-at-88.html,https://www.justice.gov/news?keys=Donald+Rumsfeld&items_per_page=25,https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/releases/Search/Rumsfeld/,https://twitter.com/secdef/status/1410380667163185152,https://www.google.com/search?q=Donald+Rumsfeld+suicide+military+tribunal&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim44vJ8PTxAhW8FVkFHbRMCAgQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1920&bih=897,https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/30/donald-rumsfeld-dies-ex-pentagon-chief-iraq-afghanistan-wars/7810730002/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/01/26/fact-check-article-defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-defunding-disbanding-army/,https://realrawnews.com/2021/07/rumsfeld-committed-suicide-at-military-tribunal-did-not-die-of-natural-causes/,https://realrawnews.com/about-us/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/06/18/fact-check-james-comey-sentenced-death-guillotine/,https://twitter.com/tschakohl,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#790d0b1c0f160b391a111c1a1200160c0b1f181a0d571a1614","No, Donald Rumsfeld Did Not Commit Suicide At A Military Tribunal",,,,,, -8,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/21/fact-check-ron-desantis-holding-anti-mask-shirt/,Did Ron DeSantis Pose For A Photo Holding Up This Anti-Mask Shirt?,2021-07-21,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did Ron DeSantis Pose For A Photo Holding Up This Anti-Mask Shirt?3:27 PM 07/21/2021Ryan King | Contributor share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook purportedly shows Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holding up an orange “Your mask is as useless as Joe Biden” t-shirt. Verdict: False The image has been digitally altered. In the original photo, the shirt said, “I went to Popeyes for the new chicken sandwich and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” Fact Check: The image of DeSantis smiling while appearing to hold up the “Your mask is as useless as Joe Biden” t-shirt has circulated on social media in recent days. However, the photo is doctored. (RELATED: Did Ron DeSantis Not Give A Press Conference About The Surfside Condo Collapse Before June 29?) DeSantis posted the original picture on his verified Twitter account back in September 2019. In the unaltered picture, the orange shirt sports the words: “I went to Popeyes for the new chicken sandwich and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.” Great to visit the HQ for @PopeyesChicken and @BurgerKing in Miami. I’ve been looking for the elusive chicken sandwich, but the stores are still out. Maybe it’s time to issue an executive order requiring all Popeyes in Florida to re-stock them ASAP?? pic.twitter.com/SagYhmAxcj — Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) September 27, 2019 “Great to visit the HQ for @PopeyesChicken and @BurgerKing in Miami,” DeSantis wrote in the tweet. “I’ve been looking for the elusive chicken sandwich, but the stores are still out. Maybe it’s time to issue an executive order requiring all Popeyes in Florida to re-stock them ASAP??” A schedule available on the Florida governor’s website shows DeSantis visited the Miami office of Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Popeyes, on Sept. 27, 2019. The News Service of Florida also reported on his visit at the time. The novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 first emerged in late 2019, according to The New York Times. DeSantis did not, according to the Washington Post, issue a statewide mask mandate last year, though he did institute a lockdown in April 2020. In May, he signed an executive order suspending local COVID-19 rules for individuals and businesses, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Friends of Ron DeSantis, the governor’s political committee, recently started selling merchandise such as “Don’t Fauci My Florida” t-shirts and “How the hell am I going to be able to drink a beer with a mask on?” beer koozies, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. None of the merchandise for sale matches the t-shirt in the photoshopped image. if(dc_showing_ads) { var scr = document.createElement('script'); scr.async= true; scr.src = ""https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js""; document.getElementsByTagName(""body"")[0].appendChild(scr); } The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends for individuals ages 2 and older who are not fully vaccinated to wear masks in public indoor spaces to help protect against COVID-19. Fully vaccinated individuals “can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance,” according to the CDC website. share on facebook tweet this show commentsRyan KingContributor","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158662044432756&set=a.10152960751952756&type=3,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158662044432756&set=a.10152960751952756&type=3,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/06/fact-check-ron-desantis-press-conference-surfside-condo-collapse/,https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1177677167251148801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://twitter.com/popeyeschicken?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://twitter.com/BurgerKing?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://t.co/SagYhmAxcj,https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1177677167251148801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1177677167251148801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/9.27.19.png,https://www.mypanhandle.com/news/gov-ron-desantis-wants-to-taste-test-popeyes-and-chick-fil-a-chicken-sandwiches/,https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-timeline.html,https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/07/13/desantis-fauci-florida/,https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/01/825383186/florida-governor-orders-statewide-lockdown,https://www.tampabay.com/news/health/2021/05/04/what-we-know-about-desantis-executive-order-suspending-local-covid-19-restrictions/,https://twitter.com/teamrondesantis/status/1414676440533159937,https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2021/07/15/ron-desantis-releases-merchandise-against-masks-and-anthony-fauci-florida-coronavirus/7976313002/,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html",Did Ron DeSantis Pose For A Photo Holding Up This Anti-Mask Shirt?,,,,,, -9,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/21/fact-check-bill-gates-grandson-co-founder-rockefeller-foundation-frederick-taylor-gates/,Is Bill Gates The Grandson Of Rockefeller Foundation Co-Founder Frederick Taylor Gates?,2021-07-21,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Is Bill Gates The Grandson Of Rockefeller Foundation Co-Founder Frederick Taylor Gates?2:02 PM 07/21/2021Trevor Schakohl | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA post shared on Facebook claims Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is the grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller’s advisor Frederick Taylor Gates. Verdict: False Bill Gates is not Frederick Taylor Gates’ grandson. Fact Check: The image shows what appears to be a screen grab of Frederick Taylor Gates’ Wikipedia entry displayed on Google. Green text added to the screen grab claims he is Bill Gates’ grandfather. Frederick Taylor Gates managed Rockefeller’s charitable activities and was instrumental in the founding of the philanthropic Rockefeller Foundation, serving on its board of trustees until 1923, according to The Rockefeller Archive Center. (RELATED: Have Bill Gates, Anthony Fauci, The WHO And Others Been Charged With War Crimes?) Despite sharing a surname with Frederick Taylor Gates, Bill Gates is not his grandson. Bill Gates’ father and mother were Bill Gates Sr. and Mary Maxwell, who died in 2020 and 1994 respectively, according to NBC News. Bill Gates Sr., also known as William H. Gates II, was born in 1925 to furniture store owners in Washington state, ABC News reported. Frederick Taylor Gates died in 1929, while his wife Emma Cahoon Gates lived until 1934, The New York Times reported. They had seven children, according to his autobiography “Chapters in My Life,” none of whom were named William or Mary. An internet search by Check Your Fact found no credible media report of Frederick Taylor Gates being Bill Gates’ grandfather. Bill Gates hasn’t mentioned Frederick Taylor Gates in any entry of his personal blog either. The Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation collaborated in 2006 to create the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), an initiative to lessen poverty in the continent through agricultural investment, according to The Rockefeller Foundation’s website. share on facebook tweet this show commentsTrevor SchakohlFact Check ReporterFollow Trevor on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion?  Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/miguel.cuervo.5249/posts/188296246565526,https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frederick-T-Gates,https://rockfound.rockarch.org/biographical/-/asset_publisher/6ygcKECNI1nb/content/frederick-t-gates?,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/05/13/fact-check-image-bill-gates-anthony-fauci-violating-social-distancing-guidelines-coronavirus/,https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/bill-gates-sr-father-microsoft-co-founder-dies-94-n1240189,https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/bill-gates-sr-father-microsoft-founder-dies-94-73033685,https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/02/07/95877097.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&ip=0,https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/04/07/93757961.pdf,https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/35101532/frederick-taylor-gates,https://www.google.com/books/edition/Chapters_in_My_Life/1Yu5AAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0,https://www.google.com/search?q=frederick+taylor+gates+Bill+Gates+grandfather&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjr2MuDw_TxAhXAFFkFHYujBjoQ_AUoAHoECAcQAg&biw=1440&bih=717&dpr=2,https://www.gatesnotes.com/Search?search=%22Frederick%20Taylor%20Gates%22,https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/initiative/alliance-for-a-green-revolution-in-africa/,https://twitter.com/tschakohl,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d3a7a1b6a5bca193b0bbb6b0b8aabca6a1b5b2b0a7fdb0bcbe",Is Bill Gates The Grandson Of Rockefeller Foundation Co-Founder Frederick Taylor Gates?,,,,,, -10,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/20/fact-check-joe-biden-olivia-rodrigo-shoulders/,Does This Image Show Joe Biden Touching Olivia Rodrigo’s Shoulders?,2021-07-20,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show Joe Biden Touching Olivia Rodrigo’s Shoulders?6:33 PM 07/20/2021Mecca Fowler | Contributor share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook over 2,000 times purportedly shows President Joe Biden touching singer Olivia Rodrigo’s shoulders. Verdict: False Biden has been photoshopped into the photo. Fact Check: The “Drivers License” singer visited the White House last week as part of the Biden administration’s effort to encourage more young people to get COVID-19 vaccinations, according to the Associated Press. Following her White House visit, some social media users started sharing an altered image appearing to show Biden touching her shoulders. In the original picture taken by photographer Oliver Contreras for Bloomberg in the White House briefing room, only Rodrigo and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki can be seen. Biden did not attend the July 14 briefing in which Rodrigo participated, a review of the transcript and footage from the briefing shows. (RELATED: Viral Image Makes False Claim About Joe And Jill Biden’s Relationship) Biden has been digitally edited into the photo of Rodrigo and Psaki in the briefing room. The picture of Biden comes from the 2015 swearing-in ceremony for former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, when the then-vice president put his hands on the shoulders of Ash Carter’s wife Stephanie and spoke to her. Some people pointed to the picture of Biden and Stephanie Carter during the 2020 presidential election cycle to criticize him for his interactions with women. Stephanie Carter said in a 2019 Medium post that the picture had been “misleadingly” taken out-of-context and that Biden touched her shoulders “as a means of offering his support.” Rodrigo and Biden did share actual photos of them together during her White House visit to their respective Instagram accounts. share on facebook tweet this show commentsMecca FowlerContributor","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4418281911550182&set=a.600404043338007&type=3&theater,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmDBbnmKpqQ,https://apnews.com/article/olivia-rodrigo-visits-white-house-vaccines-07aeaeb169aa7daed999dd48d57e06a0,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4418281911550182&set=a.600404043338007&type=3&theater,https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jen-psaki-white-house-press-secretary-right-introduces-pop-news-photo/1233977853?adppopup=true,https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2021/07/14/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-jen-psaki-july-14-2021/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek6Y3jzOLP4,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/01/28/fact-check-joe-jill-biden-babysitter-wife-hospitalized/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3gGncZMCKQ,https://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Obama-Defense-Secretary-/d6517cafb1ce43a18fd9fb9abd5202e9/2/0,https://www.vox.com/2019/4/2/18290345/joe-biden-lucy-flores-amy-lappos,https://medium.com/@scarterdc/the-metoo-story-that-wasnt-me-6c1d5eb1e94d,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRU-J7yr2jT/?utm_medium=copy_link,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRU9pq4rEKj/",Does This Image Show Joe Biden Touching Olivia Rodrigo’s Shoulders?,,,,,, -11,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/20/fact-check-joe-biden-americans-dont-receive-vaccine-quarantine-camps/,Did Joe Biden Say Americans Who Don’t Receive The COVID-19 Vaccine Before 2022 Will Be Put In ‘Quarantine Camps’?,2021-07-20,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did Joe Biden Say Americans Who Don’t Receive The COVID-19 Vaccine Before 2022 Will Be Put In ‘Quarantine Camps’?5:18 PM 07/20/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook claims President Joe Biden announced that Americans not vaccinated against COVID-19 before 2022 will be put in “quarantine camps.” Verdict: False There is no record of Biden making such an announcement. The claim appears to stem from a satirical article. Fact Check: The Facebook photo shows what appears to be a screen grab of a June 21 article including an image of Biden and bearing the headline: “Announces Americans Not Vaccinated Before 2022 Will Be Put In Camps.” Text in the screen grab goes on to say that unvaccinated Americans will be detained in “quarantine camps” until they are vaccinated. There is no record, however, of Biden making such an announcement. A search of the White House’s website turned up no mention of imprisoning unvaccinated Americans. Check Your Fact also searched Biden’s verified social media accounts, but found no instances of him announcing such a plan. While the Biden administration has been actively working to get more Americans vaccinated against COVID-19, according to The New York Times, Check Your Fact found no news reporting about the president announcing any plan to imprison those who refuse to be vaccinated. (RELATED: Did Joe Biden Announce Looting Would Be Renamed ‘Justice Shopping’?) The screen grabbed article in the Facebook post appears to have been published by Value Walk, a website that “provides unique coverage on hedge funds, large asset managers, and value investing,” according to its “About” section. A clear disclaimer at the bottom of the article says, “This is a satirical article.” Value Walk also included a notice that the article was first posted by The Stonk Market, a financial satire website. While both Value Walk and The Stonk Market include disclaimers about the satirical nature of the story, social media users have been sharing the claim without such a warning, seemingly believing the erroneous claim to be true. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/byron.xermes/posts/3573218892781411,https://www.whitehouse.gov/?s=camps+2022,https://twitter.com/search?q=2022%20(from%3AJoeBiden%20OR%20from%3APOTUS)&src=typed_query,https://www.facebook.com/page/7860876103/search/?q=2022,https://www.instagram.com/joebiden/,https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/06/us/politics/biden-vaccines.html,https://www.google.com/search?q=Biden+plan+to+send+unvaccinated+to+camps+in+2022&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPn9m0wvLxAhV1F1kFHWgcA9sQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1440&bih=717,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/05/28/fact-check-joe-biden-looting-justice-shopping-fox-news/,https://www.valuewalk.com/president-joe-biden-announces-americans-not-vaccinated-before-2022-will-be-put-in-camps/,https://www.valuewalk.com/investorshub/,https://thestonkmarket.com/president-joe-biden-announces-americans-not-vaccinated-before-2022-will-be-put-in-camps/,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#86e3ebefeaffc6e2e7efeaffe5e7eaeae3f4e8e3f1f5e0e9f3e8e2e7f2efe9e8a8e9f4e1",Did Joe Biden Say Americans Who Don’t Receive The COVID-19 Vaccine Before 2022 Will Be Put In ‘Quarantine Camps’?,,,,,, -12,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/20/fact-check-solar-storm-gps-internet-satellites-earth/,"Is A Massive Solar Storm That Could Affect GPS, Internet And Satellites Heading Toward Earth?",2021-07-20,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Is A Massive Solar Storm That Could Affect GPS, Internet And Satellites Heading Toward Earth?4:36 PM 07/20/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Instagram claims a “massive solar storm heading towards Earth could affect GPS, internet and satellites.”   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Rap by RAPTV (@rap) Verdict: False The Space Weather Prediction Center’s forecast does not show any major solar storm heading toward Earth in the coming days. There were also no major solar storms last week. Fact Check: Solar storms are natural phenomena that occur when disturbances on the sun, such as solar flares or coronal mass ejections, emit electromagnetic radiation and charged particle radiation into the solar system, according to CBS News. Under certain conditions, such solar activity can disrupt satellites as well as technologies on Earth like GPS and radio communications, according to NASA. The July 14 Instagram post claims a “massive solar storm” that can impact GPS, internet and satellites is heading toward Earth. However, there is no mention of an imminent solar storm to that effect on the Space Weather Prediction Center’s three-day forecast, and no such storm occurred last week. The forecast on Monday said, “Solar activity is likely to remain very low with a slight chance for C-class flares on 19-21 Jul,” while Tuesday’s forecast currently states, “Solar activity is expected to be very low, with an increasing chance of C-class flares 20-22 Jul.” C-class solar flares are “too weak to noticeably affect Earth,” according to NASA. “The solar observations have been greatly mischaracterized,” Theo Stein, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), said in an email to Check Your Fact. (RELATED: No, This Is Not A ‘Photo From Mars’ Fabricated By NASA) The last significant solar activity registered by the NOAA occurred on July 3, when an X-1 solar flare was observed. X-class flares are the strongest type of solar flare and can affect Earth, according to NASA. The July 3 flare was the largest since 2017 and caused a brief radio blackout, according to Space.com. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.instagram.com/p/CRT4vophNP0/,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRT4vophNP0/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading,https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-kind-of-damage-can-a-solar-storm-do/,https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/spaceweather/index.html#q5,https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/about-space-weather,https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/forecast-discussion,https://web.archive.org/web/20210720184726/https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/forecast-discussion,https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/X-class-flares.html,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/03/29/fact-check-photo-mars-fabricated-nasa/,https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/r3-strong-radio-blackout-observed,https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/X-class-flares.html,https://www.space.com/sun-unleashes-x-class-solar-flare-july-2021-video,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#6e0b030702172e0a0f0702170d0f02020b1c000b191d08011b000a0f1a07010040011c09","Is A Massive Solar Storm That Could Affect GPS, Internet And Satellites Heading Toward Earth?",,,,,, -13,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/20/fact-check-make-a-wish-foundation-wishes-fully-vaccinated-children/,Is The Make-A-Wish Foundation Only Granting Wishes To Fully Vaccinated Children?,2021-07-20,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Is The Make-A-Wish Foundation Only Granting Wishes To Fully Vaccinated Children?4:14 PM 07/20/2021Mecca Fowler | Contributor share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook claims the Make-A-Wish Foundation is only granting wishes to children who are fully vaccinated. Verdict: False While Make-A-Wish is requiring families to be vaccinated for wishes involving air travel and large crowds, it is not denying wishes to unvaccinated children. The claim appears to stem from a misunderstanding of a video from the Make-A-Wish CEO. Fact Check: The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization that grants wishes to critically ill children, according to the foundation’s website. Now, a post on Facebook claims the organization decided to only grant wishes to children who are fully vaccinated. The coronavirus pandemic put thousands of wishes on hold due to stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions and event cancellations, NBC South Florida reported in May 2020. Other children had to alter their wishes, according to USA Today. There is no evidence, however, that Make-A-Wish is refusing to grant wishes to unvaccinated children. An internet search conducted by Check Your Fact found no media outlets reporting that the foundation is mandating vaccines before children can receive wishes, only other fact-checking outlets debunking the claim. The claim appears to stem from a deceptively edited video shared on Twitter, that showed Make-A-Wish CEO Richard Davis speaking about updates to Make-A-Wish’s COVID-19 policies. In the edited video, Davis says wishes involving air travel within the U.S. and large gatherings will resume September 15, but will require all participants, including the child making a wish, to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Twitter video, which was originally sent in an email to Make-A-Wish families, was edited to end before Davis finished explaining which children would be eligible for wishes involving air travel and large gatherings, the Associated Press reported. (RELATED: Does The Pfizer Covid-19 Vaccine Contain Graphene Oxide?) The foundation on June 28 published a statement on its website clarifying the misinformation surrounding its vaccine policy. “Make-A-Wish has not, does not and will not deny wishes to children who are not vaccinated,” the statement reads, in part. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, Make-A-Wish has safely granted over 6,500 wishes to children and families – regardless of vaccination status. Make-A-Wish will continue to grant wishes to children who are not vaccinated.” The statement goes on to explain that there are other types of wishes to choose from that don’t require being vaccinated, such as road trips, shopping sprees, meeting a celebrity and room decorations. The vaccine policy does not apply to children who have received a terminal prognosis, according to the statement. if(dc_showing_ads) { var scr = document.createElement('script'); scr.async= true; scr.src = ""https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js""; document.getElementsByTagName(""body"")[0].appendChild(scr); } share on facebook tweet this show commentsMecca FowlerContributor","https://www.facebook.com/MarchAgainstCorruption/posts/2326354117495293,https://wish.org/about-us,https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/coronavirus/make-a-wish-trying-to-make-dreams-come-true-during-pandemic/2227685/,https://www.usatoday.com/story/lifestyle/2020/08/19/make-a-wish-still-helping-dreams-come-true-during-pandemic-mdash-just-different-ones/113347928/,https://www.google.com/search?q=Make-A-wish+refusing+to+grant+wishes+unvaccinated+children&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS890US890&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjjmpTgo_LxAhVrElkFHSLbCVsQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1440&bih=717,https://twitter.com/Pelham_3/status/1407964106653536256,https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-6ecfe4db4e9eef5d0577a11aaba0f985,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/12/fact-check-pfizer-covid-vaccine-graphene-oxide/,https://wish.org/news-releases/vaccine-policy,https://wish.org/news-releases/vaccine-policy",Is The Make-A-Wish Foundation Only Granting Wishes To Fully Vaccinated Children?,,,,,, -14,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/20/fact-check-protest-france-covid-measures/,Does This Image Show A 2021 Protest Against France’s COVID-19 Measures?,2021-07-20,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show A 2021 Protest Against France’s COVID-19 Measures?2:20 PM 07/20/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Instagram allegedly shows a recent protest in France against COVID-19 mitigation measures.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by CBK (@cbk.news) Verdict: False The photo, which dates back to 2018, shows celebrations of France’s FIFA World Cup victory that year. Fact Check: The image of a woman holding a French flag while a massive crowd gathers below on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris has circulated on Instagram and Facebook recently. In numerous instances, users alleged in the captions that it depicts a protest against the French government’s new COVID-19 mitigation measures. The French government recently announced measures that will mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for all health care workers and that will require people get special health passes documenting they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, recently tested negative for the virus or recovered from it to enter venues such as restaurants, bars and theaters, according to Reuters. The announcement of those measures resulted in over 100,000 people protesting across France this past weekend, the Associated Press reported. A reverse image search revealed the photo actually dates back to 2018 and shows people in Paris celebrating the French national soccer team winning the FIFA World Cup. France won the World Cup that year after beating Croatia 4-2 in the final match, NPR reported. AFP photographer Ludovic Marin took the picture. (RELATED: Image Claims To Show Cuban Farmer Before Being Executed For Refusing To Work For The Castro Regime) “This picture taken from the top of the Arch of Triumph (Arc de Triomphe) on July 15, 2018 shows people celebrating France’s victory in the Russia 2018 World Cup final football match between France and Croatia, on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris,” reads the caption on Getty Images. Photos taken of people in Paris protesting against France’s new COVID-19 measures can be found on Reuters Connect and AP Images. share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.instagram.com/p/CRe6Iq7BCC9/,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRe6Iq7BCC9/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Av.+des+Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es,+75008+Paris,+France/@48.8729602,2.2956639,565m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e66fc4f8007851:0x5aa1a787f38f64f6!8m2!3d48.8729602!4d2.2978526,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRe6Iq7BCC9/,https://www.facebook.com/sue.rhodes.7140/posts/332635195233853,https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/france-broadens-use-covid-19-health-pass-slashes-fines-2021-07-19/,https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-health-government-and-politics-france-d25494f4cf4ca6c6d1464188a89ece6f,https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/this-picture-taken-from-the-top-of-the-arch-of-triumph-on-news-photo/999547884?adppopup=true,https://www.npr.org/2018/07/15/629245670/france-wins-world-cup,https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/this-picture-taken-from-the-top-of-the-arch-of-triumph-on-news-photo/999547884?adppopup=true,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/09/10/fact-check-cuban-farmer-executed-castro-regime/,https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/this-picture-taken-from-the-top-of-the-arch-of-triumph-on-news-photo/999547884?adppopup=true,https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3Aprotest%20paris,https://www.apimages.com/Search?query=paris+vaccine+protest&ss=10&st=kw&entitysearch=&toItem=15&orderBy=Newest&searchMediaType=allmedia,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Does This Image Show A 2021 Protest Against France’s COVID-19 Measures?,,,,,, -15,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/20/fact-check-image-farmers-protesting-new-zealand/,Does This Image Show Farmers Protesting In New Zealand?,2021-07-20,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show Farmers Protesting In New Zealand?1:28 PM 07/20/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook purportedly shows farmers protesting on tractors in New Zealand. Verdict: False The image, which was taken in 2019, actually shows a farmers’ protest in the Netherlands, not New Zealand. Fact Check: In recent days, New Zealand farmers have been participating in a demonstration called “Howl Of A Protest,” and have been driving their tractors into cities, causing traffic jams, Reuters reported. The farmers are protesting the New Zealand government’s environmental and climate change policies, among other regulations, that some believe are hurting their business, according to the outlet. Now some social media users have been sharing an image, supposedly from the protests, showing dozens of tractors driving down one side of a highway. “Farmer’s protest today! pukekohe to Auckland,” the image’s caption reads. “Standing up to our tyrannical government that are land grabbing and destroying farmer’s lively hoods. We need to support them for the farmers feed us!” The image does not, however, show the recent New Zealand protests. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found a near-identical photo on Shutterstock. The image shared on Facebook appears to have flipped and cropped the original photo. The photo was actually taken in the Netherlands in 2019, according to its caption on Shutterstock. “Farmers block the A28 Highway with their tractors between Hoogeveen and Meppel in The Netherlands, 01 October 2019,” the image’s caption reads. “The farmers joined a national protest in The Hague.” (RELATED: Did Stacey Abrams Say, ‘We Don’t Need Farmers, When We Have Grocery Stores’?) The 2019 protest was in response to proposed measures of reducing nitrogen emissions that some farmers felt unfairly targeted their profession, NPR reported. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/bettina.barbie/posts/10224701620075561,https://www.reuters.com/world/farmers-protesting-tractors-take-streets-new-zealand-2021-07-16/,https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/farmers-protest-in-the-hague-hoogeven-netherlands-01-oct-2019-10431957a,https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/farmers-protest-in-the-hague-hoogeven-netherlands-01-oct-2019-10431957a,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/12/22/fact-check-stacey-abrams-dont-need-farmers-have-grocery-stores/,https://www.npr.org/2019/10/01/766012978/tractor-trail-of-protesting-dutch-farmers-snarls-traffic-for-hundreds-of-miles,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d6b3bbbfbaaf96b2b7bfbaafb5b7babab3a4b8b3a1a5b0b9a3b8b2b7a2bfb9b8f8b9a4b1",Does This Image Show Farmers Protesting In New Zealand?,,,,,, -16,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/20/fact-check-solar-eclipse-international-space-station/,Does This Image Show A Solar Eclipse From The International Space Station?,2021-07-20,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show A Solar Eclipse From The International Space Station?11:44 AM 07/20/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA post shared on Facebook claims to show a photo of a solar eclipse taken from the International Space Station. Verdict: False The image is a piece of digital artwork, not a photo taken from the International Space Station. Fact Check: The International Space Station, which orbits about 250 miles above the earth, was assembled in parts between 1998 and 2011, according to NASA. 2020 marked the International Space Station’s 20th year of astronaut crews living on it, the Associated Press reported. The Facebook post claims to show a photo of a solar eclipse taken from the International Space Station. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and the earth and blocks the sun’s light, casting a shadow on earth, according to NASA. (RELATED: Is This Image The ‘First Ever’ Photo Of A Sunset On Mars?) While the picture does contain some actual imagery of space, it is not a photo of a solar eclipse taken from the International Space Station. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact discovered it is actually a piece of digital artwork created by Deviant Art user A4size-ska using software called Terragen 2. The image of the Milky Way in the background of the piece comes from the European Space Observatory. The inaccurate claim that the image shows a solar eclipse “viewed from the International Space Station” has circulated online since at least 2012. In an article for Discover Magazine that year, astronomer Phil Plait debunked the claim, noting that “the bright Earth (and Sun!) would wash out the background stars in a picture like this, so you’d not see them, and certainly not the Milky Way.” Gizmodo also reported that the image was a “3D rendering made in Terragen 2” by the Deviant Art user. This isn’t the first time social media users have mistaken a piece of digital artwork as a genuine photo taken of space. In February, Check Your Fact debunked an image some Facebook users claimed to show “Earth, Venus and Jupiter as seen from Mars” that, in actuality, was computer-generated. share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/100122238376496/photos/a.154075826314470/341928764195841/?type=3&theater,https://www.britannica.com/topic/International-Space-Station,https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/nasa-knows/what-is-the-iss-58.html,https://apnews.com/article/russia-70f64e672c35638d7580a95799e6f54f,https://www.facebook.com/100122238376496/photos/a.154075826314470/341928764195841/?type=3&theater,https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/what-is-an-eclipse-k4,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/03/17/fact-check-first-ever-photo-sunset-mars-illustration/,https://www.deviantart.com/a4size-ska/art/Eclipse-144235675,http://www.planetside.co.uk/downloads/tg2deep/dru9uwepuxu3haka/Terragen2Deep25050.shtml,https://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0932a/,https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/a-fake-and-a-real-view-of-the-solar-eclipse-from-space,https://www.syfy.com/author/phil-plait,https://gizmodo.com/this-mind-blowing-image-of-the-eclipse-cant-possibly-be-5912184,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/02/26/fact-check-image-earth-venus-jupiter-mars/,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Does This Image Show A Solar Eclipse From The International Space Station?,,,,,, -17,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/20/fact-check-chief-justice-john-roberts-arrested/,Was Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Arrested?,2021-07-20,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Was Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Arrested?10:25 AM 07/20/2021Ryan King | Contributor share on facebook tweet this show commentsA post shared on Facebook claims Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has been arrested and charged for child trafficking, among other charges. Verdict: False There is no record of Roberts being arrested for child trafficking, or any other charges. Fact Check: “Breaking News! Chief Justice John Roberts has been arrested for child trafficking, plus other charges!” the July 14 Facebook post reads, citing someone named Scott Brunswick as the source of the claim. Brunswick has previously been cited as the source for other Facebook posts, including one that falsely claimed former President Donald Trump retained full control of the military. There is no evidence, however, that Roberts was arrested for child trafficking, or anything else. Check Your Fact searched press releases from the Supreme Court and the FBI, but found no mention of Roberts being arrested. Had the chief justice been arrested, major media outlets almost certainly would have reported on it, yet none have. While Supreme Court Justices are able to hold office “as long as they choose,” according to the Supreme Court’s website, they are able to be removed by impeachment. Justices can be impeached for committing “treason, bribery, or other high crimes or misdemeanors,” per the U.S. Constitution. If Roberts was arrested for child trafficking, he would likely be susceptible to an impeachment charge from Congress, but there has not been any congressional action taken against him, according to Congress.gov. (RELATED: Does This Photo Show Chief Justice John Roberts With Ghislaine Maxwell) Roberts most recently released a statement July 1 marking the end of the term, and the start of Supreme Court recess until October. share on facebook tweet this show commentsRyan KingContributor","https://www.facebook.com/star.aquarius.731/posts/4383237421741022,https://www.facebook.com/star.aquarius.731/posts/4265374396860659,https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/press/pressreleases.aspx,https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel,https://news.google.com/search?q=chief%20justice%20roberts%20arrested&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen,https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/faq_general.aspx,https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript,https://www.congress.gov/search?q=%7B%22source%22%3A%22all%22%2C%22congress%22%3A%22117%22%2C%22search%22%3A%22john+roberts%22%7D,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/12/21/fact-check-photo-john-roberts-ghislaine-maxwell-jean-luc-brunel/,https://www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/press/pressreleases/pr_07-01-21",Was Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts Arrested?,,,,,, -18,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/19/fact-check-video-protest-cuba-argentina-soccer/,Does This Video Show A Recent Anti-Government Protest In Cuba?,2021-07-19,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show A Recent Anti-Government Protest In Cuba?7:09 PM 07/19/2021Alexis Enderle | Contributor share on facebook tweet this show commentsA video shared on Facebook allegedly shows a large nighttime anti-government protest in Cuba on July 17. Verdict: False The video shows soccer fans celebrating in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after the country’s team won the Copa América final against Brazil. Fact Check: Widespread anti-government protests erupted across Cuba starting July 11, according to The Wall Street Journal. Cubans are protesting the Communist-run government, food and medicine shortages and electricity outages, among other things, the Associated Press reported. Misinformation related to the Cuban anti-government protests has circulated widely on social media in recent days. The inaccurate claim that the video, which has garnered over 1,400 views so far, shows a nighttime protest in the country “right now” is one such example. It actually shows Argentinians in Buenos Aires celebrating the national soccer team’s victory over Brazil in the Copa América final on July 10. The well-known Obelisco de Buenos Aires can be seen in the video lit up with blue lights. Similar footage shared by The Guardian’s soccer-focused Youtube channel, Guardian Football, shows a large crowd of Argentina soccer fans celebrating the July 10 win in the Plaza de la Republica, where the monument is located. The description of Guardian Football’s video containing the similar footage reads in part, “Thousands took to the streets in Buenos Aires on Saturday night after Argentina beat its historic rival Brazil in the Copa América final.” (RELATED: Does This Photo Show An Anti-Communist Protest In Cuba?) Reuters also published footage depicting Argentina soccer fans on July 10 celebrating the win in Buenos Aires. Amongst the large crowd, the blue-lit obelisk can be seen, according to the Reuters video. Check Your Fact previously debunked an image of thousands of people gathered in a street that some social media users claimed showed an anti-government protest in Cuba. That photo actually captured part of a 2011 demonstration in Egypt. if(dc_showing_ads) { var scr = document.createElement('script'); scr.async= true; scr.src = ""https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js""; document.getElementsByTagName(""body"")[0].appendChild(scr); } share on facebook tweet this show commentsAlexis EnderleContributor","https://www.facebook.com/berit.larsen.798/videos/616304286000528,https://www.wsj.com/articles/cuba-protests-whats-happening-11626112390,https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-europe-business-health-cuba-53b679e5500247f8bf6195b692015605,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/14/fact-check-protest-cuba-arab-spring-egypt/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-photo-anti-communist-protest-cuba/,https://www.facebook.com/berit.larsen.798/videos/616304286000528,https://www.npr.org/2021/07/11/1015105606/lionel-messi-sends-argentina-to-victory-over-brazil-in-copa-america-final,https://turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar/en/otros-establecimientos/obelisk,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsYxxeeXoo8,https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNHqb1IRxQ5WBsWtO53JL2g,https://www.google.com/maps/search/obelisco+de+buenos+aires/@-34.6036415,-58.3816822,113m/data=!3m1!1e3,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsYxxeeXoo8,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-photo-anti-communist-protest-cuba/,https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/argentina-beat-brazil-1-0-win-copa-america-2021-07-11/,https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/argentina-beat-brazil-1-0-win-copa-america-2021-07-11/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/14/fact-check-protest-cuba-arab-spring-egypt/",Does This Video Show A Recent Anti-Government Protest In Cuba?,,,,,, -19,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/19/fact-check-kayleigh-mcenany-jfk-granddaughter/,Is Kayleigh McEnany JFK’s Granddaughter?,2021-07-19,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Is Kayleigh McEnany JFK’s Granddaughter?5:18 PM 07/19/2021Ryan King | Contributor share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook claims former White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany is the granddaughter of former President John F. Kennedy and daughter of John F. Kennedy Jr. Verdict: False Kayleigh McEnany is the daughter of Michael McEnany and Leanne McEnany. She is not directly related to John F. Kennedy. Fact Check: The image includes a photo of Kayleigh McEnany surrounded by photos of Jacqueline Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. Text in the photo lists John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy as Kayleigh McEnany’s grandparents and John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy as her parents. There is, however, no evidence Kayleigh McEnany is directly related to John F. Kennedy. Kayleigh McEnany was born in 1988 to parents Michael and Leanne McEnany, according to the Tampa Bay Times. (RELATED: No, JFK Jr. Is Not Still Alive) John F. Kennedy had four children, none of whom were named Michael or Leanne. His children were named Arabella, Caroline, John and Patrick, The Sun reported. Arabella was stillborn, according to the outlet, and Patrick died days after he was born, The New York Times reported. John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife Carolyn and his sister-in-law all died in a plane crash off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard in July 1999, according to The New York Times. John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn were married in 1996, eight years after Kayleigh McEnany was born, and they never had children, Heavy reported. John F. Kennedy Jr.’s sister, Caroline, is the mother of John F. Kennedy’s only grandchildren, and none are named Kayleigh. Caroline’s children are named Rose, Tatiana and Jack, according to Town & Country magazine. share on facebook tweet this show commentsRyan KingContributor","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10222895788397911&set=gm.1464023903965607&type=3&eid=ARDNAgjPEzV_AymNuQSZ5puq-upKAHuwusnxRODXLXo2ICQIfcRPRqyXhvu4Aq9KcMnPMfUQmG0xX0cf&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARCBWklaLyXx2uXtogxb2NmN8rAdI5Cw4Od26ROgLo0kgOuCBVt0L9U6Wy61mDKS7g3K1XWDMCzlIJJlpN3GQE-DSXCKMDc6g_YHPqfYEeParkqSXhr_7jOUmFlMg9XjJrzuqHPjUw035l_HQAdJKwc6S03oTE4IDUcwZOjgzGX1j5JK--Yz-lJVtXWFYweUQTThKQwif0ETY6gfovnEeGgLeSC-exVm_6cARLE50ypE-MhsHaJzhGcCPuEpoH1ZH-D9tGEl09emfdI6csdvw-En1RXvtaam5cU,https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-kayleigh-mcenany-bio-life-facts-trump-rnc-cnn-2017-8#during-the-campaign-mcenany-frequently-appeared-as-a-trump-surrogate-most-prominently-on-cnn-where-she-was-a-paid-commentator-who-promoted-trumps-platform-and-debated-with-left-leaning-and-anti-trump-commentators-10,https://www.tampabay.com/news/hillsborough/2019/10/31/kayleigh-mcenany-highlights-hillsborough-gop-lincoln-day-dinner/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/09/fact-check-jfk-jr-is-not-alive/,https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7708799/john-f-kennedy-president-jfk-assassination-kids-caroline-john-jr-patrick-arabella/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210619091532/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/30/health/a-kennedy-babys-life-and-death.html,https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/22/us/bodies-from-kennedy-crash-are-found.html,https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/01/jfk-jr-carolyn-bessette-children-kids-wife/#:~:text=Getty%20JFK%20Jr.,Bessette%2C%20did%20not%20have%20children.,https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/politics/g2178/young-kennedys/",Is Kayleigh McEnany JFK’s Granddaughter?,,,,,, -20,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/19/fact-check-greta-thunberg-sticker-car-flood-germany/,Does This Image Show An Anti-Greta Thunberg Sticker On A Car Stuck In A Flood?,2021-07-19,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show An Anti-Greta Thunberg Sticker On A Car Stuck In A Flood?4:40 PM 07/19/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook purportedly shows an anti-Greta Thunberg sticker on a car stuck in a flood. Facebook/Screenshot Verdict: False The sticker has been digitally edited into the photo. Fact Check: The picture of the BMW supposedly sporting a “Fuck You Greta!” sticker on the back windshield has circulated on Facebook in recent days. The alleged sticker appears to reference Thunberg, a well-known Swedish environmental activist. The image also went viral on Twitter, where one iteration has received over 1,200 retweets and 9,000 likes as of press time. The anti-Thunberg sticker has been photoshopped into the picture, a reverse image search revealed. The original photo, taken by photographer David Young, can be found in a July 16 article about cars that was published by the German newspaper Bild in connection to flooding in Germany. In the unaltered picture, there are no stickers visible on the car’s window. Countries in Western Europe were recently hit by deadly floods, with at least 160 people having been killed by them in Germany, according to the Associated Press. At least 31 people in Belgium have died in the floods, the outlet reported Monday. (RELATED: Image Claims To Show Greta Thunberg Eating On A Train While Children Watch From Outside) One Twitter user who shared the image later appeared to clarify that it was doctored, saying in part, “Apparently the bumper sticker is photoshopped in, which isn’t surprising since this is in Germany, so presumably it would be in German (or Belgian, Dutch) if it were real.” Apparently the bumper sticker is photoshopped in, which isn’t surprising since this is in Germany, so presumably it would be in German (or Belgian, Dutch) if it were real. I just saw it somewhere and copied it, not expecting it to blow up, lol. pic.twitter.com/FGXU56KurC — #Doomberg: Marxist-Yeagerist ⌬ (@delmoi) July 17, 2021 “I just saw it somewhere and copied it, not expecting it to blow up, lol,” the same user went on to say in the July 17 tweet. share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/marynunzianteQ/posts/2313976515400706,https://www.facebook.com/marynunzianteQ/posts/2313976515400706,https://www.britannica.com/biography/Greta-Thunberg,https://twitter.com/delmoi/status/1416239004610093056,https://www.bild.de/auto/service/service/hochwasser-schaeden-am-auto-welche-versicherung-zahlt-65678570.bild.html,https://www.cbsnews.com/news/flooding-in-germany-europe-deaths-hundreds-missing-2021-07-19/,https://apnews.com/article/europe-germany-floods-662f251959433bdbbc251631460e4314,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/02/28/fact-check-greta-thunberg-eating-train-children-watch/,https://twitter.com/delmoi/status/1416375865211080708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://t.co/FGXU56KurC,https://twitter.com/delmoi/status/1416375865211080708?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://twitter.com/delmoi/status/1416375865211080708,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Does This Image Show An Anti-Greta Thunberg Sticker On A Car Stuck In A Flood?,,,,,, -21,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/19/fact-check-elephant-carrying-lion-cub/,Does This Image Show An Elephant Carrying A Lion Cub?,2021-07-19,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show An Elephant Carrying A Lion Cub?1:27 PM 07/19/2021Trevor Schakohl | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook over 250 times allegedly shows an elephant carrying a lion cub while a lioness walks beside them. Verdict: False The photo of the elephant has been photoshopped to include a lioness and lion cub. The image was originally created for an April Fools’ Day prank. Fact Check: The image seemingly showing a lioness padding alongside an elephant holding a cub with its trunk has circulated online for several years. “It was considered the best photo of this century,” text inside the image states. “A lioness and her cub were crossing the savannah but the heat was excessive and the cub was in great difficulty walking. An elephant realized that the cub would die and carried him in his trunk to a pool of water walking beside his mother. And we call them wild animals.” The image is photoshopped. The unaltered picture of the elephant can be found on Wikimedia Commons. In the original photo, there are no lions accompanying the elephant as it crosses a dirt path. (RELATED: Did Russia Let Over 500 Lions Loose To Keep People Indoors During The Coronavirus Pandemic?) Kruger Sightings, an online service that shares wildlife sightings at South Africa’s Kruger National Park, first tweeted the altered picture on April 1, 2018, with a similar story accompanying it. The caption credits the photo to “Sloof Lirpa,” which is “April Fools” written backwards. Nadav Ossendryver, the founder of Kruger Sightings, said that it was created as a 2018 April Fools’ Day prank and that it quickly went viral, according to Business Insider South Africa. Ossendryver said some media outlets reached out to him at the time asking for permission to use it, the outlet reported. Despite Kruger Sightings also posting on its website in 2018 that the photoshopped image was an April Fools joke, some social media users have continued to share it, seemingly believing it is a genuine photo of an elephant helping a lioness and her cub. share on facebook tweet this show commentsTrevor SchakohlFact Check ReporterFollow Trevor on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion?  Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/jackmason1953/posts/10222471645914304,https://www.facebook.com/jackmason1953/posts/10222471645914304,https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elephant_side-view_Kruger.jpg,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/03/24/fact-check-russia-500-lions-look-streets-coronavirus/,https://twitter.com/LatestKruger/status/980344432393375744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E980344432393375744%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.co.za%2Fsa-elephant-picture-fools-20-million-people-2018-4,https://www.businessinsider.co.za/sa-elephant-picture-fools-20-million-people-2018-4,https://www.latestsightings.com/single-post/2018/04/01/How-To-Make-Your-April-Fools-Joke-Go-Viral,https://twitter.com/tschakohl,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#4c383e293a233e0c2f24292f273523393e2a2d2f38622f2321",Does This Image Show An Elephant Carrying A Lion Cub?,,,,,, -22,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/19/fact-check-video-italians-celebrating-european-championship-soccer-firecrackers/,Does This Video Show Italians Celebrating The National Soccer Team’s European Championship Victory With Firecrackers?,2021-07-19,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show Italians Celebrating The National Soccer Team’s European Championship Victory With Firecrackers?12:29 PM 07/19/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA video shared on Facebook claims to show Italians celebrating the men’s national team’s recent victory in the 2020 European Championship soccer tournament by igniting a long line of firecrackers. Verdict: False The video shows a religious festival in Taiwan in April, not a soccer celebration in Italy. Fact Check: Italy’s national men’s soccer team won the 2020 European Championship after defeating England on July 11, a win that prompted celebrations across the country, according to The New York Times. Now, a July 13 video claims to show supporters of the team setting off a long line of red firecrackers in the street. “Italy’s celebration on euro cup winning,” reads the post’s caption. “No pollution for them ,only India’s Dipawali crackers pollute the world!” (RELATED: Does This Image Show Italian Police Laying Down Their Equipment In Solidarity With People Protesting COVID-19 Restrictions?) Dipawali, or Diwali, is India’s most important holiday, and is typically celebrated with a large festival in which firecrackers and fireworks are ignited, a tradition that has been criticized for contributing to air pollution, according to NPR. The Facebook video does not, however, show a celebration in Italy. Through a reverse image search of key frames, Check Your Fact found similar footage posted on YouTube in April by Taiwanese news outlet Sanli News Network with the title: “Firecrackers stretch for 500 meters to welcome Baishatun Mazu enthusiastically.” The Baishatun Mazu (or Matsu) Pilgrimage is an annual religious festival in which tens of thousands of people walk 400 kilometers across Taiwan to honor the sea goddess Matsu, according to the Taipei Times. This year’s pilgrimage began on April 11, the outlet reported. Firecrackers are often set off along the route to celebrate the deity, according to Taiwan Panorama. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/hemant.sahasrabuddhe1/videos/322341792929435,https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/11/sports/soccer/italy-wins-european-championship.html,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/04/09/fact-check-image-italian-police-equipment-solidarity-protesting-covid-19-restrictions/,https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/pages/article/diwali,https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/11/12/934097578/fireworks-of-diwali-spark-worries-about-pollution-and-coronavirus-cases,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2W9nVfMDbU&t=324s,https://www.setn.com/,https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2021/04/12/2003755516,https://www.taiwan-panorama.com/en/Articles/Details?Guid=33d9ab7c-b4f1-4ebf-9223-7af588f879db,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1c79717570655c787d7570657f7d7070796e72796b6f7a736972787d6875737232736e7b",Does This Video Show Italians Celebrating The National Soccer Team’s European Championship Victory With Firecrackers?,,,,,, -23,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/19/fact-check-video-water-cannons-french-protesting-covid-vaccinations/,Does This Video Show Water Cannons Being Used On French Citizens Protesting ‘Mandatory COVID Vaccinations’?,2021-07-19,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show Water Cannons Being Used On French Citizens Protesting ‘Mandatory COVID Vaccinations’?10:59 AM 07/19/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA video shared on Facebook allegedly shows a crowd of French citizens who were protesting “President Macron’s plan for mandatory COVID vaccinations” being dispersed with water cannons. Verdict: False The video shows a protest in Kenya, not France. Fact Check: The 31-second video shows an aerial view of people running in different directions on a street as two vehicles shoot water cannons at them. The caption of the video reads, “Resistance begins to mount against President Macron’s plan for mandatory COVID vaccinations of all French citizens.” (RELATED: Does This Photo Show Kenyans In Nairobi Protesting In Solidarity With Nigerians In June 2021?) That description of the video, however, is inaccurate. A keyword search of terms associated with the video turned up several YouTube videos showing the same footage, all of which indicate it actually shows a protest at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Several landmarks in the video match those visible in a Google Maps street view of University Way, confirming the incident occurred near the University of Nairobi. Kenyan riot police have used water cannons and tear gas on multiple occasions in recent years to disperse protests in Nairobi, and it is unclear which exact demonstration the video shows. Last week, Kenyan riot police used tear gas against University of Nairobi students who were protesting the university’s decision to raise tuition fees, according to AFP. During a recent televised speech, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that due to a recent rise in COVID-19 cases in the country, vaccines would become mandatory for health care workers by September 15, according to France24. He has not mandated COVID-19 vaccines for all French citizens at the time of publication. The French president announced in the same address that starting in August, anyone who wants to go to certain venues such as restaurants, bars and malls must have a special “health pass” documenting they have been vaccinated against COVID-19, recently tested negative for the virus or recovered from it, according to NPR. The announced rules prompted protests in parts of France, according to Reuters. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/JESUSFINALCALL/videos/544788723374034/,https://www.facebook.com/JESUSFINALCALL/videos/544788723374034/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/06/21/fact-check-photo-kenyans-protesting-solidarity-nigerians/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHhKt0-wMqE,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeOtrxrmLWk,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpGlJ4US3rs,https://www.google.com/maps/@-1.2809558,36.8164636,3a,75y,166.43h,96.47t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sbDS3zP6e--ba8wa9_BX46g!2e0!7i13312!8i6656,https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-kenya-police-idUKKCN1C81B6,https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-36251822,https://www.africanews.com/2021/07/07/kenya-protesters-clash-with-police-in-nairobi-over-covid-curfews-and-restrictions/,https://www.euronews.com/2016/05/16/tear-gas-and-water-cannon-fired-on-protesters-in-kenya,https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/kenyan-police-tear-gas-protesting-150855698.html,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzOXfvVipvs,https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210712-follow-live-france-s-macron-addresses-the-nation-as-covid-19-delta-variant-surges,https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/07/13/1015591406/french-people-rush-for-vaccines-after-macron-ties-a-new-health-pass-to-cafe-life,https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-police-quell-protest-against-covid-health-passport-rules-2021-07-14/,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d2b7bfbbbeab92b6b3bbbeabb1b3bebeb7a0bcb7a5a1b4bda7bcb6b3a6bbbdbcfcbda0b5",Does This Video Show Water Cannons Being Used On French Citizens Protesting ‘Mandatory COVID Vaccinations’?,,,,,, -24,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/16/fact-check-image-joe-biden-kneeling-israeli-president/,Does This Image Show Joe Biden Kneeling Before Former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin?,2021-07-16,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show Joe Biden Kneeling Before Former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin?5:00 PM 07/16/2021Charlese Freeman | Contributor share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook claims President Joe Biden kneeled before former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and pledged his “unconditional support to Israeli.” Verdict: False The image actually shows Biden kneeling in admiration of Rivlin’s chief of staff, Rivka Ravitz, who has 12 children. The claim appears to stem from a website that does not guarantee the “accuracy, completeness or usefulness” of its information. Fact Check: The July 8 post includes what appears to be a screen grab of an article with a featured image showing Biden on one knee in front of Rivlin and Ravitz. The article’s headline reads: “Biden Literally Kneels Before Israeli President in Bizarre and Humiliating Display — Pledges Unconditional Support to Israel.” Biden was not, however, kneeling  before the former president as a display of “unconditional support” to Israel. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the image published in a July 2 article by the Times of Israel. Biden knelt in front of Ravitz in awe of the fact that she has 12 children, the outlet reported. Rivlin met with Biden at the White House in late June to “reset” the relationship between Israel and the U.S., the Washington Post reported. During the meeting, Biden said his commitment to Israel is “ironclad,” according to a transcript of remarks published by the White House. (RELATED: Does This Image Show Mark Zuckerberg Holding An ‘I Stand With Israel’ Sign?) The article in the screen grab appears to have been published by the website en Volve. En Volve includes a disclaimer under the “Website Terms Of Use” section that says: “We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this information. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk.” Despite the disclaimer included on en Volve’s website, social media users have shared the claim without such a warning, seemingly believing the baseless claim to be genuine. share on facebook tweet this show commentsCharlese FreemanContributor","https://www.facebook.com/sweetie.cochran/posts/10226994121745995,https://www.facebook.com/sweetie.cochran/posts/10226994121745995,https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-kneels-before-rivlin-aide-after-learning-she-has-12-kids/,https://www.timesofisrael.com/biden-kneels-before-rivlin-aide-after-learning-she-has-12-kids/,https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/28/joe-biden-live-updates/,https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/06/28/remarks-by-president-biden-and-president-rivlin-of-the-state-of-israel-before-bilateral-meeting/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/05/29/fact-check-mark-zuckerberg-stand-israel-sign/,https://en-volve.com/2021/07/05/in-humiliating-display-biden-literally-kneels-before-israeli-president-and-pledges-unconditional-support-to-israel/,https://en-volve.com/terms-of-service/",Does This Image Show Joe Biden Kneeling Before Former Israeli President Reuven Rivlin?,,,,,, -25,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/16/fact-check-boris-johnson-black-eye-covid-19-briefing/,Did Boris Johnson Have A Black Eye While Speaking At A COVID-19 Briefing?,2021-07-16,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did Boris Johnson Have A Black Eye While Speaking At A COVID-19 Briefing?3:37 PM 07/16/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA video shared on Facebook purportedly shows a BBC News segment where U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a black eye. Verdict: False The video has been digitally altered. The original video does not show Johnson with a black eye or any visible injury. Fact Check: Johnson announced all remaining coronavirus restrictions in England would be lifted on July 19, despite a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, according to the Associated Press. The country began slowly lifting restrictions in March, starting with reopening schools, the outlet reported. Now, a video on Facebook seemingly shows a news segment aired on BBC News of Johnson speaking with a black eye. The video was first shared on TikTok July 12 and has over 35,000 likes and 6,100 comments. (RELATED: Does This Photo Show Boris Johnson With Ghislaine Maxwell?) The video, however, appears to have been doctored to include the black eye. Check Your Fact found the original video posted on YouTube by BBC on July 12. In the original segment, Johnson is shown speaking at a press conference about England removing the last of the COVID-19 restrictions, and he does not have a black eye. If Johnson actually gave a press briefing while having a black eye, media outlets likely would have reported on it, yet none have. In 2011, when Johnson was the mayor of London, the Evening Standard reported he showed up to vote with a black eye he received after hitting a security barrier headfirst while cycling. Over 1,200 scientists signed a letter to The Lancet criticizing Johnson’s plan to lift COVID-19 restrictions on July 19, calling the decision a “dangerous and unethical experiment,” according to The Guardian. share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/scott.keen.94/videos/4506509099393448,https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-health-government-and-politics-coronavirus-pandemic-3776cfdb1c180720b9ea000a2c65618b,https://www.tiktok.com/@hussainalsalman0/video/6984081554679041285?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/07/07/fact-check-photo-boris-johnson-ghislaine-maxwell-allegra-mostyn-owen/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMUAtuMqgzs,https://www.google.com/search?q=boris+johnson+black+eye&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJ9dD2iujxAhVmkeAKHZyNCMIQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1440&bih=729,https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/boris-johnson-turns-out-to-vote-sporting-an-unsightly-black-eye-6398644.html,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)01589-0/fulltext,https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/16/englands-covid-unlocking-a-threat-to-the-world-experts-say,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Did Boris Johnson Have A Black Eye While Speaking At A COVID-19 Briefing?,,,,,, -26,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/16/fact-check-barack-obama-bobi-wine/,Image Claims To Show Barack Obama And Bobi Wine Posing For A Picture,2021-07-16,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Image Claims To Show Barack Obama And Bobi Wine Posing For A Picture8:53 AM 07/16/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook allegedly shows former President Barack Obama and former Ugandan presidential candidate Bobi Wine posing for a picture. Facebook/Screenshot Verdict: False The image has been digitally altered to include Wine. The original image shows Obama and the Argentinian ambassador to the U.S. in 2016. Fact Check: In the image, Obama and Wine look like they are posing for a photo in what appears to be the Oval Office of the White House. Wine wears a double-breasted suit with a red pocket square. (RELATED: Did Haitian President Jovenel Moise Say He Would Expose The Clinton Foundation The Day Before His Assassination?) The picture, however, has been digitally altered, a reverse image search revealed. The original photo, found in a January 2016 Mendoza Post article, actually shows Obama standing with Argentina’s then-ambassador to the U.S Martín Lousteau. Wine has been digitally superimposed over Lousteau. While Check Your Fact was unable to identify the original source of the Wine photo, pictures of Wine wearing a similar suit can be found online. For example, he wore it in 2020 while wearing a face mask. He can also be seen wearing it in a photo published by The Standard. Social media users have previously spread false information about Wine and U.S. politicians. In December 2020, Check Your Fact debunked the claim that Obama and President Joe Biden tweeted “#FreeBobiWine” after Wine was arrested. Wine lost the 2021 Ugandan presidential election to long-time president Yoweri Museveni, according to CNN. Wine challenged the election results and said he had evidence of fraud, but ultimately withdrew his challenge, The Associated Press reported. share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2837470679845830&set=a.1402770259982553,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2837470679845830&set=a.1402770259982553,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-haitian-president-jovenel-moise-expose-clinton-foundation-before-assassination/https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-haitian-president-jovenel-moise-expose-clinton-foundation-before-assassination/,https://www.mendozapost.com/nota/27841-lousteau-embajador-en-washington-fue-recibido-por-obama/,https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1692450097582120&set=a.106466696180476,https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/entertainment/showbiz/2001392903/bobi-wine-celebrates-wife-barbie-in-moving-message,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/12/23/fact-check-barack-obama-joe-biden-tweets-free-bobi-wine/,https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/16/africa/uganda-presidential-election-yoweri-museveni-bobi-wine-intl/index.html,https://apnews.com/article/yoweri-museveni-elections-bobi-wine-africa-uganda-88085eefd624de960d32fc7f36f2472d,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Image Claims To Show Barack Obama And Bobi Wine Posing For A Picture,,,,,, -27,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-haitian-president-jovenel-moise-expose-clinton-foundation-before-assassination/,Did Haitian President Jovenel Moïse Say He Would Expose The Clinton Foundation The Day Before His Assassination?,2021-07-15,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did Haitian President Jovenel Moïse Say He Would Expose The Clinton Foundation The Day Before His Assassination?6:27 PM 07/15/2021Trevor Schakohl | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook claims the late former president of Haiti Jovenel Moïse told the media the day before he was assassinated that he would expose fraud by the Clinton Foundation. Verdict: False There is no evidence Moïse announced he would expose the Clinton Foundation. The claim appears to stem from a satirical article. Fact Check: A team of gunmen assassinated Moïse and injured his wife in their home on July 7, the Associated Press reported. Now, an image on Facebook seemingly shows a screen grab of an article bearing the headline: “BREAKING: Haitian President Jovenel Moïse to expose Clinton Foundation fraud tomorrow.” Additional text in the image reads, “Last tuesday the president of Haiti told on msm he was gonna expose the Clinton Foundation, one day later he was dead….” Former president and then-U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were criticized for their performance in helping to lead recovery efforts after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti which resulted in an estimated 220,000 deaths, according to BBC News. The Clinton Foundation drew criticism and accusations of corruption related to its involvement in aid work and funding following the disaster, the outlet reported. There is no record of Moïse telling the media he planned to reveal fraud perpetrated by the Clinton Foundation. None of the Haitian Ministry of Communication’s 2021 press releases mention the Clinton Foundation. Nor do any of Moïse’s social media posts. An internet search turned up no media reports of Moïse ever saying he was planning to “expose” the Clinton Foundation. Moïse met and spoke with Bill Clinton in September 2018 during the Bloomberg Global Business Forum in New York, and tweeted that the exchange was “a pleasure.” (RELATED: Did Haiti’s First Lady Martine Moïse Die?) The screen grabbed article in the Facebook post appears to stem from an article published on the Genesius Times, a website that describes itself as, “The most reliable source of fake news on the planet.” While the Genesius Times clearly disclaims that the articles on its website are not factual, some social media users have been sharing the claim without such a warning, passing the information off as genuine. share on facebook tweet this show commentsTrevor SchakohlFact Check ReporterFollow Trevor on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion?  Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=272178751373056&id=100057427993205,https://apnews.com/article/haiti-president-jovenel-moise-killed-b56a0f8fec0832028bdc51e8d59c6af2,https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37826098,https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37826098,https://www.communication.gouv.ht/rubrique/communiques/,https://twitter.com/search?q=%22Clinton%20Foundation%22%20(from%3Amoisejovenel)&src=typed_query,https://www.facebook.com/page/1390429167954248/search/?q=Clinton%20Foundation,https://www.google.com/search?q=Jovenel+Mo%C3%AFse+Clinton+Foundation&ei=LZDvYICdIpWp5NoPv8K38AU&oq=Jovenel+Mo%C3%AFse+Clinton+Foundation&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQghEKsCSgQIQRgBUOkFWJYdYKYiaAFwAHgAgAFviAGaA5IBAzUuMZgBAKABAaoBB2d3cy13aXrAAQE&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwjA5-yN9-PxAhWVFFkFHT_hDV4Q4dUDCA4&uact=5,https://twitter.com/moisejovenel/status/1044988661195051010,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/12/fact-check-haiti-first-lady-martine-moise-die/,https://genesiustimes.com/haitian-president-jovenel-moise-to-expose-clinton-foundation-fraud-tomorrow/,https://twitter.com/tschakohl,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#01757364776e7341626964626a786e7473676062752f626e6c",Did Haitian President Jovenel Moïse Say He Would Expose The Clinton Foundation The Day Before His Assassination?,,,,,, -28,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-water-cannon-protesters-south-africa/,Does This Video Show A Water Cannon Being Used On Protesters In South Africa?,2021-07-15,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show A Water Cannon Being Used On Protesters In South Africa?5:19 PM 07/15/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA video shared on Facebook allegedly shows South African protesters being hit with a water cannon. Verdict: False The video, which dates back to 2017, shows Venezuelan protesters being hit with a water cannon. Fact Check: The 18-second video shows a group of protesters, some wearing helmets and carrying shields, being blasted and scattered by a water cannon from a nearby armored vehicle. The caption reads, “A water cannon for riots in South Africa.” Rioting and looting recently broke out in parts of South Africa after former President Jacob Zuma started serving his 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court, according to The Wall Street Journal. The South African military has been deployed to quell the unrest that has left over 70 dead, according to CNN. While water cannons have, according to Eyewitness News and News24, reportedly been used on protesters in South Africa, the video was not taken during the current unrest there. The video dates back to at least 2017, with it being posted on Twitter with a caption indicating it was filmed in Venezuela. Rioters vs. Watercanons 😳Venezuelan protesters are cleaned up by a water cannon from China as artillery for the violent anti-gov riots! pic.twitter.com/3zJGP0y57B — IFL Fighting (@IFLfighting) May 16, 2017 “Rioters vs. Watercanons (sic),” reads the tweet’s caption. “Venezuelan protesters are cleaned up by a water cannon from China as artillery for the violent anti-gov riots!” The version of the video in the 2017 tweet contains a watermark for the video-sharing website LiveLeak. LiveLeak has since shut down, according to The Verge. (RELATED: Are White South Africans Banned From Receiving Government Aid During The COVID-19 Pandemic?) AFP News Agency posted a different angle of the same incident on YouTube in May 2017, with the description saying, “Clashes erupted Wednesday between riot police and opposition protesters in Caracas, as 3,000 protesters headed for the Supreme Court, whose bid on April 1 to strengthen Maduro’s grip on power by stripping authority from the legislature launched a wave of protests and deadly unrest.” if(dc_showing_ads) { var scr = document.createElement('script'); scr.async= true; scr.src = ""https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js""; document.getElementsByTagName(""body"")[0].appendChild(scr); } Venezuelans had frequent demonstrations across the country in protest of President Nicolas Maduro and his government in 2017, according to The Atlantic. Over 100 people in Venezuela died in four months amid the anti-government protests, BBC News reported that year. In the video of the protesters being hit with a water cannon, at least one of them is carrying a shield decorated with the colors of the Venezuelan flag: yellow, blue and red. Images and videos from the 2017 Venezuelan protests show extremely similar interactions between protesters and authorities with water cannons. For instance, protesters carrying shields can be seen squaring off against the white armored vehicles of the Venezuelan National Guard in one video shared on YouTube by the Russian video news agency Ruptly. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/desmond.downs/videos/169735215084107/,https://www.facebook.com/desmond.downs/videos/169735215084107/,https://www.wsj.com/articles/south-africa-riots-whats-happening-11626280457,https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/13/africa/south-africa-violence-protests-intl/index.html,https://ewn.co.za/2021/07/12/gallery-water-cannons-rubber-bullets-and-arrests-riots-hit-hillbrow,https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/david-makhura-admits-cops-are-overstretched-as-gautengs-death-toll-rises-to-19-20210713,https://twitter.com/IFLfighting/status/864606341133877248,https://t.co/3zJGP0y57B,https://twitter.com/IFLfighting/status/864606341133877248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://twitter.com/IFLfighting/status/864606341133877248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/7/22424356/liveleak-shock-site-shuts-down-itemfix,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/05/11/fact-check-white-south-africans-banned-receiving-government-aid-coronavirus-pandemic/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oQzDeL4Fn0,https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/06/months-of-anti-government-protests-continue-in-venezuela/530031/,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40769737,https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Venezuela,https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/06/months-of-anti-government-protests-continue-in-venezuela/530031/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktBUvt4t_bw,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktBUvt4t_bw,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktBUvt4t_bw,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#73161e1a1f0a3317121a1f0a10121f1f16011d160400151c061d1712071a1c1d5d1c0114",Does This Video Show A Water Cannon Being Used On Protesters In South Africa?,,,,,, -29,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-34-quintillion-gold-seized-vatican/,Was $34 Quintillion In Gold Seized From The Vatican?,2021-07-15,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Was $34 Quintillion In Gold Seized From The Vatican?4:20 PM 07/15/2021Ryan King | Contributor share on facebook tweet this show commentsA post shared on Facebook claims $34 quintillion in gold was seized from the Vatican and will be given to people globally. Verdict: False There is no evidence that $34 quintillion in gold has been taken from the Vatican to be given to “the people.” Fact Check: “Breaking News! The $34 Quintillion in gold seized from the Vatican is being distributed to the people globally,” the Facebook post reads, citing “CBK” as its source. CBK appears to stand for “Caroline Bisset (sic) Kennedy,” according to another Facebook post shared by the user. Caroline Kennedy died alongside her husband, John F. Kennedy Jr., in a plane crash in 1999 off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, according to the New York Times. (RELATED: Was Pope Francis Arrested On Charges Including Human Trafficking And Fraud) There is, however, no evidence that $34 quintillion in gold was seized from the Vatican and will be distributed globally. A search of press releases from the Vatican, as well as the Vatican News website turned up no reports of gold being seized. Had such a large sum of gold been seized with plans to distribute to the mass public, major media outlets certainly would have reported on it, yet none have. “The claim is false,” Fr. Roger Landry, an attaché to the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, said in an email to Check Your Fact. “A quintillion is a billion billions and there’s not even that much gold, not to mention money, in the world.” The Vatican’s net assets in 2019 were worth roughly 4 billion euros, or about 4.7 billion U.S. dollars, not including the Vatican bank or the Vatican museums, according to Reuters. The Vatican bank had $20 million in gold reserves held at the U.S. Federal Reserve, and managed $64 billion worth of assets from its customers, NASDAQ reported in 2015. share on facebook tweet this show commentsRyan KingContributor","https://www.facebook.com/star.aquarius.731/posts/4380189458712485,https://www.facebook.com/star.aquarius.731/posts/4305472406184191,https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/22/us/bodies-from-kennedy-crash-are-found.html,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/01/12/fact-check-pope-indicted-charges-child-trafficking-fraud/,https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/ricerca.html?date=2021&q=gold,https://www.vaticannews.va/en/search.html?q=gold&in=all&sorting=latest,https://www.google.com/search?q=%2434+quintilian+gold+vatican&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS890US890&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjugIi7zOXxAhUgElkFHUgRCjcQ_AUoAXoECAEQAw&biw=1440&bih=717,https://holyseemission.org/contents/mission/staff.php,https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vatican-finances/vatican-releases-financial-figures-promises-transparency-idUSKBN26M5XD,https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-much-money-does-vatican-have-2015-07-24",Was $34 Quintillion In Gold Seized From The Vatican?,,,,,, -30,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-france-protesting-lockdown-tyranny-covid/,Does This Image Show People In France Protesting ‘Lockdown Tyranny’?,2021-07-15,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show People In France Protesting ‘Lockdown Tyranny’?3:30 PM 07/15/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook and Twitter purportedly shows protesters in France rejecting “lockdown tyranny.” France rejects lockdown tyranny pic.twitter.com/hnKPavsVVQ — Man of Kent (@pplatesrgrate) July 14, 2021 Verdict: False The image shows a yellow vest protest that occurred in 2018, well before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Fact Check:  In recent days, Facebook and Twitter users have been sharing a photo of people seemingly protesting in front of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, claiming it shows a demonstration against “lockdown tyranny.” One iteration on Twitter has garnered over 7,000 likes to date. Amid spread of the Delta variant in the country, France recently announced that only those who have been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19 will be permitted in certain venues such as restaurants, bars, malls, trains and theaters starting in August, The Wall Street Journal reported. Those announced COVID-19 restrictions prompted protests in several French cities, according to EuroNews. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact discovered the photo predates the COVID-19 pandemic. The Daily Mail published the picture, credited to photographer Olivier Coret, in a November 2018 article about yellow vest protests in France. The yellow vest protests, named after the safety jackets worn by many demonstrators, came after French President Emmanuel Macron announced a green tax on diesel fuel in late 2018, according to NPR. The photo in question can also be found on Divergence Images, where it is attributed to Coret and described as showing a “demonstration of the Yellow Vests on the Champs-Elysees, Paris on November 24, 2018,” according to a Google translation. (RELATED: Does This Photo Show An Anti-Communist Protest In Cuba?) In addition to protesting the diesel fuel green tax, the yellow vest protesters also called for things such as an increase in minimum wage, NPR reported. In early December 2018, the French government scrapped the added green tax on fuel before it was supposed to go into effect, according to the Associated Press. share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/100000657397425/posts/4433789199986283/?d=n,https://twitter.com/pplatesrgrate/status/1415280810551386114?s=21,https://t.co/hnKPavsVVQ,https://twitter.com/pplatesrgrate/status/1415280810551386114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Arc+de+Triomphe/@48.8737917,2.2928388,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e66fec70fb1d8f:0xd9b5676e112e643d!8m2!3d48.873848!4d2.2950681,https://twitter.com/pplatesrgrate/status/1415280810551386114?s=21,https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/5-things-to-know-delta-variant-covid,https://www.wsj.com/articles/france-reimposes-restrictions-as-delta-variant-spreads-11626123063,https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/14/protests-in-france-over-bid-to-restrict-those-without-both-covid-jabs,https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-timeline.html,https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6424117/Paris-riot-police-blast-water-cannon-demonstrators-protesting-Macrons-fuel-tax-rise.html,https://www.npr.org/2018/12/03/672862353/who-are-frances-yellow-vest-protesters-and-what-do-they-want,http://www.divergence-images.com/olivier-coret/reportages/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-OCO1193/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-ref-OCO1193001.html,https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=en&text=Manifestation%20des%20Gilets%20Jaunes%20sur%20les%20Champs-Elysees%2C%20Paris%20le%2024%20novembre%202018&op=translate,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-photo-anti-communist-protest-cuba/,https://www.npr.org/2018/12/03/672862353/who-are-frances-yellow-vest-protesters-and-what-do-they-want,https://apnews.com/article/ap-top-news-riots-france-paris-international-news-535bcbbc3d2741d0aff14c634f1375fd,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Does This Image Show People In France Protesting ‘Lockdown Tyranny’?,,,,,, -31,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-photo-anti-communist-protest-cuba/,Does This Photo Show An Anti-Communist Protest In Cuba?,2021-07-15,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Photo Show An Anti-Communist Protest In Cuba?1:23 PM 07/15/2021Trevor Schakohl | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook over 1,000 times allegedly shows a massive anti-government protest in Cuba this month. Verdict: False The photo actually shows a 2013 May Day parade that is unrelated to recent Cuban anti-government protests. Fact Check: Demonstrations against Cuba’s Communist-run government started in the country July 11, with thousands of Cubans decrying price increases, the government’s COVID-19 response and food and medicine shortages, BBC News reported. Many protesters have called for Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s resignation, according to CNN. The picture in the July 13 Facebook post shows a huge crowd stretching down Avenida Paseo in the Cuban capital city of Havana. The caption reads, “C U B A P R O T E S T I N G C O M M U N I S M.” (RELATED: Does This Photo Show Jill Biden Posing With Fidel Castro?) In reality, the pictured event took place over eight years ago and wasn’t held in protest against Cuba’s Communist-run government. The picture was taken in 2013 by a photographer for the Cuban government-controlled outlet CubaDebate, which reported that it shows a May Day parade on May 1 of that year. Other photos of the same parade can be found on Getty Images. Cuba’s then-President Raul Castro attended the 2013 May Day march in Havana, with participants holding pictures of him, former President Fidel Castro, and socialist former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Reuters reported. May Day is also known as International Workers’ Day and has long been celebrated by communists, socialists and labor movements, according to NBC Chicago. Amid the widespread protests this week, the Cuban government shut off access to social media and messaging apps in the country on July 12, with service interruptions occurring into July 14, the Miami Herald reported. share on facebook tweet this show commentsTrevor SchakohlFact Check ReporterFollow Trevor on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion?  Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10226115540379600&set=a.1095088542014&type=3&theater,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57830160,https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/11/americas/cuba-protests/index.html,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10226115540379600&set=a.1095088542014&type=3&theater,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Jos%C3%A9+Mart%C3%AD+Memorial/@23.1255174,-82.3897591,664m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x88cd79e1bd4e654b:0x2f4cd3720557f2ad!8m2!3d23.1229226!4d-82.3864972,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/09/07/fact-check-jill-biden-fidel-castro-jacqueline-beer/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210214074729/http://www.cubadebate.cu/noticias/2013/05/01/presidente-cubano-raul-castro-lidera-marcha-por-el-primero-de-mayo/,https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/cuba-may-day-parade-2013?agreements=pa%253A114372%252Ced%253A7788&family=editorial&phrase=cuba%2520may%2520day%2520parade%25202013&sort=best,https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-cuba-mayday/on-may-day-cuba-remembers-best-friend-chavez-idUKBRE9400L620130501,https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/good-question-may-day/1872684/,https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article252781053.html,https://twitter.com/tschakohl,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#75010710031a0735161d10161e0c1a0007131416015b161a18",Does This Photo Show An Anti-Communist Protest In Cuba?,,,,,, -32,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/15/fact-check-south-african-protesters-free-animals-hluhluwe-game-reserve/,Did South African Protesters Free Animals From the Hluhluwe Game Reserve?,2021-07-15,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did South African Protesters Free Animals From the Hluhluwe Game Reserve?12:23 PM 07/15/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA video shared on Facebook allegedly shows wild dogs and an elephant running freely after being released by protesters from the Hluhluwe Game Reserve in South Africa. Verdict: False The video, which was taken in 2017, actually shows animals running freely in Kruger National Park. The video is unrelated to the ongoing protests in South Africa. Fact Check: The 20-second video shows a police vehicle on a road with several wild dogs, when suddenly an elephant emerges from the brush, chasing some of them away. “Free Zuma protesters free wild animals from the Hluhluwe Game Reserve in Kwazulu Natal by cutting the fence,” reads the video’s caption. At least 72 people have been killed in South Africa from rioting and looting in recent days prompted by the jailing of former South African President Jacob Zuma, CNN reported. Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt after he failed to appear in front of a commission investigating accusations of corruption, according to The New York Times. The Facebook video does not, however, show the actions of protesters. Had South African protesters released wild animals, media outlets certainly would have reported on it, yet none have. Check Your Fact found the same footage posted on YouTube in July 2017, years before Zuma’s jailing, with the title: “Elephant Shows Wild Dogs & the Police Who’s Boss.” The video was posted by the verified YouTube channel Latest Sightings, which posts videos of “authentic wildlife videos coming from around Africa,” according to its “About” section. The footage was shot by  61-year-old Beryl Venter in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, not Hluhluwe Game Reserve, according to the video’s description. (RELATED: Are White South Africans Banned From Receiving Government Aid During The COVID-19 Pandemic?) “We were on our way home from Letaba after a five-week stay in Kruger – feeling very depressed and not expecting any ‘wow’ sightings,” Venter told Latest Sightings. “We were then suddenly very excited to see the wild dogs running around and playing in the road – twenty-one of them. We were the only vehicle at the sighting. We were taking photos as if it was the last ever sighting we would have of wild dogs running around us.” share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/prince.chokhotho/videos/1972566899569024,https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/13/africa/south-africa-violence-protests-intl/index.html,https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/07/world/africa/jacob-zuma-arrested-south-africa.html,https://www.google.com/search?q=Hluhluwe+Game+Reserve+protesters&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS820US820&ei=4krvYJmLIMmntQbY-42ICw&oq=Hluhluwe+Game+Reserve+protesters&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMyBQghEKABOgUIIRCrAjoCCAA6BQguEMkDOgYIABAWEB46BQgAEIYDOgcIIRAKEKABSgQIQRgAUOoDWKgSYPkSaAFwAngAgAGyAYgB8AuSAQQxLjEymAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwiZhJyDtePxAhXJU80KHdh9A7EQ4dUDCA4&uact=5,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxE43y88XYE,https://www.youtube.com/c/Latestsightings/about,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/05/11/fact-check-white-south-africans-banned-receiving-government-aid-coronavirus-pandemic/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxE43y88XYE,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5530383c392c1531343c392c3634393930273b302226333a203b3134213c3a3b7b3a2732",Did South African Protesters Free Animals From the Hluhluwe Game Reserve?,,,,,, -33,,,,Misleading,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/14/fact-check-image-electric-car-cemetery-france/,Does This Image Show An ‘Electric Car Cemetery’ In France?,2021-07-14,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show An ‘Electric Car Cemetery’ In France?5:47 PM 07/14/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook over 2,800 times purportedly shows an “electric car cemetery” in France. Verdict: Misleading The image shows abandoned electric cars in China, not France. Fact Check: The viral image shows what appears to be hundreds of the same, small car abandoned in a grassy field. “Electric car cemetery in France,” reads the image’s caption. “Turns out no one wants to buy an electric car once the battery is shot.” The image was not, however, taken in France. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found similar photos featured in an April 2019 article published by Shanghaiist with the headline: “LOOK: Hundreds of electric cars rust away at ‘shared car graveyard’ in Hangzhou.” The article explained the cars belonged to Microcity, a Chinese electric car rental company. Microcity reportedly claimed the cars were still in use despite users saying they were unable to locate nearby vehicles through the app, Abacus reported in March 2019. (RELATED: Did Ocasio-Cortez Tweet About Electric Cars During Hurricane Dorian?) The same images were shared on the Chinese news website NetEase News with captions that also identify the location as Hangzhou, China. Several landmarks in these photos match with those found in the image shared on Facebook, confirming the locations are the same. Hundreds of ride-sharing companies, including Microcity, opened in China in the late 2010s, a phenomenon driven in part by popularity of the industry and the abundance of electric vehicles in China, according to Abacus. Many of these companies faced economic hardship in the following years, the outlet reported. A similar photo showing a field of cars in France previously circulated on Facebook, claiming the cars had been abandoned due to their batteries no longer working. Reuters debunked the claim, saying the abandoned car lot was due to a company’s contract ending, not faulty batteries. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10223203778815102&set=a.10208178033860869&type=3,https://shanghai.ist/2019/04/25/hundreds-of-electric-cars-rust-away-at-shared-car-graveyard-in-hangzhou/,https://shanghai.ist/2019/04/25/hundreds-of-electric-cars-rust-away-at-shared-car-graveyard-in-hangzhou/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210708143817/https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3029238/thousands-shared-electric-cars-seen-discarded-hangzhou,https://checkyourfact.com/2019/09/06/fact-check-ocasio-cortez-tweet-electric-cars-hurricane-dorian/,https://news.163.com/photoview/00AP0001/2301292.html?from=ph_ss#p=EDJQ3DBU00AP0001NOS,https://web.archive.org/web/20210708143817/https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3029238/thousands-shared-electric-cars-seen-discarded-hangzhou,https://www.facebook.com/michael.sirmon.14/posts/10226449247480924,https://www.facebook.com/thebeachgeek/posts/10159420045734736,https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-electric-cars-france/fact-check-electric-cars-taken-off-french-roads-due-to-contract-termination-not-battery-fault-idUSL2N2N60XA,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#62070f0b0e1b2206030b0e1b01030e0e07100c071511040d170c0603160b0d0c4c0d1005",Does This Image Show An ‘Electric Car Cemetery’ In France?,,,,,, -34,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/14/fact-check-bobi-wine-secretly-acquire-mansion-boston/,Did Bobi Wine ‘Secretly Acquire’ A Mansion In Boston?,2021-07-14,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did Bobi Wine ‘Secretly Acquire’ A Mansion In Boston?4:24 PM 07/14/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsA post shared on Facebook claims former Ugandan presidential candidate Bobi Wine secretly purchased a mansion in Boston, Massachusetts. Verdict: False There is no evidence Wine owns a mansion in Boston. He was digitally added to the photo, which actually shows a mansion in Tampa, Florida. Fact Check: Wine, a singer-turned-politician, lost the 2021 Ugandan presidential election to long-time President Yoweri Museveni, CNN reported. Wine asserted there was widespread fraud in the election and filed a lawsuit, which he later withdrew, to over-turn Museveni’s victory, according to Al Jazeera. An image on Facebook claims to show Wine standing in front of a mansion he allegedly purchased in Boston. “Uganda’s musician turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine has bought a luxurious Bungalow, Cottage located in 20 Ford St, Boston, MA 02128 in USA,” reads the image’s caption. The image, however, has been digitally altered. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the photo of the house without Wine in front of it, on the real estate website Zillow. The home is located in Tampa, Florida, not Boston, and was last sold in 2018, according to its listing. (RELATED: Did The BBC Air This Chyron Reporting Bobi Wine Will Be Sworn In As Uganda’s President?) A search for the address listed in the post turned up a home for sale in Boston. Photos of the house included in the listing show it does not resemble the house in the Facebook post. Check Your Fact searched Suffolk County’s registry of deeds, but found no records of Wine owning property in Boston. Wine was in the city in early July to meet his “diaspora leadership team,” according to a July 3 tweet he posted. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=979867289479058&set=a.219670622165399&type=3,https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/16/africa/uganda-presidential-election-yoweri-museveni-bobi-wine-intl/index.html,https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/22/ugandan-opposition-leader-wine-withdraws-poll-result-challenge,https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4621-Bayshore-Blvd-Tampa-FL-33611/45060772_zpid/,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/04/30/fact-check-bbc-air-chyron-reporting-bobi-wine-ugandas-president/,https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/20-Ford-St_East-Boston_MA_02128_M32320-60133,https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/20-Ford-St_East-Boston_MA_02128_M32320-60133,https://www.masslandrecords.com/Suffolk/,https://twitter.com/HEBobiwine/status/1411280065145540610,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#badfd7d3d6c3fadedbd3d6c3d9dbd6d6dfc8d4dfcdc9dcd5cfd4dedbced3d5d494d5c8dd",Did Bobi Wine ‘Secretly Acquire’ A Mansion In Boston?,,,,,, -35,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/14/fact-check-bbc-news-article-radiohead-fans-tuning-new-song/,Did BBC News Publish This Article About Radiohead Fans?,2021-07-14,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did BBC News Publish This Article About Radiohead Fans?4:20 PM 07/14/2021Elias Atienza | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook allegedly shows a BBC News article about Radiohead fans being “left red-faced” after mistaking a guitar tuning session for a new song. Facebook/Screenshot Verdict: False There is no record of BBC News publishing this article about Radiohead fans. It appears to have originated from a Twitter account that often posts satirical content. Fact Check: The image shows what looks like a BBC News article that puts up the headline “Radiohead crowd left red-faced after applauding three minute guitar tuning, mistaking it for new song.” Radiohead is a popular British rock band known for songs such as “Creep” and “Karma Police.” The supposed article places the alleged Radiohead fan incident at a Glastonbury Festival. A search of the BBC News website didn’t turn up any articles with titles matching the one in the Facebook post. Unlike stories published online by BBC News, the alleged Radiohead article doesn’t have a byline, indicating it has been fabricated. A BBC spokesperson confirmed to Check Your Fact in an email that it is fake. In 2017, a real BBC News article described Radiohead’s performance at the Glastonbury Festival that year as “absorbing, challenging and achingly beautiful.” (RELATED: Did Kurt Cobain Predict Trump’s Presidency?) The fabricated Radiohead article first went viral back in 2017, according to NME. It appears to have originated from the Twitter account of the London-based flower delivery company Arena Flowers, which tweeted the fake article June 23, 2017. The Twitter account @ArenaFlowers has previously published seemingly satirical fake BBC News articles, including one about singer Ed Sheeran playing on every Glastonbury stage at the same time using mirrors. share on facebook tweet this show commentsElias AtienzaFact Check ReporterFollow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected].","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1229351607493547&set=gm.570046707494670&type=3&theater,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1229351607493547&set=gm.570046707494670&type=3&theater,https://www.britannica.com/topic/Radiohead,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFkzRNyygfk,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uYWYWPc9HU,https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/,https://www.bbc.co.uk/search?q=radiohead&page=1,https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40389552,https://checkyourfact.com/2019/04/26/fact-check-kurt-cobain-trumps-president-1993/,https://www.nme.com/news/music/fake-news-story-radiohead-fans-mistaking-guitar-tuning-new-song-goes-viral-2093973,https://twitter.com/ArenaFlowers/status/878357394476093440,https://twitter.com/ArenaFlowers,https://www.arenaflowers.com/pages/about-us/,https://twitter.com/ArenaFlowers/status/879067402906066944,https://twitter.com/AtienzaElias,elias@checkyourfact.com",Did BBC News Publish This Article About Radiohead Fans?,,,,,, -36,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/14/fact-check-protest-cuba-arab-spring-egypt/,Does This Photo Show A July 12 Protest In Cuba?,2021-07-14,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Photo Show A July 12 Protest In Cuba?1:08 PM 07/14/2021Ryan King | Contributor share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook allegedly shows anti-government protesters in Cuba on July 12. Verdict: False The image actually shows a 2011 protest in Alexandria, Egypt. Fact Check: Amid widespread anti-government protests in Cuba, social media users have been sharing a photo that shows thousands of people gathered in a street. One such July 12 Facebook post claims in the caption that the picture shows Cubans protesting “today.” However, a closer examination of the photo indicates it does not depict an anti-government demonstration that recently occurred in Cuba. Multiple protesters in the picture appear to be waving flags that resemble those of Egypt, Yemen or Syria rather than Cuba. (RELATED: Image Claims To Show Cuban Farmer Before Being Executed For Refusing To Work For The Castro Regime) Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found the picture in a 2012 article from TheJournal.ie that discusses the 2011 Arab Spring uprising in Egypt. The caption for the photo in TheJournal.ie article states it was taken in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in February 2011 and credits it to the Associated Press and Tarek Fawzy. What appears to be a higher resolution version of the photo can be found on AP Images. The caption for the picture on AP Images confirms it was taken in Egypt over a decade ago during an anti-government protest against former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, not during a demonstration in Cuba this month. “Thousands of Egyptian anti-government protesters march in Alexandria, Egypt, Friday, Feb. 11, 2011,” reads the caption. “Mubarak has refused to step down or leave the country, and instead handed his administrative powers to his vice president Omar Suleiman on Thursday, remaining president and ensuring control over the reform process, prompting mass protests by anti-Mubarak demonstrators.” share on facebook tweet this show commentsRyan KingContributor","https://www.facebook.com/303371154019205/posts/549288262760825,https://wsj.com/articles/cuba-protests-whats-happening-11626112390,https://www.facebook.com/303371154019205/posts/549288262760825,https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Egypt,https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Yemen,https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Syria,https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Cuba,https://checkyourfact.com/2020/09/10/fact-check-cuban-farmer-executed-castro-regime/,https://www.thejournal.ie/timeline-one-year-since-egypts-arab-spring-334766-Jan2012/#slide-slideshow15,https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/arab-spring,https://www.thejournal.ie/timeline-one-year-since-egypts-arab-spring-334766-Jan2012/#slide-slideshow15,http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mideast-Egypt/a989c47b844c4a319ab711ee47f7aa3d/62/0,https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hosni-Mubarak,http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Mideast-Egypt/a989c47b844c4a319ab711ee47f7aa3d/62/0",Does This Photo Show A July 12 Protest In Cuba?,,,,,, -37,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/14/fact-check-giant-skeleton-found-thailand/,Does This Image Show A Real Giant Skeleton Found In Thailand?,2021-07-14,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show A Real Giant Skeleton Found In Thailand?10:33 AM 07/14/2021Trevor Schakohl | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Twitter purportedly shows a giant skeleton found in Thailand in 2017. The skeleton of this giant was discovered in November 2017 in a cave in Krabi, Thailand. This was just made public a few months ago. The skeleton appeared to have been battling a large horned serpent upon death. pic.twitter.com/p5u8KEYWGC — Untold Universe (@UniverseUntold) June 13, 2021 Verdict: False The image actually shows an art installation created by a Taiwanese artist. Fact Check: The tweet has garnered over 100 likes as of press time. It features a photo of a woman standing above what appears to be an archeological site in which a giant humanoid skeleton lies with a huge serpentine skeleton wrapped around it. “The skeleton of this giant was discovered in November 2017 in a cave in Krabi, Thailand,” reads the tweet. “This was just made public a few months ago. The skeleton appeared to have been battling a large horned serpent upon death.” Contrary to the tweet’s claim, the picture doesn’t show the actual remains of a giant that died battling a massive snake. Taiwan Today published a similar photo in a November 2018 article, explaining it shows Taiwanese artist Tu Wei-cheng’s “Giant Ruins” art installation for the Thailand Biennale exhibition in Krabi. The skeleton was made of plastic, and the installation received special permission to be set up in the cave, according to Taiwan Today. Another photo of Tu’s skeleton installation can be found on the Taiwanese Ministry of Culture’s website. (RELATED: Did A New York Artist Sell ‘Invisible Art’?) Many of Tu’s works resemble ancient artifacts, as seen in photos on the website of the Taiwanese Tina Keng Gallery. share on facebook tweet this show commentsTrevor SchakohlFact Check ReporterFollow Trevor on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion?  Send ideas to [email protected].","https://twitter.com/UniverseUntold/status/1403908115926560768,https://t.co/p5u8KEYWGC,https://twitter.com/UniverseUntold/status/1403908115926560768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw,https://twitter.com/UniverseUntold/status/1403908115926560768,https://twitter.com/UniverseUntold/status/1403908115926560768,https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=18&post=144849,https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=18&post=144849,https://www.moc.gov.tw/en/information_315_94897.html,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/06/22/fact-check-new-york-artist-invisible-art/,https://www.tinakenggallery.com/en//artists/48-/works/,https://twitter.com/tschakohl,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f3878196859c81b3909b9690988a9c868195929087dd909c9e",Does This Image Show A Real Giant Skeleton Found In Thailand?,,,,,, -38,,,,False,,,,checkyourfact,,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/13/fact-check-media-sponsors-ignore-kim-rhode-pro-second-amendment/,Did Media And Sponsors ‘Ignore’ Olympian Kim Rhode Because She Is Pro-Second Amendment?,2021-07-13,checkyourfact,,"FACT CHECK: Did Media And Sponsors ‘Ignore’ Olympian Kim Rhode Because She Is Pro-Second Amendment?6:35 PM 07/13/2021Brad Sylvester | Fact Check Reporter share on facebook tweet this show commentsAn image shared on Facebook claims the media and sponsors ‘ignored’ six-time Olympian Kim Rhode because she is an outspoken supporter of the Second Amendment. Verdict: False Rhode’s accomplishments were widely covered in the media for more than a decade. She has several sponsors, according to her website. Fact Check: The image shows Kim Rhode, an American double trap and skeet shooter and six-time Olympian, holding a shotgun. “First woman to medal in six straight Olympics media and sponsors ignore her because she is outspoken pro-2A,” reads text included in the image. Rhode won Olympic medals in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016, making her the first female to win medals in six straight Olympics, according to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. (RELATED: Did American Runner Shelby Houlihan Test Positive For Marijuana?) Rhode is also an outspoken supporter of the Second Amendment, according to the National Rifle Association (NRA). She served on the NRA board from 2017 to 2020, according to Guns.com, and has spoken out against gun control initiatives in her home state of California on multiple occasions. News outlets and sponsors have not “ignored” Rhode for her stance on the Second Amendment. Rhode’s Olympic achievements have been thoroughly reported on over the years by major media outlets including: The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press, among others. Rhode has also made several appearances on national television, such as Today and Fox News @ Night, according to her IMDb page. Her website states she is sponsored by Winchester Ammunition, Beretta USA, the Safari Club International and Truck Vault. In an interview with Time Magazine in August 2016, Rhode did say she believes her outspokenness about gun issues has prevented her from landing mainstream sponsors. She has also said there is a certain “stigma” around her sport because of its association with guns that makes some would-be sponsors wary, The Daily Signal reported. “When you look at the gun debate and the Olympics, there definitely is that stigmatism that’s attached to our sport due to all the negative publicity that guns get,” Rhode told The Daily Signal in 2016. if(dc_showing_ads) { var scr = document.createElement('script'); scr.async= true; scr.src = ""https://get.civicscience.com/jspoll/5/csw-polyfills.js""; document.getElementsByTagName(""body"")[0].appendChild(scr); } Rhode did not qualify for the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, NBC Sports reported. share on facebook tweet this show commentsBrad SylvesterFact Check ReporterFollow Brad on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to [email protected]","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10223851700098579,https://www.dailysignal.com/2016/08/30/olympic-shooter-kim-rhode-talks-gun-control-feminism-and-media-bias/,https://www.teamusa.org/News/2016/August/12/Kim-Rhode-Becomes-First-Woman-To-Medal-At-Six-Straight-Olympic-Games,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/07/09/fact-check-shelby-houlihan-test-positive-marijuana/,https://www.nrawlf.org/our-members/kim-rhode/,https://www.guns.com/news/2017/05/01/olympic-shooting-legend-kim-rhode-elected-to-nra-board,https://time.com/4440102/rio-2016-olympics-shooting-kim-rhode-second-amendment-guns/,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVXdeg6aXFA,https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/12/kim-rhode-skeet-shooting/88619694/,https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/rio-olympics-american-shooter-kim-rhode-makes-history-with-bronze-medal-win/,https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/08/23/kim-rhode/,https://web.archive.org/web/20150526171010/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/24/sports/atlanta-day-5-shooting-17-year-old-turns-clay-pigeons-to-gold.html,https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/kim-rhode-captures-fifth-olympic-medal-in-skeet-shooting/2012/07/29/gJQAjNNpIX_story.html,https://web.archive.org/web/20210226140219/https://www.latimes.com/sports/more/la-sp-rhode-olympics-20160627-snap-story.html,https://apnews.com/article/tokyo-shooting-olympic-games-2020-tokyo-olympics-sports-4e06b0185a33bf6cdd6c872c88ee3f16,https://www.npr.org/sections/thetorch/2016/07/31/487770855/u-s-olympian-kim-rhode-wants-to-use-her-shot-at-history-to-dispel-stigma,https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1622760/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1,https://kimrhode.wordpress.com/sponsors/,https://winchester.com/,https://www.berettausa.com/en-us/,https://safariclub.org/,https://truckvault.com/,https://time.com/4440102/rio-2016-olympics-shooting-kim-rhode-second-amendment-guns/,https://www.dailysignal.com/2016/08/30/olympic-shooter-kim-rhode-talks-gun-control-feminism-and-media-bias/,https://www.dailysignal.com/2016/08/30/olympic-shooter-kim-rhode-talks-gun-control-feminism-and-media-bias/,https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2020/03/09/kim-rhode-shooting-tokyo-olympics/,https://twitter.com/bsylvester31,/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d1b4bcb8bda891b5b0b8bda8b2b0bdbdb4a3bfb4a6a2b7bea4bfb5b0a5b8bebfffbea3b6",Did Media And Sponsors ‘Ignore’ Olympian Kim Rhode Because She Is Pro-Second Amendment?,,,,,, +0,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/china-received-8-months-of-rain-in-just-5-days-in-july-2021/,"""China received 8 months of rain in just 5 days.""",2021-07-27,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged 1000 year climate event, china flooding 2021, extreme weather, floods in china 2021, how much rain did china get, viral facebook posts, zhengzhou flood 2021","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/1000-year-climate-event/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/china-flooding-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/extreme-weather/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/floods-in-china-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/how-much-rain-did-china-get/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/zhengzhou-flood-2021/",‘China Received 8 Months of Rain in Just 5 Days’ in July 2021,"1000 year climate event, china flooding 2021, extreme weather, floods in china 2021, how much rain did china get, viral facebook posts, zhengzhou flood 2021",,,,, +1,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/bics-martha-and-snoop-ad/,"Image shows a real advertisement for Bic lighters, featuring Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart.",2021-07-27,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Entertainment, Fact ChecksTagged bic, bic martha and snoop, cannabis, cheerful nihilism, cheerful nihilism facebook, martha stewart, snoop dogg, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/entertainment/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bic/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bic-martha-and-snoop/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cannabis/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cheerful-nihilism/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cheerful-nihilism-facebook/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/martha-stewart/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snoop-dogg/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Bic’s ‘Martha and Snoop’ Ad,"bic, bic martha and snoop, cannabis, cheerful nihilism, cheerful nihilism facebook, martha stewart, snoop dogg, viral facebook posts",,,,, +2,,,,Unknown,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/banana-peel-water-for-plants/,Banana peel water or banana peel tea is superior to water for home gardeners.,2021-07-26,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged bad advice, bad science, banana peel tea, banana peel water, banana peel water for plants, folk cures, folk gardening, Gardening, gardening myths, Pinterest, tiktok, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bad-advice/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bad-science/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/banana-peel-tea/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/banana-peel-water/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/banana-peel-water-for-plants/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/folk-cures/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/folk-gardening/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/gardening/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/gardening-myths/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/pinterest/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tiktok/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Banana Peel Water for Plants,"bad advice, bad science, banana peel tea, banana peel water, banana peel water for plants, folk cures, folk gardening, Gardening, gardening myths, Pinterest, tiktok, viral facebook posts",,,,, +3,,,,True,Arturo Garcia,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/art/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/peyo-horse-hospital/,A French hospital allows terminal patients and patients dealing with cancer to receive visit from a horse named Peyo.,2021-07-26,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged facebook, Hassen Bouchakour, Les Sabots Du Coeur, Peyo, The Guardian, twitter","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/facebook/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/hassen-bouchakour/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/les-sabots-du-coeur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/peyo/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/the-guardian/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/twitter/",Does a Hospital in France Allow Terminal Patients to Meet With...,"facebook, Hassen Bouchakour, Les Sabots Du Coeur, Peyo, The Guardian, twitter",,,,, +4,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/rep-jack-kimble-i-find-it-very-suspicious/,"@RepJackKimble (Rep. Jack Kimble) tweeted, ""I find it very suspicious that the virus now all of a sudden seems to be targeting people who didn't get that ridiculous vaccine. Has anybody else noticed this? Hmm, why is the virus only targeting those who stand up to government vaccination all of a sudden?""",2021-07-23,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged @repjackkimble, decontextualized, out of context, parody, rep jack kimble, satire, satirical twitter, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/repjackkimble/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/decontextualized/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/parody/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rep-jack-kimble/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/satire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/satirical-twitter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",Rep. Jack Kimble: ‘I Find It Very Suspicious …’,"@repjackkimble, decontextualized, out of context, parody, rep jack kimble, satire, satirical twitter, viral facebook posts, viral tweets",,,,, +5,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/catholic-leader-who-wanted-to-deny-biden-communion-resigns-after-caught-using-gay-dating-app/,"A ""Catholic leader who wanted to deny Biden communion"" resigned after he was caught using a dating app.",2021-07-22,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, PoliticsTagged biden, biden communion, catholic, catholic church, church scandals, grindr, misleading, monsignor burrill, speculation, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/politics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/biden/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/biden-communion/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/catholic/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/catholic-church/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/church-scandals/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/grindr/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misleading/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/monsignor-burrill/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/speculation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",‘Catholic Leader Who Wanted to Deny Biden Communion Resigns After...,"biden, biden communion, catholic, catholic church, church scandals, grindr, misleading, monsignor burrill, speculation, viral facebook posts",,,,, +6,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/doc-and-marty-made-it-to-2021/,"""Doc and Marty made it to 2021.""",2021-07-22,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged back to the future, decontextualized, doc and marty made it to 2021, imgur, instagram, reddit comments, viral facebook posts, viral reddit posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/back-to-the-future/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/decontextualized/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/doc-and-marty-made-it-to-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/instagram/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/reddit-comments/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-reddit-posts/",‘Doc and Marty Made it to 2021’,"back to the future, decontextualized, doc and marty made it to 2021, imgur, instagram, reddit comments, viral facebook posts, viral reddit posts",,,,, +7,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/in-tthe-cayman-islands-there-is-a-modest-five-story-building-that-is-home-to-18857-companies/,"""In the Cayman Islands, there is a modest five-story building that is home to 18,857 companies.""",2021-07-21,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, PoliticsTagged barack obama, bernie sanders, cayman islands, imgur, mitt romney, ro khanna, tax evasion, tax shelter, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/politics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/barack-obama/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bernie-sanders/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cayman-islands/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mitt-romney/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ro-khanna/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tax-evasion/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tax-shelter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/","‘In the Cayman Islands, There Is a Modest Five-Story Building That...","barack obama, bernie sanders, cayman islands, imgur, mitt romney, ro khanna, tax evasion, tax shelter, viral tweets",,,,, +8,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/abraham-lincoln-and-the-samurai-fax-machine/,"""There was a 22 year window in which a samurai could have sent a fax to Abraham Lincoln.""",2021-07-21,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged abraham lincoln, abraham lincoln samurai fax machine, fax machine, samurai, samurai sending a fax to abraham lincoln, technically true, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/abraham-lincoln/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/abraham-lincoln-samurai-fax-machine/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/fax-machine/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/samurai/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/samurai-sending-a-fax-to-abraham-lincoln/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/technically-true/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Abraham Lincoln and the Samurai Fax Machine,"abraham lincoln, abraham lincoln samurai fax machine, fax machine, samurai, samurai sending a fax to abraham lincoln, technically true, viral facebook posts",,,,, +9,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/snapchat-plant-identifier/,"""If you focus your Snapchat camera on ANY plant & hold the screen it will tell you EXACTLY what that plant is.. DOPE. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW THIS‼️🌳☘️🌵🌿🪴 (or maybe everyone already knew this & I’m just late & easily amused 🤔) PS: WORKS ON DOG BREEDS ALSO ‼️🤯""",2021-07-20,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged dog scanner, plantsnap, snapchat, snapchat plant identifier, snapchat plants, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dog-scanner/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/plantsnap/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snapchat/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snapchat-plant-identifier/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snapchat-plants/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Snapchat Plant Identifier,"dog scanner, plantsnap, snapchat, snapchat plant identifier, snapchat plants, viral facebook posts",,,,, +10,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/this-wenche-thikke/,"A Tumblr post includes an accurate excerpt from Canterbury Tales, including ""this wenche thikke"" and ""[I will not lie.]""",2021-07-20,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged canterbury tales, history memes, Tumblr, viral facebook posts, wenche thikke","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/canterbury-tales/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/history-memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tumblr/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/wenche-thikke/",‘This Wenche Thikke’,"canterbury tales, history memes, Tumblr, viral facebook posts, wenche thikke",,,,, +11,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/rep-matt-gaetz-says-if-democrats-pass-voting-bill-republicans-will-never-win-another-election/,"In July 2021, Rep. Matt Gaetz said if Democrats passed a voting rights bill, no Republicans would ever win an election again.",2021-07-19,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged for the people act, matt gaetz, matt gaetz republicans will never win another election, Rep. Matt Gaetz, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/for-the-people-act/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/matt-gaetz/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/matt-gaetz-republicans-will-never-win-another-election/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rep-matt-gaetz/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/","Rep. Matt Gaetz Says if Democrats Pass Voting Bill, Republicans...","for the people act, matt gaetz, matt gaetz republicans will never win another election, Rep. Matt Gaetz, viral facebook posts, viral tweets",,,,, +12,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/hundreds-of-cars-are-lined-up-along-hwy-18-into-mission-south-dakota-as-the-remains-of-native-children-were-returned-to-their-homelands/,"On July 16 2021, ""hundreds of cars lined up along Hwy 18 into Mission, South Dakota as the remains of Native children were returned to their homelands.""",2021-07-19,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged caravan for native children, residential school scandal, residential schools in the US, rosebud sioux children, sicangu, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/caravan-for-native-children/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/residential-school-scandal/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/residential-schools-in-the-us/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rosebud-sioux-children/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/sicangu/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/","‘Hundreds of Cars Are Lined Up Along Hwy 18 Into Mission, South...","caravan for native children, residential school scandal, residential schools in the US, rosebud sioux children, sicangu, viral facebook posts, viral tweets",,,,, +13,,,,Not True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/canadian-peanut-butter-packaging/,Image shows Canadian peanut butter sold in a styrofoam tray.,2021-07-16,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged amish peanut butter, canadian peanut butter, canadian peanut butter packaging, deleted tweets, miscaptioned, mislabeled, out of context, viral facebook posts, viral images, viral reddit posts, viral tweets, why is canadian milk in bags","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/amish-peanut-butter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/canadian-peanut-butter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/canadian-peanut-butter-packaging/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/deleted-tweets/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/miscaptioned/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mislabeled/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-images/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-reddit-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/why-is-canadian-milk-in-bags/",‘Canadian Peanut Butter’ Packaging,"amish peanut butter, canadian peanut butter, canadian peanut butter packaging, deleted tweets, miscaptioned, mislabeled, out of context, viral facebook posts, viral images, viral reddit posts, viral tweets, why is canadian milk in bags",,,,, +14,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/captain-america-31-years-ago/,"A comic from 1990 contradicts actor Dean Cain's complaint about a newly ""woke"" Captain America.",2021-07-16,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged art out of context, captain america, captain america 31 years ago, daredevil 283, dean cain, drug war, imgur, latin america, viral clapbacks, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/art-out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/captain-america/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/captain-america-31-years-ago/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/daredevil-283/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dean-cain/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/drug-war/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/latin-america/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-clapbacks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",‘Captain America 31 Years Ago’,"art out of context, captain america, captain america 31 years ago, daredevil 283, dean cain, drug war, imgur, latin america, viral clapbacks, viral tweets",,,,, +15,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/were-cooks-the-largest-occupational-group-to-die-in-the-pandemic/,"""I wish Anthony Bourdain were alive today to articulate the insanity of living in a country where cooks were the largest occupational group to die in a pandemic and restaurant owners are pouting that nobody wants to work in restaurants anymore.""",2021-07-15,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged anthony bourdain, cooks excess mortality, excess mortality, imgur, largest occupational group to die cooks, ucsf, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/anthony-bourdain/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cooks-excess-mortality/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/excess-mortality/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/largest-occupational-group-to-die-cooks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ucsf/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",Were Cooks the Largest Occupational Group to Die in the Pandemic?,"anthony bourdain, cooks excess mortality, excess mortality, imgur, largest occupational group to die cooks, ucsf, viral tweets",,,,, +16,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/this-picture-was-taken-in-1925-of-a-girl-visiting-her-twin-sisters-grave/,"""This picture was taken in 1925. Its of a girl visiting her twin sisters grave. The twin sister had died the previous year in a house fire. Parents saw her many times talking and playing with her twin sister after she has passed away. They thought it was just part of the grieving process, that is until this was developed.""",2021-07-15,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged after death communication, afterlife, art out of context, creepy images, ghost, imgur, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/after-death-communication/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/afterlife/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/art-out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/creepy-images/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ghost/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/","‘This Picture Was Taken in 1925, Of a Girl Visiting Her Twin...","after death communication, afterlife, art out of context, creepy images, ghost, imgur, viral facebook posts",,,,, +17,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/national-kool-aid-day-2021-and-mike-lindells-trump-return-claim/,"""My Pillow guy Mike Lindell says August 13th [2021] is the date that Donald Trump will be 'reinstated.' Do you know what else is on August 13th? NATIONAL KOOL-AID DAY. For real. It's the second Friday in August every year. You can't make this up.""",2021-07-14,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged august 13 trump reinstated, election conspiracies, imgur, memes, mike lindell, national kool aid day 2021, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/august-13-trump-reinstated/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/election-conspiracies/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mike-lindell/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/national-kool-aid-day-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",National Kool Aid Day 2021 and Mike Lindell’s ‘Trump Return’ Claim,"august 13 trump reinstated, election conspiracies, imgur, memes, mike lindell, national kool aid day 2021, viral facebook posts, viral tweets",,,,, +18,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/friendly-roast-in-2015-hrc-being-roasted/,"TikTok videos labeled ""Friendly Roast in 2015"" and ""HRC Being Roasted"" show then-candidate Donald Trump ""roasting"" Hillary Clinton in 2015.",2021-07-14,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged al smith dinner 2016, donald trump, hillary clinton, out of context, roasts, tiktok, viral facebook posts, viral tiktok posts, viral videos","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/al-smith-dinner-2016/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/donald-trump/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/hillary-clinton/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/roasts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tiktok/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tiktok-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-videos/","‘Friendly Roast in 2015,’ ‘HRC Being Roasted’","al smith dinner 2016, donald trump, hillary clinton, out of context, roasts, tiktok, viral facebook posts, viral tiktok posts, viral videos",,,,, +19,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/jaleel-white-and-purple-urkel/,"Image depicts Jaleel White (the actor who played Steve Urkel on Family Matters) promoting a cannabis strain called ""Purple Urkel"" with Snoop Dogg.",2021-07-13,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Entertainment, Fact ChecksTagged cannabis, jaleel white snoop dogg, purple urkel, snoop dogg, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/entertainment/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cannabis/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/jaleel-white-snoop-dogg/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/purple-urkel/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snoop-dogg/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Jaleel White and ‘Purple Urkel’,"cannabis, jaleel white snoop dogg, purple urkel, snoop dogg, viral facebook posts",,,,, +20,,,,Misattributed,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/finland-reindeer-reflective-paint-posts/,"A photograph Finland's reindeer with reflective antlers, painted to prevent roadway accidents.",2021-07-12,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged art out of context, finland, finland reindeer reflective paint, instagram, misleading, viral facebook posts, viral images","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/art-out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/finland/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/finland-reindeer-reflective-paint/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/instagram/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misleading/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-images/",Finland Reindeer Reflective Paint Posts,"art out of context, finland, finland reindeer reflective paint, instagram, misleading, viral facebook posts, viral images",,,,, +21,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/albert-einstein-lecturing-a-black-college-facebook-post/,"Albert Einstein spoke at Lincoln University in 1946, and said ""The separation of races is not a disease of colored people but a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it.""",2021-07-12,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged albert einstein, albert einstein quotes, albert einstein racism, einstein lincoln university, lost images, viral facebook posts, viral images","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/albert-einstein/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/albert-einstein-quotes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/albert-einstein-racism/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/einstein-lincoln-university/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/lost-images/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-images/",Albert Einstein Lecturing a Black College Facebook Post,"albert einstein, albert einstein quotes, albert einstein racism, einstein lincoln university, lost images, viral facebook posts, viral images",,,,, +22,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/ogx-dmdm-hydantoin-facebook-post/,"Consumers should avoid OGX products due to the presence of DMDM hydantoin, as the brand was sued over its formulations.",2021-07-09,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged cosmetics, dmdm hydantoin, dmdm hydantoin ogx, does dmdm hydantoin cause hair loss, facebook warnings, formaldehyde, ogx, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cosmetics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dmdm-hydantoin/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dmdm-hydantoin-ogx/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/does-dmdm-hydantoin-cause-hair-loss/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/facebook-warnings/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/formaldehyde/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ogx/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",OGX DMDM Hydantoin Facebook Post,"cosmetics, dmdm hydantoin, dmdm hydantoin ogx, does dmdm hydantoin cause hair loss, facebook warnings, formaldehyde, ogx, viral facebook posts",,,,, +23,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/biden-admin-hhs-secretarys-absolutely-the-governments-business-vaccine-remarks/,"Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said it is ""absolutely the government's business"" to know whether Americans are vaccinated.",2021-07-08,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged becerra knocking on doors, biden vaccine, cnn, decontextualized, misleading, out of context, steven crowder, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/becerra-knocking-on-doors/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/biden-vaccine/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cnn/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/decontextualized/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misleading/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/steven-crowder/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",Biden Admin HHS Secretary’s ‘Absolutely the Government’s Business’...,"becerra knocking on doors, biden vaccine, cnn, decontextualized, misleading, out of context, steven crowder, viral tweets",,,,, +24,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/sf-gay-mens-chorus-convert-your-children-song/,"San Francisco's (SF) Gay Men's chorus literally sang they'll ""convert your children"" or are ""coming for your children.""",2021-07-08,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged basically an outright lie, dinesh d'souza, rumble.com, sf gay mens chorus, sf gay mens chorus coming for your children, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/basically-an-outright-lie/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dinesh-dsouza/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rumble-com/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/sf-gay-mens-chorus/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/sf-gay-mens-chorus-coming-for-your-children/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",SF Gay Men’s Chorus ‘Convert Your Children’ Song,"basically an outright lie, dinesh d'souza, rumble.com, sf gay mens chorus, sf gay mens chorus coming for your children, viral tweets",,,,, +25,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/darnella-fraziers-uncle-killed-by-minneapolis-police/,"Darnella Frazier, the girl who filmed the murder of George Floyd, disclosed via Facebook that her uncle was killed by Minneapolis police in July 2021.",2021-07-07,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged darnella frazier uncle, darnella frazier uncle MPD, imgur, leneal frazier, minneapolis, Minneapolis Police Department, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/darnella-frazier-uncle/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/darnella-frazier-uncle-mpd/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/leneal-frazier/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/minneapolis/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/minneapolis-police-department/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Darnella Frazier’s Uncle Killed by Minneapolis Police,"darnella frazier uncle, darnella frazier uncle MPD, imgur, leneal frazier, minneapolis, Minneapolis Police Department, viral facebook posts",,,,, +26,,,,Mixed,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/the-pledge-of-allegiance-was-adopted-in-1923-the-star-spangled-banner-was-adopted-in-1929/,"""The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1923. The Star Spangled Banner was adopted in 1929. 'Under God' was added to the Pledge in 1954. 'In God We Trust' was added to our money in 1956. So no. They were not created by our Founding Fathers.""",2021-07-07,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged founding fathers, history memes, in god we trust, in god we trust 1956, pledge of allegiance, pledge of allegiance 1923, star spangled banner, star spangled banner 1929, under god, under god 1954, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/founding-fathers/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/history-memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/in-god-we-trust/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/in-god-we-trust-1956/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/pledge-of-allegiance/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/pledge-of-allegiance-1923/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/star-spangled-banner/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/star-spangled-banner-1929/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/under-god/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/under-god-1954/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/","The Pledge of Allegiance Was Adopted in 1923, the Star Spangled...","founding fathers, history memes, in god we trust, in god we trust 1956, pledge of allegiance, pledge of allegiance 1923, star spangled banner, star spangled banner 1929, under god, under god 1954, viral facebook posts",,,,, +27,,,,Not True,Arturo Garcia,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/art/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/shacarri-richardson-rebecca-washington-replacement/,"Sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson will be replaced by a Mormon athlete, Rebecca Washington, on the U.S. Olympic Team",2021-07-07,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged 2021 Summer Olympics, marijuana, olympics, running, Sha'Carri Richardson, twitter","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/2021-summer-olympics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/marijuana/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/olympics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/running/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/shacarri-richardson/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/twitter/",Is Rebecca Washington Replacing Sha’Carri Richardson on the U.S...,"2021 Summer Olympics, marijuana, olympics, running, Sha'Carri Richardson, twitter",,,,, +28,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/u-s-quietly-slips-out-of-afghanistan-in-dead-of-night-onion-story/,"In 2011, ten years before July 2021 news about the United States leaving Afghanistan in the dead of night, satirical outlet The Onion published a headline predicting it.",2021-07-06,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged Afghanistan, associated press, not satire, ostension, satire, the onion, the onion 10 years ago AP today, US Quietly Slips Out Of Afghanistan In Dead Of Night, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/afghanistan/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/associated-press/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/not-satire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ostension/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/satire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/the-onion/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/the-onion-10-years-ago-ap-today/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/us-quietly-slips-out-of-afghanistan-in-dead-of-night/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",‘U.S. Quietly Slips Out Of Afghanistan In Dead Of Night’ Onion Story,"Afghanistan, associated press, not satire, ostension, satire, the onion, the onion 10 years ago AP today, US Quietly Slips Out Of Afghanistan In Dead Of Night, viral tweets",,,,, +29,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/donald-rumsfeld-and-mount-misery/,"Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld purchased Mount Misery, a house with a violent history.",2021-07-06,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged donald rumsfeld, frederick douglass, mount misery, rachel maddow, rumsfeld mount misery, viral facebook posts, viral videos","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/donald-rumsfeld/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/frederick-douglass/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mount-misery/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rachel-maddow/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rumsfeld-mount-misery/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-videos/",Donald Rumsfeld and Mount Misery,"donald rumsfeld, frederick douglass, mount misery, rachel maddow, rumsfeld mount misery, viral facebook posts, viral videos",,,,, diff --git a/output_sample_fullfact.csv b/output_sample_fullfact.csv deleted file mode 100644 index df8de7c..0000000 --- a/output_sample_fullfact.csv +++ /dev/null @@ -1,54 +0,0 @@ -,rating_ratingValue,rating_worstRating,rating_bestRating,rating_alternateName,creativeWork_author_name,creativeWork_datePublished,creativeWork_author_sameAs,claimReview_author_name,claimReview_author_url,claimReview_url,claimReview_claimReviewed,claimReview_datePublished,claimReview_source,claimReview_author,extra_body,extra_refered_links,extra_title,extra_tags,extra_entities_claimReview_claimReviewed,extra_entities_body,extra_entities_keywords,extra_entities_author,related_links -0,,,,Other,Grace Rahman,2021-07-21,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/,"In the UK on 1 July 2020, no one had been vaccinated against Covid-19 and there were 63 new daily cases.",2021-07-21,fullfact,,"A post on Instagram seems to imply that the vaccine is causing more Covid-19 cases, by comparing the number of new cases at the start of July 2021, with the same time last year. It correctly states that there were 27,989 new cases reported on 1 July 2021, but incorrectly suggests that there were 63 new daily cases reported on 1 July 2020 in the UK, when there were actually 829. The national Covid-19 vaccine roll-out didn’t start until 8 December. It’s true that, by 1 July 2020, 66% of the total population had received a first dose and 49% had received their second, although that population includes those under 18, who are not routinely advised to have the vaccine. The percentage of adults who had had their first and second vaccines by 1 July 2021 was 86% and 63% respectively. But to suggest then that the vaccines have not slowed transmission, or even increased it, ignores the fact that a lot of other things have changed in the year between these dates. A more transmissible strain of Covid-19 is now dominant, testing is much more prominent now, and restrictions have generally eased across the UK.  The Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing Covid-19, and at preventing hospitalisations and death following Covid-19 infection, including from the Delta variant. There’s also evidence that they can reduce the risk of you passing Covid-19 to household contacts, if you do happen to get infected.  Getting vaccinated doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get Covid-19, but it does decrease the chance of getting seriously ill and having to hospitalised, and dying of the disease. It certainly isn’t causing more cases, as the Instagram post implies.","https://www.instagram.com/p/CRZ26g9LIIz/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_date_reported,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_specimen_date,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-55153325,https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2021-07-01&pickerSort=asc&pickerMetric=location&Metric=People+vaccinated+%28by+dose%29&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=~GBR,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-issues-advice-on-covid-19-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations#card-latest_reported_vaccination_uptake,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000661/8_July_2021_Risk_assessment_for_SARS-CoV-2_variant_DELTA_02.00-1.pdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing#card-virus_tests_conducted,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/charts/uk-government-coronavirus-lockdowns,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-report-published,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=3,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/Allison-Pearson-Covid-stats-hospital/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Vaccines have not caused daily cases to increase,,,,,, -1,,,,Other,Grace Rahman,2021-07-21,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/,"In the UK on 1 July 2020, no one had been vaccinated against Covid-19 and there were 63 new daily cases.",2021-07-21,fullfact,,"A post on Instagram seems to imply that the vaccine is causing more Covid-19 cases, by comparing the number of new cases at the start of July 2021, with the same time last year. It correctly states that there were 27,989 new cases reported on 1 July 2021, but incorrectly suggests that there were 63 new daily cases reported on 1 July 2020 in the UK, when there were actually 829. The national Covid-19 vaccine roll-out didn’t start until 8 December. It’s true that, by 1 July 2020, 66% of the total population had received a first dose and 49% had received their second, although that population includes those under 18, who are not routinely advised to have the vaccine. The percentage of adults who had had their first and second vaccines by 1 July 2021 was 86% and 63% respectively. But to suggest then that the vaccines have not slowed transmission, or even increased it, ignores the fact that a lot of other things have changed in the year between these dates. A more transmissible strain of Covid-19 is now dominant, testing is much more prominent now, and restrictions have generally eased across the UK.  The Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing Covid-19, and at preventing hospitalisations and death following Covid-19 infection, including from the Delta variant. There’s also evidence that they can reduce the risk of you passing Covid-19 to household contacts, if you do happen to get infected.  Getting vaccinated doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get Covid-19, but it does decrease the chance of getting seriously ill and having to hospitalised, and dying of the disease. It certainly isn’t causing more cases, as the Instagram post implies.","https://www.instagram.com/p/CRZ26g9LIIz/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_date_reported,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_specimen_date,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-55153325,https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2021-07-01&pickerSort=asc&pickerMetric=location&Metric=People+vaccinated+%28by+dose%29&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=~GBR,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-issues-advice-on-covid-19-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations#card-latest_reported_vaccination_uptake,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000661/8_July_2021_Risk_assessment_for_SARS-CoV-2_variant_DELTA_02.00-1.pdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing#card-virus_tests_conducted,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/charts/uk-government-coronavirus-lockdowns,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-report-published,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=3,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/Allison-Pearson-Covid-stats-hospital/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Vaccines have not caused daily cases to increase,,,,,, -2,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-20,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/lord-sumption-covid-errors/,People who die of Covid would probably have died within a year.,2021-07-20,fullfact,,"The former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption made several mistakes with Covid-19 data when talking about the disease on the Today programme this morning. First of all, he said that the virus had not killed more than 100,000 people, because many of the deaths recorded may have been people who were infected with Covid, but died for other reasons. This is not true. The daily data on the number of people who have died after a positive test does include some people who died for other reasons. However, we also have data from death certificates, which records whether or not Covid itself was the “underlying cause”. This shows that up to 2 July this year, 124,082 people died with Covid as the underlying cause of death in England and Wales alone. Lord Sumption went on to say that the people who died of Covid would soon have died anyway. He said: “At the age which they had reached, they would probably have died within a year after, as even Professor Ferguson has I think admitted.""  [1.19.00] This is not supported by the evidence. The mention of Professor Ferguson seems to be a reference to the government’s former scientific advisor’s comments before the Science and Technology Select Committee on 25 March 2020, when he said that the proportion of people dying of Covid in 2020 who would have died that year anyway “might be as much as half to two thirds of the deaths we are seeing from COVID-19”. In other words, he was talking at a very early stage of the pandemic about what might be seen by the end of the year, not stating a fact, or predicting what the facts would be. Research suggests that people dying of Covid lost far more than a year of life—about a decade on average. We have written about this in detail before.  Lord Sumption also said: ""The number of people who have died who are not in highly vulnerable groups who have died without a sufficiently serious comorbidity to appear on the death certificate is very small. It's a matter of hundreds and not thousands."" [1.19.42] This is not true either. It seems that Lord Sumption is talking about the number of death certificates that mention Covid as the underlying cause but do not mention any pre-existing medical condition. There were 15,883 of these deaths in England and Wales alone, up to the end of March 2021. All of them had Covid as the underlying cause. If you added all the deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland too, the total would be higher.","https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths#card-deaths_within_28_days_of_positive_test_by_date_of_death,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending2july2021#:~:text=Deaths%20involving%20and%20due%20to%20COVID-19%20and%20influenza%20and%20pneumonia%2C%20England%20and%20Wales%2C%20deaths%20registered%20in%202020%20and%202021,https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/237/pdf/#page=10,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/preexistingconditionsofpeoplewhodiedduetocovid19englandandwales,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/bbc-children-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/tfl-self-isolation-pilot/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/Rife-machines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Lord Sumption made several errors about Covid on Today,,,,,, -3,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-20,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/lord-sumption-covid-errors/,People who die of Covid would probably have died within a year.,2021-07-20,fullfact,,"The former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption made several mistakes with Covid-19 data when talking about the disease on the Today programme this morning. First of all, he said that the virus had not killed more than 100,000 people, because many of the deaths recorded may have been people who were infected with Covid, but died for other reasons. This is not true. The daily data on the number of people who have died after a positive test does include some people who died for other reasons. However, we also have data from death certificates, which records whether or not Covid itself was the “underlying cause”. This shows that up to 2 July this year, 124,082 people died with Covid as the underlying cause of death in England and Wales alone. Lord Sumption went on to say that the people who died of Covid would soon have died anyway. He said: “At the age which they had reached, they would probably have died within a year after, as even Professor Ferguson has I think admitted.""  [1.19.00] This is not supported by the evidence. The mention of Professor Ferguson seems to be a reference to the government’s former scientific advisor’s comments before the Science and Technology Select Committee on 25 March 2020, when he said that the proportion of people dying of Covid in 2020 who would have died that year anyway “might be as much as half to two thirds of the deaths we are seeing from COVID-19”. In other words, he was talking at a very early stage of the pandemic about what might be seen by the end of the year, not stating a fact, or predicting what the facts would be. Research suggests that people dying of Covid lost far more than a year of life—about a decade on average. We have written about this in detail before.  Lord Sumption also said: ""The number of people who have died who are not in highly vulnerable groups who have died without a sufficiently serious comorbidity to appear on the death certificate is very small. It's a matter of hundreds and not thousands."" [1.19.42] This is not true either. It seems that Lord Sumption is talking about the number of death certificates that mention Covid as the underlying cause but do not mention any pre-existing medical condition. There were 15,883 of these deaths in England and Wales alone, up to the end of March 2021. All of them had Covid as the underlying cause. If you added all the deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland too, the total would be higher.","https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths#card-deaths_within_28_days_of_positive_test_by_date_of_death,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending2july2021#:~:text=Deaths%20involving%20and%20due%20to%20COVID-19%20and%20influenza%20and%20pneumonia%2C%20England%20and%20Wales%2C%20deaths%20registered%20in%202020%20and%202021,https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/237/pdf/#page=10,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/preexistingconditionsofpeoplewhodiedduetocovid19englandandwales,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/bbc-children-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/tfl-self-isolation-pilot/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/Rife-machines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Lord Sumption made several errors about Covid on Today,,,,,, -4,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-12,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/orange-county-board-meeting/,There is no reduction in viral transmission with the use of face masks.,2021-07-12,fullfact,,"A video which has been shared on social media shows a woman, who claims to be an attorney, speaking at the Orange County Board of Supervisor meeting on 2 June 2020. The video includes many outdated or untrue claims about the Covid-19 pandemic.  The video claims that “asymptomatic carriers of Covid do not spread disease.” At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was uncertainty about how much transmission of SARS-CoV-2 would occur from people who had asymptomatic infections.  Over the course of 2020 and 2021, however, the role of asymptomatic transmission has become clearer and we now know that people with asymptomatic infection can transmit Covid-19.  We have written more about this previously.  In the video, it is claimed that face masks “do not work to stop the virus”. The role of face masks in preventing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was uncertain at the beginning of the pandemic.  The evidence and guidance around mask use has evolved since to give support to the use of masks in some situations. We have written more about the intricacies of this previously.  The UK government now states that mask wearing can “reduce the spread of coronavirus droplets in certain circumstances, helping to protect others”. This is echoed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) advice that, in addition to other measures, “masks are a key measure to suppress transmission and save lives.” Depending on the type of mask used, their main effect may be in protecting others, while some particular types of masks provide additional protection for the wearer. As England moves into the next stage of easing coronavirus restrictions on 19 July, legal obligations to wear face masks are set to be removed (although people will still be expected to wear them in crowded indoor areas). The legal requirement to wear masks is still currently in place in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The video also claims that face masks “cut the oxygen ‘hypoxically’ low.” Hypoxia is a medical term for low or insufficient oxygen levels in the body. The claim that  face masks can cause hypoxia is not true, and has been fact checked many times before.  The WHO have said that, while facemasks can be uncomfortable, surgical face masks do not lead to oxygen deficiency.  Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine at the University of East Anglia, conducted a review of the evidence on mask-wearing in April 2020 and previously told Full Fact that ordinary face masks and coverings do not cause low oxygen levels.  There is some evidence that some specific types of respirator masks used in medical settings (N95/FFP2 masks) can alter gas exchange.","https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1174411289694325,https://ocgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3714?view_id=&caption_id=10188788&redirect=true,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890001/s0005-are-asymptomatic-people-with-2019ncov-infectious-280120-sage4.pdf,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890148/s0185-clinical-virology-sars-cov-2-170220-sage8.pdf#page=1,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/,https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/advice-on-the-use-of-masks-in-the-community-during-home-care-and-in-healthcare-settings-in-the-context-of-the-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)-outbreak,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/928699/S0740_Fifty-sixth_SAGE_meeting_on_Covid-19.pdf#page=4,https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198833/whole-town-study-reveals-more-than-40/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-makes-false-claim-that-vaccines-are-gene-therapy/,https://post.parliament.uk/covid-19-july-update-on-face-masks-and-face-coverings-for-the-general-public/,https://fullfact.org/health/evidence-shows-masks-do-offer-protection-covid-19/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-masks,https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-at-coronavirus-press-conference-5-july-2021,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51205344,https://gov.wales/face-coverings-guidance-public,https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-public-use-of-face-coverings/,https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-face-coverings,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypoxia,https://patient.info/doctor/respiratory-failure,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/53108405,https://fullfact.org/health/masks-not-harmful/,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters#oxygen,https://fullfact.org/online/mask-graphic-wrong/?fbclid=IwAR16q6M879DK9Ve-oZl4fDnyR4OTjz6jjIiCkzkFgb9eCvn9h7abrM1FLSQ,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters#oxygen,https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.01.20049528v1.full.pdf,https://fullfact.org/health/masks-not-harmful/,https://fullfact.org/online/mask-graphic-wrong/?fbclid=IwAR16q6M879DK9Ve-oZl4fDnyR4OTjz6jjIiCkzkFgb9eCvn9h7abrM1FLSQ,https://fullfact.org/health/masks-not-harmful/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video shares falsehoods about face masks and asymptomatic spread of Covid-19,,,,,, -5,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-12,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/orange-county-board-meeting/,There is no reduction in viral transmission with the use of face masks.,2021-07-12,fullfact,,"A video which has been shared on social media shows a woman, who claims to be an attorney, speaking at the Orange County Board of Supervisor meeting on 2 June 2020. The video includes many outdated or untrue claims about the Covid-19 pandemic.  The video claims that “asymptomatic carriers of Covid do not spread disease.” At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was uncertainty about how much transmission of SARS-CoV-2 would occur from people who had asymptomatic infections.  Over the course of 2020 and 2021, however, the role of asymptomatic transmission has become clearer and we now know that people with asymptomatic infection can transmit Covid-19.  We have written more about this previously.  In the video, it is claimed that face masks “do not work to stop the virus”. The role of face masks in preventing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 was uncertain at the beginning of the pandemic.  The evidence and guidance around mask use has evolved since to give support to the use of masks in some situations. We have written more about the intricacies of this previously.  The UK government now states that mask wearing can “reduce the spread of coronavirus droplets in certain circumstances, helping to protect others”. This is echoed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) advice that, in addition to other measures, “masks are a key measure to suppress transmission and save lives.” Depending on the type of mask used, their main effect may be in protecting others, while some particular types of masks provide additional protection for the wearer. As England moves into the next stage of easing coronavirus restrictions on 19 July, legal obligations to wear face masks are set to be removed (although people will still be expected to wear them in crowded indoor areas). The legal requirement to wear masks is still currently in place in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The video also claims that face masks “cut the oxygen ‘hypoxically’ low.” Hypoxia is a medical term for low or insufficient oxygen levels in the body. The claim that  face masks can cause hypoxia is not true, and has been fact checked many times before.  The WHO have said that, while facemasks can be uncomfortable, surgical face masks do not lead to oxygen deficiency.  Paul Hunter, Professor in Medicine at the University of East Anglia, conducted a review of the evidence on mask-wearing in April 2020 and previously told Full Fact that ordinary face masks and coverings do not cause low oxygen levels.  There is some evidence that some specific types of respirator masks used in medical settings (N95/FFP2 masks) can alter gas exchange.","https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1174411289694325,https://ocgov.granicus.com/player/clip/3714?view_id=&caption_id=10188788&redirect=true,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890001/s0005-are-asymptomatic-people-with-2019ncov-infectious-280120-sage4.pdf,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/890148/s0185-clinical-virology-sars-cov-2-170220-sage8.pdf#page=1,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/,https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/advice-on-the-use-of-masks-in-the-community-during-home-care-and-in-healthcare-settings-in-the-context-of-the-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov)-outbreak,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/928699/S0740_Fifty-sixth_SAGE_meeting_on_Covid-19.pdf#page=4,https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198833/whole-town-study-reveals-more-than-40/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-makes-false-claim-that-vaccines-are-gene-therapy/,https://post.parliament.uk/covid-19-july-update-on-face-masks-and-face-coverings-for-the-general-public/,https://fullfact.org/health/evidence-shows-masks-do-offer-protection-covid-19/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own/face-coverings-when-to-wear-one-and-how-to-make-your-own,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-masks,https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-statement-at-coronavirus-press-conference-5-july-2021,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51205344,https://gov.wales/face-coverings-guidance-public,https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-public-use-of-face-coverings/,https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-face-coverings,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hypoxia,https://patient.info/doctor/respiratory-failure,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/53108405,https://fullfact.org/health/masks-not-harmful/,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters#oxygen,https://fullfact.org/online/mask-graphic-wrong/?fbclid=IwAR16q6M879DK9Ve-oZl4fDnyR4OTjz6jjIiCkzkFgb9eCvn9h7abrM1FLSQ,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters#oxygen,https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.01.20049528v1.full.pdf,https://fullfact.org/health/masks-not-harmful/,https://fullfact.org/online/mask-graphic-wrong/?fbclid=IwAR16q6M879DK9Ve-oZl4fDnyR4OTjz6jjIiCkzkFgb9eCvn9h7abrM1FLSQ,https://fullfact.org/health/masks-not-harmful/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video shares falsehoods about face masks and asymptomatic spread of Covid-19,,,,,, -6,,,,Other,Grace Rahman,2021-07-09,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/hancock-video-WHO/,A video shows Matt Hancock saying the WHO told him there is no evidence for asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19.,2021-07-09,fullfact,,"A video shared over 1,500 times on Facebook claims to show a clip of former health secretary Matt Hancock saying he was told by the World Health Organisation that there was no evidence for asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19. A voiceover in the video then claims that therefore this shows there was no need for lockdown, social distancing, masks or vaccines. The video shows a short snippet of Mr Hancock giving evidence to the combined science and technology, and health and social care committees on 10 June 2021. The wider discussion shows he was talking about the situation in 2020, and the video just picks out a small part of this.  Before the clip in the video, Mr Hancock claimed that in January 2020, the consensus based on the behaviour of other coronaviruses, was that people who weren’t displaying symptoms would not transmit the disease. He then went on to describe how the evidence that this wasn’t the case emerged from China, Germany, and later the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US, and Public Health England. The chair (Conservative MP Greg Clark) challenged this and went on to ask him about the minutes of a late January meeting of SAGE (the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies which advises the government) which said: “There is limited evidence of asymptomatic transmission but early indications imply some is occurring.”  The exchange, including the part shown in the video, went as follows: Chair: In the minutes of SAGE it was not recorded that the consensus is that there is no asymptomatic transmission. Quite the opposite. They are saying that early indications imply some is occurring. Matt Hancock: But the World Health Organisation advice and the clinical advice of the most likely situation that I received remained that asymptomatic transmission was unlikely. In fact, the WHO’s position was, “There has been no documented asymptomatic transmission.” As I say, given all of this debate, and this is an absolutely accurate reflection of the debate, I should have stuck to my guns and said that even if it is uncertain, and even if it is relatively small, we should base policy on that. Even though the formal advice I was receiving was that asymptomatic transmission is unlikely and we should not base policy on it, I should have overruled that. So the video does not prove that Matt Hancock or the WHO currently think that asymptomatic transmission doesn’t happen, or give evidence on whether subsequent policies were required.  Later studies on Covid-19 itself, rather than related diseases, suggest that asymptomatic transmission does make a significant contribution to transmission. The video’s voiceover also claims that the vaccines are “on trial” and “experiments ending in 2023”.  The trial completion dates are set in the future to allow for long-term follow-up, but analyses of the data from phase three trials have been published in peer-reviewed studies in medical journals. We’ve written about this claim in more detail before.","https://www.facebook.com/100057866943218/videos/vb.100057866943218/559197612112969/?type=2&theater,https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/2318/pdf#page=22,https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/2318/pdf#page=21,https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/2318/pdf#page=22,https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-sage,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sage-minutes-coronavirus-covid-19-response-28-january-2020/sage-2-minutes-coronavirus-covid-19-response-28-january-2020#current-understanding-of-wn-cov,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/933225/S0824_SARS-CoV-2_Transmission_routes_and_environments.pdf#page=12,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-19-vaccines/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",WHO advice about asymptomatic transmission has changed since the start of the pandemic,,,,,, -7,,,,False,Grace Rahman,2021-07-07,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/police-station-video/,"Some reports suggest Covid-19 vaccines have caused a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.",2021-07-07,fullfact,,"Many of our readers have asked us to check claims in a video on Facebook of a man filming himself in a police station making a complaint about Covid-19 vaccines. The video is over 30 minutes long, but we have looked at the main claims he makes in it here, which are about Covid-19 vaccines and tests, amongst other things. In the video, the man claims that 1,295 people have died “as a result of the vaccine”. That is how many people had reportedly died shortly after vaccination, up to 2 June, not necessarily because of the vaccine. The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says that “The majority of these reports were in elderly people or people with underlying illness.” As the latest version of the MHRA document explains: “The nature of Yellow Card reporting means that reported events are not always proven side effects. Some events may have happened anyway, regardless of vaccination.”   On deaths, it says “Usage of the vaccines has increased rapidly and as such, so has reporting of fatal events with a temporal association with vaccination however, this does not indicate a link between vaccination and the fatalities reported.” It’s also true, as the man says, that there were just over 922,000 suspected reactions reported up to 2 June. In the same way, these reactions weren’t necessarily caused by the vaccine. The video also claims that PCR tests contain ethylene oxide, a dangerous gas. As we have written before, ethylene oxide exposure can be unsafe, but it is commonly used to sterilise medical equipment, including Covid-19 tests, and doesn’t pose any threat in this way. The MHRA recently answered a Freedom of Information request on this, explaining that the amount of residual ethylene oxide on swabs means that lateral flow test kits “are safe to use”. It also said: “In the highly unlikely event that a swab does contain a residual amount above the allowable limit, the risk to the user is still considered to be very low.” The man in the video reads out some quotations, which he attributes to the Canadian researcher Dr Byram Bridle, claiming that the Covid vaccines produce a spike protein that is toxic to humans. This is not true. We have written in detail about this before. So have many other fact checkers.  There is a protein on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19, called a spike protein. The Covid-19 vaccines work by giving the body instructions on how to make that spike protein, so that if the body encounters it later, the immune system can generate a response that attacks the virus faster and more effectively. There is some evidence that the spike proteins generated by the Moderna vaccine can leave the site of the injection. And the spike proteins on the actual virus itself have been found in the brains of people who died of Covid-19. But this doesn’t mean that the spike proteins generated by the body from the vaccine are harmful. Quoting another doctor talking about the Covid vaccines, the man in the video says: “There are some reports to suggest there is a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.” This claim is misleading, and we’ve checked a similar one before.  Miscarriages have been reported following Covid-19 vaccinations but there’s no evidence to show that vaccines were the cause. The number reported doesn’t appear to exceed the level you would ordinarily expect. As we’ve said, the MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of adverse events following vaccination, but does not prove that vaccination was the cause of any of them. It isn’t necessarily surprising that the number of miscarriages reported after vaccination has increased alongside the number of women of childbearing age being vaccinated. Just by increasing that pool of people, you would expect to see a larger number of pregnancies in that group, and therefore a proportion of miscarriages. Appearing to quote the same doctor, the man also says: “It is also documented that polysorbate 80 is contained within the vaccines and this is known to cause issues in relation to fertility.” The AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines do contain small amounts of polysorbate 80, which is also in certain flu jabs and is used as a food additive in things like ice cream. Some people may be allergic to it. But it’s a persistent myth that polysorbate 80 is linked to fertility issues. A study linking the chemical to reduced fertility in rats is sometimes cited as evidence, but the relative dose given to rats in the trial was significantly larger than humans would ever get in a vaccine.","https://www.facebook.com/100008184070258/videos/2940863029529804/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#analysis-of-data,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#annex-1-vaccine-analysis-print,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#:~:text=usage%20of%20the%20covid-19%20vaccine%20astrazeneca%20has%20increased%20rapidly%20and%20as%20such%2C%20so%20has%20reporting%20of%20fatal%20events%20with%20a%20temporal%20association%20with%20vaccination%20however,https://fullfact.org/online/lateral-flow-tests-ethylene-oxide/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-responses-from-the-mhra-week-commencing-26-april-2021/freedom-of-information-request-on-use-of-ethylene-oxide-to-sterilise-swabs-used-in-testing-for-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/online/conservative-woman-vaccine-scientist-spike-protein/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-377989296609,https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/08/fact-check-proteins-covid-19-vaccines-arent-dangerous-toxins/7505236002/,https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/07/facebook-posts/no-proof-researcher-claim-covid-19-vaccines-spike-/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://fullfact.org/online/Covid-vaccine-miscarriage-false/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/information-for-uk-recipients-on-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#contents-of-the-pack-and-other-information,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen/patient-information-leaflet-for-covid-19-vaccine-janssen#ingredients,https://fullfact.org/health/flu-shot-ingredients/,https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/approved-additives-and-e-numbers,https://modernistpantry.com/products/food-grade-polysorbate-80.html,https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/covid-19-advice/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-and-allergies/,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2019/09/22/bmjebm-2019-111222,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/25/6/191,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video of man reporting Covid-19 crimes to police is full of misinformation,,,,,, -8,,,,False,Grace Rahman,2021-07-07,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/police-station-video/,"Some reports suggest Covid-19 vaccines have caused a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.",2021-07-07,fullfact,,"Many of our readers have asked us to check claims in a video on Facebook of a man filming himself in a police station making a complaint about Covid-19 vaccines. The video is over 30 minutes long, but we have looked at the main claims he makes in it here, which are about Covid-19 vaccines and tests, amongst other things. In the video, the man claims that 1,295 people have died “as a result of the vaccine”. That is how many people had reportedly died shortly after vaccination, up to 2 June, not necessarily because of the vaccine. The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says that “The majority of these reports were in elderly people or people with underlying illness.” As the latest version of the MHRA document explains: “The nature of Yellow Card reporting means that reported events are not always proven side effects. Some events may have happened anyway, regardless of vaccination.”   On deaths, it says “Usage of the vaccines has increased rapidly and as such, so has reporting of fatal events with a temporal association with vaccination however, this does not indicate a link between vaccination and the fatalities reported.” It’s also true, as the man says, that there were just over 922,000 suspected reactions reported up to 2 June. In the same way, these reactions weren’t necessarily caused by the vaccine. The video also claims that PCR tests contain ethylene oxide, a dangerous gas. As we have written before, ethylene oxide exposure can be unsafe, but it is commonly used to sterilise medical equipment, including Covid-19 tests, and doesn’t pose any threat in this way. The MHRA recently answered a Freedom of Information request on this, explaining that the amount of residual ethylene oxide on swabs means that lateral flow test kits “are safe to use”. It also said: “In the highly unlikely event that a swab does contain a residual amount above the allowable limit, the risk to the user is still considered to be very low.” The man in the video reads out some quotations, which he attributes to the Canadian researcher Dr Byram Bridle, claiming that the Covid vaccines produce a spike protein that is toxic to humans. This is not true. We have written in detail about this before. So have many other fact checkers.  There is a protein on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19, called a spike protein. The Covid-19 vaccines work by giving the body instructions on how to make that spike protein, so that if the body encounters it later, the immune system can generate a response that attacks the virus faster and more effectively. There is some evidence that the spike proteins generated by the Moderna vaccine can leave the site of the injection. And the spike proteins on the actual virus itself have been found in the brains of people who died of Covid-19. But this doesn’t mean that the spike proteins generated by the body from the vaccine are harmful. Quoting another doctor talking about the Covid vaccines, the man in the video says: “There are some reports to suggest there is a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.” This claim is misleading, and we’ve checked a similar one before.  Miscarriages have been reported following Covid-19 vaccinations but there’s no evidence to show that vaccines were the cause. The number reported doesn’t appear to exceed the level you would ordinarily expect. As we’ve said, the MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of adverse events following vaccination, but does not prove that vaccination was the cause of any of them. It isn’t necessarily surprising that the number of miscarriages reported after vaccination has increased alongside the number of women of childbearing age being vaccinated. Just by increasing that pool of people, you would expect to see a larger number of pregnancies in that group, and therefore a proportion of miscarriages. Appearing to quote the same doctor, the man also says: “It is also documented that polysorbate 80 is contained within the vaccines and this is known to cause issues in relation to fertility.” The AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines do contain small amounts of polysorbate 80, which is also in certain flu jabs and is used as a food additive in things like ice cream. Some people may be allergic to it. But it’s a persistent myth that polysorbate 80 is linked to fertility issues. A study linking the chemical to reduced fertility in rats is sometimes cited as evidence, but the relative dose given to rats in the trial was significantly larger than humans would ever get in a vaccine.","https://www.facebook.com/100008184070258/videos/2940863029529804/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#analysis-of-data,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#annex-1-vaccine-analysis-print,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#:~:text=usage%20of%20the%20covid-19%20vaccine%20astrazeneca%20has%20increased%20rapidly%20and%20as%20such%2C%20so%20has%20reporting%20of%20fatal%20events%20with%20a%20temporal%20association%20with%20vaccination%20however,https://fullfact.org/online/lateral-flow-tests-ethylene-oxide/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-responses-from-the-mhra-week-commencing-26-april-2021/freedom-of-information-request-on-use-of-ethylene-oxide-to-sterilise-swabs-used-in-testing-for-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/online/conservative-woman-vaccine-scientist-spike-protein/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-377989296609,https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/08/fact-check-proteins-covid-19-vaccines-arent-dangerous-toxins/7505236002/,https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/07/facebook-posts/no-proof-researcher-claim-covid-19-vaccines-spike-/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://fullfact.org/online/Covid-vaccine-miscarriage-false/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/information-for-uk-recipients-on-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#contents-of-the-pack-and-other-information,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen/patient-information-leaflet-for-covid-19-vaccine-janssen#ingredients,https://fullfact.org/health/flu-shot-ingredients/,https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/approved-additives-and-e-numbers,https://modernistpantry.com/products/food-grade-polysorbate-80.html,https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/covid-19-advice/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-and-allergies/,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2019/09/22/bmjebm-2019-111222,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/25/6/191,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video of man reporting Covid-19 crimes to police is full of misinformation,,,,,, -9,,,,False,Grace Rahman,2021-07-07,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/police-station-video/,"Some reports suggest Covid-19 vaccines have caused a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.",2021-07-07,fullfact,,"Many of our readers have asked us to check claims in a video on Facebook of a man filming himself in a police station making a complaint about Covid-19 vaccines. The video is over 30 minutes long, but we have looked at the main claims he makes in it here, which are about Covid-19 vaccines and tests, amongst other things. In the video, the man claims that 1,295 people have died “as a result of the vaccine”. That is how many people had reportedly died shortly after vaccination, up to 2 June, not necessarily because of the vaccine. The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says that “The majority of these reports were in elderly people or people with underlying illness.” As the latest version of the MHRA document explains: “The nature of Yellow Card reporting means that reported events are not always proven side effects. Some events may have happened anyway, regardless of vaccination.”   On deaths, it says “Usage of the vaccines has increased rapidly and as such, so has reporting of fatal events with a temporal association with vaccination however, this does not indicate a link between vaccination and the fatalities reported.” It’s also true, as the man says, that there were just over 922,000 suspected reactions reported up to 2 June. In the same way, these reactions weren’t necessarily caused by the vaccine. The video also claims that PCR tests contain ethylene oxide, a dangerous gas. As we have written before, ethylene oxide exposure can be unsafe, but it is commonly used to sterilise medical equipment, including Covid-19 tests, and doesn’t pose any threat in this way. The MHRA recently answered a Freedom of Information request on this, explaining that the amount of residual ethylene oxide on swabs means that lateral flow test kits “are safe to use”. It also said: “In the highly unlikely event that a swab does contain a residual amount above the allowable limit, the risk to the user is still considered to be very low.” The man in the video reads out some quotations, which he attributes to the Canadian researcher Dr Byram Bridle, claiming that the Covid vaccines produce a spike protein that is toxic to humans. This is not true. We have written in detail about this before. So have many other fact checkers.  There is a protein on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19, called a spike protein. The Covid-19 vaccines work by giving the body instructions on how to make that spike protein, so that if the body encounters it later, the immune system can generate a response that attacks the virus faster and more effectively. There is some evidence that the spike proteins generated by the Moderna vaccine can leave the site of the injection. And the spike proteins on the actual virus itself have been found in the brains of people who died of Covid-19. But this doesn’t mean that the spike proteins generated by the body from the vaccine are harmful. Quoting another doctor talking about the Covid vaccines, the man in the video says: “There are some reports to suggest there is a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.” This claim is misleading, and we’ve checked a similar one before.  Miscarriages have been reported following Covid-19 vaccinations but there’s no evidence to show that vaccines were the cause. The number reported doesn’t appear to exceed the level you would ordinarily expect. As we’ve said, the MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of adverse events following vaccination, but does not prove that vaccination was the cause of any of them. It isn’t necessarily surprising that the number of miscarriages reported after vaccination has increased alongside the number of women of childbearing age being vaccinated. Just by increasing that pool of people, you would expect to see a larger number of pregnancies in that group, and therefore a proportion of miscarriages. Appearing to quote the same doctor, the man also says: “It is also documented that polysorbate 80 is contained within the vaccines and this is known to cause issues in relation to fertility.” The AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines do contain small amounts of polysorbate 80, which is also in certain flu jabs and is used as a food additive in things like ice cream. Some people may be allergic to it. But it’s a persistent myth that polysorbate 80 is linked to fertility issues. A study linking the chemical to reduced fertility in rats is sometimes cited as evidence, but the relative dose given to rats in the trial was significantly larger than humans would ever get in a vaccine.","https://www.facebook.com/100008184070258/videos/2940863029529804/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#analysis-of-data,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#annex-1-vaccine-analysis-print,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#:~:text=usage%20of%20the%20covid-19%20vaccine%20astrazeneca%20has%20increased%20rapidly%20and%20as%20such%2C%20so%20has%20reporting%20of%20fatal%20events%20with%20a%20temporal%20association%20with%20vaccination%20however,https://fullfact.org/online/lateral-flow-tests-ethylene-oxide/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-responses-from-the-mhra-week-commencing-26-april-2021/freedom-of-information-request-on-use-of-ethylene-oxide-to-sterilise-swabs-used-in-testing-for-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/online/conservative-woman-vaccine-scientist-spike-protein/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-377989296609,https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/08/fact-check-proteins-covid-19-vaccines-arent-dangerous-toxins/7505236002/,https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/07/facebook-posts/no-proof-researcher-claim-covid-19-vaccines-spike-/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://fullfact.org/online/Covid-vaccine-miscarriage-false/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/information-for-uk-recipients-on-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#contents-of-the-pack-and-other-information,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen/patient-information-leaflet-for-covid-19-vaccine-janssen#ingredients,https://fullfact.org/health/flu-shot-ingredients/,https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/approved-additives-and-e-numbers,https://modernistpantry.com/products/food-grade-polysorbate-80.html,https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/covid-19-advice/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-and-allergies/,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2019/09/22/bmjebm-2019-111222,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/25/6/191,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video of man reporting Covid-19 crimes to police is full of misinformation,,,,,, -10,,,,False,Grace Rahman,2021-07-07,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/police-station-video/,"Some reports suggest Covid-19 vaccines have caused a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.",2021-07-07,fullfact,,"Many of our readers have asked us to check claims in a video on Facebook of a man filming himself in a police station making a complaint about Covid-19 vaccines. The video is over 30 minutes long, but we have looked at the main claims he makes in it here, which are about Covid-19 vaccines and tests, amongst other things. In the video, the man claims that 1,295 people have died “as a result of the vaccine”. That is how many people had reportedly died shortly after vaccination, up to 2 June, not necessarily because of the vaccine. The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says that “The majority of these reports were in elderly people or people with underlying illness.” As the latest version of the MHRA document explains: “The nature of Yellow Card reporting means that reported events are not always proven side effects. Some events may have happened anyway, regardless of vaccination.”   On deaths, it says “Usage of the vaccines has increased rapidly and as such, so has reporting of fatal events with a temporal association with vaccination however, this does not indicate a link between vaccination and the fatalities reported.” It’s also true, as the man says, that there were just over 922,000 suspected reactions reported up to 2 June. In the same way, these reactions weren’t necessarily caused by the vaccine. The video also claims that PCR tests contain ethylene oxide, a dangerous gas. As we have written before, ethylene oxide exposure can be unsafe, but it is commonly used to sterilise medical equipment, including Covid-19 tests, and doesn’t pose any threat in this way. The MHRA recently answered a Freedom of Information request on this, explaining that the amount of residual ethylene oxide on swabs means that lateral flow test kits “are safe to use”. It also said: “In the highly unlikely event that a swab does contain a residual amount above the allowable limit, the risk to the user is still considered to be very low.” The man in the video reads out some quotations, which he attributes to the Canadian researcher Dr Byram Bridle, claiming that the Covid vaccines produce a spike protein that is toxic to humans. This is not true. We have written in detail about this before. So have many other fact checkers.  There is a protein on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19, called a spike protein. The Covid-19 vaccines work by giving the body instructions on how to make that spike protein, so that if the body encounters it later, the immune system can generate a response that attacks the virus faster and more effectively. There is some evidence that the spike proteins generated by the Moderna vaccine can leave the site of the injection. And the spike proteins on the actual virus itself have been found in the brains of people who died of Covid-19. But this doesn’t mean that the spike proteins generated by the body from the vaccine are harmful. Quoting another doctor talking about the Covid vaccines, the man in the video says: “There are some reports to suggest there is a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.” This claim is misleading, and we’ve checked a similar one before.  Miscarriages have been reported following Covid-19 vaccinations but there’s no evidence to show that vaccines were the cause. The number reported doesn’t appear to exceed the level you would ordinarily expect. As we’ve said, the MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of adverse events following vaccination, but does not prove that vaccination was the cause of any of them. It isn’t necessarily surprising that the number of miscarriages reported after vaccination has increased alongside the number of women of childbearing age being vaccinated. Just by increasing that pool of people, you would expect to see a larger number of pregnancies in that group, and therefore a proportion of miscarriages. Appearing to quote the same doctor, the man also says: “It is also documented that polysorbate 80 is contained within the vaccines and this is known to cause issues in relation to fertility.” The AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines do contain small amounts of polysorbate 80, which is also in certain flu jabs and is used as a food additive in things like ice cream. Some people may be allergic to it. But it’s a persistent myth that polysorbate 80 is linked to fertility issues. A study linking the chemical to reduced fertility in rats is sometimes cited as evidence, but the relative dose given to rats in the trial was significantly larger than humans would ever get in a vaccine.","https://www.facebook.com/100008184070258/videos/2940863029529804/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#analysis-of-data,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#annex-1-vaccine-analysis-print,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#:~:text=usage%20of%20the%20covid-19%20vaccine%20astrazeneca%20has%20increased%20rapidly%20and%20as%20such%2C%20so%20has%20reporting%20of%20fatal%20events%20with%20a%20temporal%20association%20with%20vaccination%20however,https://fullfact.org/online/lateral-flow-tests-ethylene-oxide/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-responses-from-the-mhra-week-commencing-26-april-2021/freedom-of-information-request-on-use-of-ethylene-oxide-to-sterilise-swabs-used-in-testing-for-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/online/conservative-woman-vaccine-scientist-spike-protein/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-377989296609,https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/08/fact-check-proteins-covid-19-vaccines-arent-dangerous-toxins/7505236002/,https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/07/facebook-posts/no-proof-researcher-claim-covid-19-vaccines-spike-/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://fullfact.org/online/Covid-vaccine-miscarriage-false/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/information-for-uk-recipients-on-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#contents-of-the-pack-and-other-information,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen/patient-information-leaflet-for-covid-19-vaccine-janssen#ingredients,https://fullfact.org/health/flu-shot-ingredients/,https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/approved-additives-and-e-numbers,https://modernistpantry.com/products/food-grade-polysorbate-80.html,https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/covid-19-advice/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-and-allergies/,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2019/09/22/bmjebm-2019-111222,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/25/6/191,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video of man reporting Covid-19 crimes to police is full of misinformation,,,,,, -11,,,,False,Grace Rahman,2021-07-07,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/police-station-video/,"Some reports suggest Covid-19 vaccines have caused a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.",2021-07-07,fullfact,,"Many of our readers have asked us to check claims in a video on Facebook of a man filming himself in a police station making a complaint about Covid-19 vaccines. The video is over 30 minutes long, but we have looked at the main claims he makes in it here, which are about Covid-19 vaccines and tests, amongst other things. In the video, the man claims that 1,295 people have died “as a result of the vaccine”. That is how many people had reportedly died shortly after vaccination, up to 2 June, not necessarily because of the vaccine. The Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) says that “The majority of these reports were in elderly people or people with underlying illness.” As the latest version of the MHRA document explains: “The nature of Yellow Card reporting means that reported events are not always proven side effects. Some events may have happened anyway, regardless of vaccination.”   On deaths, it says “Usage of the vaccines has increased rapidly and as such, so has reporting of fatal events with a temporal association with vaccination however, this does not indicate a link between vaccination and the fatalities reported.” It’s also true, as the man says, that there were just over 922,000 suspected reactions reported up to 2 June. In the same way, these reactions weren’t necessarily caused by the vaccine. The video also claims that PCR tests contain ethylene oxide, a dangerous gas. As we have written before, ethylene oxide exposure can be unsafe, but it is commonly used to sterilise medical equipment, including Covid-19 tests, and doesn’t pose any threat in this way. The MHRA recently answered a Freedom of Information request on this, explaining that the amount of residual ethylene oxide on swabs means that lateral flow test kits “are safe to use”. It also said: “In the highly unlikely event that a swab does contain a residual amount above the allowable limit, the risk to the user is still considered to be very low.” The man in the video reads out some quotations, which he attributes to the Canadian researcher Dr Byram Bridle, claiming that the Covid vaccines produce a spike protein that is toxic to humans. This is not true. We have written in detail about this before. So have many other fact checkers.  There is a protein on the surface of the virus that causes Covid-19, called a spike protein. The Covid-19 vaccines work by giving the body instructions on how to make that spike protein, so that if the body encounters it later, the immune system can generate a response that attacks the virus faster and more effectively. There is some evidence that the spike proteins generated by the Moderna vaccine can leave the site of the injection. And the spike proteins on the actual virus itself have been found in the brains of people who died of Covid-19. But this doesn’t mean that the spike proteins generated by the body from the vaccine are harmful. Quoting another doctor talking about the Covid vaccines, the man in the video says: “There are some reports to suggest there is a 2,000% increase in miscarriages.” This claim is misleading, and we’ve checked a similar one before.  Miscarriages have been reported following Covid-19 vaccinations but there’s no evidence to show that vaccines were the cause. The number reported doesn’t appear to exceed the level you would ordinarily expect. As we’ve said, the MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of adverse events following vaccination, but does not prove that vaccination was the cause of any of them. It isn’t necessarily surprising that the number of miscarriages reported after vaccination has increased alongside the number of women of childbearing age being vaccinated. Just by increasing that pool of people, you would expect to see a larger number of pregnancies in that group, and therefore a proportion of miscarriages. Appearing to quote the same doctor, the man also says: “It is also documented that polysorbate 80 is contained within the vaccines and this is known to cause issues in relation to fertility.” The AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines do contain small amounts of polysorbate 80, which is also in certain flu jabs and is used as a food additive in things like ice cream. Some people may be allergic to it. But it’s a persistent myth that polysorbate 80 is linked to fertility issues. A study linking the chemical to reduced fertility in rats is sometimes cited as evidence, but the relative dose given to rats in the trial was significantly larger than humans would ever get in a vaccine.","https://www.facebook.com/100008184070258/videos/2940863029529804/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#analysis-of-data,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#annex-1-vaccine-analysis-print,https://web.archive.org/web/20210616204557/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#:~:text=usage%20of%20the%20covid-19%20vaccine%20astrazeneca%20has%20increased%20rapidly%20and%20as%20such%2C%20so%20has%20reporting%20of%20fatal%20events%20with%20a%20temporal%20association%20with%20vaccination%20however,https://fullfact.org/online/lateral-flow-tests-ethylene-oxide/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freedom-of-information-responses-from-the-mhra-week-commencing-26-april-2021/freedom-of-information-request-on-use-of-ethylene-oxide-to-sterilise-swabs-used-in-testing-for-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/online/conservative-woman-vaccine-scientist-spike-protein/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-377989296609,https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/08/fact-check-proteins-covid-19-vaccines-arent-dangerous-toxins/7505236002/,https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jun/07/facebook-posts/no-proof-researcher-claim-covid-19-vaccines-spike-/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://fullfact.org/online/Covid-vaccine-miscarriage-false/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/information-for-uk-recipients-on-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#contents-of-the-pack-and-other-information,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen/patient-information-leaflet-for-covid-19-vaccine-janssen#ingredients,https://fullfact.org/health/flu-shot-ingredients/,https://www.food.gov.uk/business-guidance/approved-additives-and-e-numbers,https://modernistpantry.com/products/food-grade-polysorbate-80.html,https://www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/covid-19-advice/pfizer-covid-19-vaccine-and-allergies/,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/early/2019/09/22/bmjebm-2019-111222,https://ebm.bmj.com/content/25/6/191,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video of man reporting Covid-19 crimes to police is full of misinformation,,,,,, -12,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-06,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/car-multiclaim-video/,The Covid-19 vaccines are a mass clinical trial and won’t get to phase 3 trials until 2023.,2021-07-06,fullfact,,"A video shared online features a former health worker making a number of false claims about the Covid-19 pandemic, and vaccines.  This is incorrect.  Covid-19 is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.  As we have written previously, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been isolated in laboratories around the world many times since it was discovered.   Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist and Associate Professor at Leeds Institute of Medical Research, previously told Full Fact: “SARS-CoV2 has been sampled millions of times over from infected people, including those originally found to be infected in China”.   We have written about the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Yellow Card scheme many times before.  The UK’s Yellow Card scheme collects and monitors safety concerns involving any medicines and medical devices such as suspected or potential side effects. This relies on voluntary reporting from medics and members of the public and aims to provide an early warning that the safety of a medicine or a medical device may require further investigation.  According to  MHRA data up to 26 May 2021, there were around a quarter of a million Yellow Card reports for the Covid-19 vaccines.  Of those, there were 885,980 suspected reactions (because one Yellow Card may report multiple symptoms). These range from sore arms and ‘flu like’ symptoms to some of the more significant suspected reactions. It’s correct that 1,253 deaths had been reported.  But we don’t know that these reactions or deaths were caused by the vaccine, and they certainly aren’t all cases where hospitals or doctors have agreed that it was the vaccine’s fault. As explained by the MHRA “It is very important to note that a Yellow Card report does not necessarily mean the vaccine caused that reaction or event. We ask for any suspicions to be reported, even if the reporter isn’t sure if it was caused by the vaccine. Reports to the scheme are known as suspected adverse reactions (ADRs). “Many suspected ADRs reported on a Yellow Card do not have any relation to the vaccine or medicine and it is often coincidental that they both occurred around the same time. The reports are continually reviewed to detect possible new side effects that may require regulatory action, and to differentiate these from things that would have happened regardless of the vaccine or medicine being administered, for instance due to underlying or undiagnosed illness.” Specifically related to deaths reported to the Yellow Card scheme, the MHRA has said: “Vaccination and surveillance of large populations means that, by chance, some people will experience and report a new illness or events in the days and weeks after vaccination” and that thousands of deaths are expected to have occurred naturally within a few days of the millions of vaccine doses given so far, mostly in the elderly. On 7 April 2021, the MHRA issued a statement advising on a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a very rare and specific type of blood clot seen in the context of low platelets. As a precaution, because of the balance of risks from Covid-19 for young people, in addition to an individualised assessment of those who are at an increased risk of blood clots, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that people under the age of 40 in the UK should be offered an alternative Covid-19 vaccine.  As of 23 June 2021, there have been 298,081 Yellow Cards reported for the Covid-19 vaccines, including just over a million suspected reactions. This included 1,403 deaths.   It’s not quite clear what this claim means. A Google search of 85% in relation to Covid-19 vaccines directs you towards the results of studies into the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in people aged over 80. One, for example, is a Public Health England report into the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in people over the age of 80. The report says that PHE data shows that two doses of vaccine have an effectiveness against mortality of around 85%. This means that they reduce the risk of dying from Covid-19. It does not mean that people who receive the vaccine only have an 85% chance of survival.  As a quick sense check, if the 85% chance of survival was true, it would mean that 15% of people who received a Covid-19 vaccine died afterwards as a result. Given that up to 6 July 2021, roughly 45 million first doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the UK, this would result in approximately seven million deaths—which clearly hasn’t happened.     All three of the vaccines currently in use in the UK (Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna) have been authorised for use. A fourth, Janssen has been authorised, but is not yet in use.  Across the UK, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has a temporary authorisation (sometimes known as a regulation 174 authorisation) issued by the MHRA.  In Great Britain, the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines have another type of authorisation, called a “conditional marketing authorisation” which has been issued by the MHRA. We have written more about the difference between these types of authorisation before.  The European Medicines Agency has authorised the use of all four of these vaccines, under its own conditional marketing authorisation. It is under these authorisations that the AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines are made available in Northern Ireland.  As we have written previously, the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines have all had analysis of safety and efficacy data from phase three trials (involving tens of thousands of participants) published in peer-reviewed articles in medical journals such as The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. Long-term protection and safety data will continue to be collected over the next couple of years, and so the completion dates for the trials are in 2022 and 2023.  The FDA has also authorised the use of the Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen vaccines.   It’s not clear whether it is being claimed that the vaccines themselves or the act of giving them is in breach of the ethical research principles that were developed in the wake of Nazi attrocities.  Either way, as we’ve written before, medical ethics, healthcare law and social epidemiology experts have told us that the principles of the Nuremberg Code are not applicable to the current vaccine roll-out.","https://www.facebook.com/david.faleymartin/videos/10160548038101980,https://brandnewtube.com/watch/parents-watch-now-ex-nhs-nurse-louise-hampton-speaks-the-truth-amp-facts-please-share_QMn9Nqmmmb7NYp4.html,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-53948820,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-isolated-virus/,https://theconversation.com/i-study-viruses-how-our-team-isolated-the-new-coronavirus-to-fight-the-global-pandemic-133675,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7045880/,https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0516_article,https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0516_article,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-isolated-virus/,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-side-effects-express/,https://fullfact.org/online/yellow-card-astrazeneca-reactions/,https://fullfact.org/online/viral-video-covid-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/health/do-not-resuscitate-video/,https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/the-yellow-card-scheme/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210605171951/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#summary,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/994726/20210616_Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting__v2_-_clean.pdf#page=16,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-advises-on-covid-19-vaccine-for-people-aged-under-40,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#summary,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989360/PHE_COVID-19_vaccine_effectiveness_report_March_2021_v2.pdf,https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2021/02/23/covid-19-analysing-first-vaccine-effectiveness-in-the-uk/,https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1088,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989360/PHE_COVID-19_vaccine_effectiveness_report_March_2021_v2.pdf#page=3,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/information-for-uk-recipients-on-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/conditions-of-authorisation-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#history,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory/overview/public-health-threats/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/treatments-vaccines/vaccines-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines-authorised#authorised-covid-19-vaccines-section,https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/glossary/conditional-marketing-authorisation,https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/eu-exit-frequently-asked-questions,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines,https://fullfact.org/health/nuremberg-code-covid/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video in a car shares misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines,,,,,, -13,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-06,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/car-multiclaim-video/,The Covid-19 vaccines are a mass clinical trial and won’t get to phase 3 trials until 2023.,2021-07-06,fullfact,,"A video shared online features a former health worker making a number of false claims about the Covid-19 pandemic, and vaccines.  This is incorrect.  Covid-19 is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.  As we have written previously, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been isolated in laboratories around the world many times since it was discovered.   Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist and Associate Professor at Leeds Institute of Medical Research, previously told Full Fact: “SARS-CoV2 has been sampled millions of times over from infected people, including those originally found to be infected in China”.   We have written about the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Yellow Card scheme many times before.  The UK’s Yellow Card scheme collects and monitors safety concerns involving any medicines and medical devices such as suspected or potential side effects. This relies on voluntary reporting from medics and members of the public and aims to provide an early warning that the safety of a medicine or a medical device may require further investigation.  According to  MHRA data up to 26 May 2021, there were around a quarter of a million Yellow Card reports for the Covid-19 vaccines.  Of those, there were 885,980 suspected reactions (because one Yellow Card may report multiple symptoms). These range from sore arms and ‘flu like’ symptoms to some of the more significant suspected reactions. It’s correct that 1,253 deaths had been reported.  But we don’t know that these reactions or deaths were caused by the vaccine, and they certainly aren’t all cases where hospitals or doctors have agreed that it was the vaccine’s fault. As explained by the MHRA “It is very important to note that a Yellow Card report does not necessarily mean the vaccine caused that reaction or event. We ask for any suspicions to be reported, even if the reporter isn’t sure if it was caused by the vaccine. Reports to the scheme are known as suspected adverse reactions (ADRs). “Many suspected ADRs reported on a Yellow Card do not have any relation to the vaccine or medicine and it is often coincidental that they both occurred around the same time. The reports are continually reviewed to detect possible new side effects that may require regulatory action, and to differentiate these from things that would have happened regardless of the vaccine or medicine being administered, for instance due to underlying or undiagnosed illness.” Specifically related to deaths reported to the Yellow Card scheme, the MHRA has said: “Vaccination and surveillance of large populations means that, by chance, some people will experience and report a new illness or events in the days and weeks after vaccination” and that thousands of deaths are expected to have occurred naturally within a few days of the millions of vaccine doses given so far, mostly in the elderly. On 7 April 2021, the MHRA issued a statement advising on a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a very rare and specific type of blood clot seen in the context of low platelets. As a precaution, because of the balance of risks from Covid-19 for young people, in addition to an individualised assessment of those who are at an increased risk of blood clots, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that people under the age of 40 in the UK should be offered an alternative Covid-19 vaccine.  As of 23 June 2021, there have been 298,081 Yellow Cards reported for the Covid-19 vaccines, including just over a million suspected reactions. This included 1,403 deaths.   It’s not quite clear what this claim means. A Google search of 85% in relation to Covid-19 vaccines directs you towards the results of studies into the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in people aged over 80. One, for example, is a Public Health England report into the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in people over the age of 80. The report says that PHE data shows that two doses of vaccine have an effectiveness against mortality of around 85%. This means that they reduce the risk of dying from Covid-19. It does not mean that people who receive the vaccine only have an 85% chance of survival.  As a quick sense check, if the 85% chance of survival was true, it would mean that 15% of people who received a Covid-19 vaccine died afterwards as a result. Given that up to 6 July 2021, roughly 45 million first doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the UK, this would result in approximately seven million deaths—which clearly hasn’t happened.     All three of the vaccines currently in use in the UK (Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna) have been authorised for use. A fourth, Janssen has been authorised, but is not yet in use.  Across the UK, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has a temporary authorisation (sometimes known as a regulation 174 authorisation) issued by the MHRA.  In Great Britain, the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines have another type of authorisation, called a “conditional marketing authorisation” which has been issued by the MHRA. We have written more about the difference between these types of authorisation before.  The European Medicines Agency has authorised the use of all four of these vaccines, under its own conditional marketing authorisation. It is under these authorisations that the AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines are made available in Northern Ireland.  As we have written previously, the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines have all had analysis of safety and efficacy data from phase three trials (involving tens of thousands of participants) published in peer-reviewed articles in medical journals such as The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. Long-term protection and safety data will continue to be collected over the next couple of years, and so the completion dates for the trials are in 2022 and 2023.  The FDA has also authorised the use of the Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen vaccines.   It’s not clear whether it is being claimed that the vaccines themselves or the act of giving them is in breach of the ethical research principles that were developed in the wake of Nazi attrocities.  Either way, as we’ve written before, medical ethics, healthcare law and social epidemiology experts have told us that the principles of the Nuremberg Code are not applicable to the current vaccine roll-out.","https://www.facebook.com/david.faleymartin/videos/10160548038101980,https://brandnewtube.com/watch/parents-watch-now-ex-nhs-nurse-louise-hampton-speaks-the-truth-amp-facts-please-share_QMn9Nqmmmb7NYp4.html,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-53948820,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-isolated-virus/,https://theconversation.com/i-study-viruses-how-our-team-isolated-the-new-coronavirus-to-fight-the-global-pandemic-133675,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7045880/,https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0516_article,https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0516_article,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-isolated-virus/,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-side-effects-express/,https://fullfact.org/online/yellow-card-astrazeneca-reactions/,https://fullfact.org/online/viral-video-covid-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/health/do-not-resuscitate-video/,https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/the-yellow-card-scheme/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210605171951/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#summary,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/994726/20210616_Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting__v2_-_clean.pdf#page=16,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-advises-on-covid-19-vaccine-for-people-aged-under-40,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#summary,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989360/PHE_COVID-19_vaccine_effectiveness_report_March_2021_v2.pdf,https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2021/02/23/covid-19-analysing-first-vaccine-effectiveness-in-the-uk/,https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1088,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989360/PHE_COVID-19_vaccine_effectiveness_report_March_2021_v2.pdf#page=3,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/information-for-uk-recipients-on-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/conditions-of-authorisation-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#history,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory/overview/public-health-threats/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/treatments-vaccines/vaccines-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines-authorised#authorised-covid-19-vaccines-section,https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/glossary/conditional-marketing-authorisation,https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/eu-exit-frequently-asked-questions,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines,https://fullfact.org/health/nuremberg-code-covid/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video in a car shares misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines,,,,,, -14,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-06,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/car-multiclaim-video/,The Covid-19 vaccines are a mass clinical trial and won’t get to phase 3 trials until 2023.,2021-07-06,fullfact,,"A video shared online features a former health worker making a number of false claims about the Covid-19 pandemic, and vaccines.  This is incorrect.  Covid-19 is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.  As we have written previously, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been isolated in laboratories around the world many times since it was discovered.   Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist and Associate Professor at Leeds Institute of Medical Research, previously told Full Fact: “SARS-CoV2 has been sampled millions of times over from infected people, including those originally found to be infected in China”.   We have written about the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Yellow Card scheme many times before.  The UK’s Yellow Card scheme collects and monitors safety concerns involving any medicines and medical devices such as suspected or potential side effects. This relies on voluntary reporting from medics and members of the public and aims to provide an early warning that the safety of a medicine or a medical device may require further investigation.  According to  MHRA data up to 26 May 2021, there were around a quarter of a million Yellow Card reports for the Covid-19 vaccines.  Of those, there were 885,980 suspected reactions (because one Yellow Card may report multiple symptoms). These range from sore arms and ‘flu like’ symptoms to some of the more significant suspected reactions. It’s correct that 1,253 deaths had been reported.  But we don’t know that these reactions or deaths were caused by the vaccine, and they certainly aren’t all cases where hospitals or doctors have agreed that it was the vaccine’s fault. As explained by the MHRA “It is very important to note that a Yellow Card report does not necessarily mean the vaccine caused that reaction or event. We ask for any suspicions to be reported, even if the reporter isn’t sure if it was caused by the vaccine. Reports to the scheme are known as suspected adverse reactions (ADRs). “Many suspected ADRs reported on a Yellow Card do not have any relation to the vaccine or medicine and it is often coincidental that they both occurred around the same time. The reports are continually reviewed to detect possible new side effects that may require regulatory action, and to differentiate these from things that would have happened regardless of the vaccine or medicine being administered, for instance due to underlying or undiagnosed illness.” Specifically related to deaths reported to the Yellow Card scheme, the MHRA has said: “Vaccination and surveillance of large populations means that, by chance, some people will experience and report a new illness or events in the days and weeks after vaccination” and that thousands of deaths are expected to have occurred naturally within a few days of the millions of vaccine doses given so far, mostly in the elderly. On 7 April 2021, the MHRA issued a statement advising on a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a very rare and specific type of blood clot seen in the context of low platelets. As a precaution, because of the balance of risks from Covid-19 for young people, in addition to an individualised assessment of those who are at an increased risk of blood clots, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that people under the age of 40 in the UK should be offered an alternative Covid-19 vaccine.  As of 23 June 2021, there have been 298,081 Yellow Cards reported for the Covid-19 vaccines, including just over a million suspected reactions. This included 1,403 deaths.   It’s not quite clear what this claim means. A Google search of 85% in relation to Covid-19 vaccines directs you towards the results of studies into the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in people aged over 80. One, for example, is a Public Health England report into the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in people over the age of 80. The report says that PHE data shows that two doses of vaccine have an effectiveness against mortality of around 85%. This means that they reduce the risk of dying from Covid-19. It does not mean that people who receive the vaccine only have an 85% chance of survival.  As a quick sense check, if the 85% chance of survival was true, it would mean that 15% of people who received a Covid-19 vaccine died afterwards as a result. Given that up to 6 July 2021, roughly 45 million first doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the UK, this would result in approximately seven million deaths—which clearly hasn’t happened.     All three of the vaccines currently in use in the UK (Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna) have been authorised for use. A fourth, Janssen has been authorised, but is not yet in use.  Across the UK, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has a temporary authorisation (sometimes known as a regulation 174 authorisation) issued by the MHRA.  In Great Britain, the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines have another type of authorisation, called a “conditional marketing authorisation” which has been issued by the MHRA. We have written more about the difference between these types of authorisation before.  The European Medicines Agency has authorised the use of all four of these vaccines, under its own conditional marketing authorisation. It is under these authorisations that the AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines are made available in Northern Ireland.  As we have written previously, the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines have all had analysis of safety and efficacy data from phase three trials (involving tens of thousands of participants) published in peer-reviewed articles in medical journals such as The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. Long-term protection and safety data will continue to be collected over the next couple of years, and so the completion dates for the trials are in 2022 and 2023.  The FDA has also authorised the use of the Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen vaccines.   It’s not clear whether it is being claimed that the vaccines themselves or the act of giving them is in breach of the ethical research principles that were developed in the wake of Nazi attrocities.  Either way, as we’ve written before, medical ethics, healthcare law and social epidemiology experts have told us that the principles of the Nuremberg Code are not applicable to the current vaccine roll-out.","https://www.facebook.com/david.faleymartin/videos/10160548038101980,https://brandnewtube.com/watch/parents-watch-now-ex-nhs-nurse-louise-hampton-speaks-the-truth-amp-facts-please-share_QMn9Nqmmmb7NYp4.html,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-53948820,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-isolated-virus/,https://theconversation.com/i-study-viruses-how-our-team-isolated-the-new-coronavirus-to-fight-the-global-pandemic-133675,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7045880/,https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0516_article,https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0516_article,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-isolated-virus/,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-side-effects-express/,https://fullfact.org/online/yellow-card-astrazeneca-reactions/,https://fullfact.org/online/viral-video-covid-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/health/do-not-resuscitate-video/,https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/the-yellow-card-scheme/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210605171951/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#summary,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/994726/20210616_Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting__v2_-_clean.pdf#page=16,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-advises-on-covid-19-vaccine-for-people-aged-under-40,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#summary,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989360/PHE_COVID-19_vaccine_effectiveness_report_March_2021_v2.pdf,https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2021/02/23/covid-19-analysing-first-vaccine-effectiveness-in-the-uk/,https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1088,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989360/PHE_COVID-19_vaccine_effectiveness_report_March_2021_v2.pdf#page=3,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/information-for-uk-recipients-on-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/conditions-of-authorisation-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#history,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory/overview/public-health-threats/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/treatments-vaccines/vaccines-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines-authorised#authorised-covid-19-vaccines-section,https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/glossary/conditional-marketing-authorisation,https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/eu-exit-frequently-asked-questions,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines,https://fullfact.org/health/nuremberg-code-covid/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video in a car shares misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines,,,,,, -15,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-06,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/car-multiclaim-video/,The Covid-19 vaccines are a mass clinical trial and won’t get to phase 3 trials until 2023.,2021-07-06,fullfact,,"A video shared online features a former health worker making a number of false claims about the Covid-19 pandemic, and vaccines.  This is incorrect.  Covid-19 is the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.  As we have written previously, the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been isolated in laboratories around the world many times since it was discovered.   Dr Stephen Griffin, a virologist and Associate Professor at Leeds Institute of Medical Research, previously told Full Fact: “SARS-CoV2 has been sampled millions of times over from infected people, including those originally found to be infected in China”.   We have written about the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) Yellow Card scheme many times before.  The UK’s Yellow Card scheme collects and monitors safety concerns involving any medicines and medical devices such as suspected or potential side effects. This relies on voluntary reporting from medics and members of the public and aims to provide an early warning that the safety of a medicine or a medical device may require further investigation.  According to  MHRA data up to 26 May 2021, there were around a quarter of a million Yellow Card reports for the Covid-19 vaccines.  Of those, there were 885,980 suspected reactions (because one Yellow Card may report multiple symptoms). These range from sore arms and ‘flu like’ symptoms to some of the more significant suspected reactions. It’s correct that 1,253 deaths had been reported.  But we don’t know that these reactions or deaths were caused by the vaccine, and they certainly aren’t all cases where hospitals or doctors have agreed that it was the vaccine’s fault. As explained by the MHRA “It is very important to note that a Yellow Card report does not necessarily mean the vaccine caused that reaction or event. We ask for any suspicions to be reported, even if the reporter isn’t sure if it was caused by the vaccine. Reports to the scheme are known as suspected adverse reactions (ADRs). “Many suspected ADRs reported on a Yellow Card do not have any relation to the vaccine or medicine and it is often coincidental that they both occurred around the same time. The reports are continually reviewed to detect possible new side effects that may require regulatory action, and to differentiate these from things that would have happened regardless of the vaccine or medicine being administered, for instance due to underlying or undiagnosed illness.” Specifically related to deaths reported to the Yellow Card scheme, the MHRA has said: “Vaccination and surveillance of large populations means that, by chance, some people will experience and report a new illness or events in the days and weeks after vaccination” and that thousands of deaths are expected to have occurred naturally within a few days of the millions of vaccine doses given so far, mostly in the elderly. On 7 April 2021, the MHRA issued a statement advising on a possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a very rare and specific type of blood clot seen in the context of low platelets. As a precaution, because of the balance of risks from Covid-19 for young people, in addition to an individualised assessment of those who are at an increased risk of blood clots, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that people under the age of 40 in the UK should be offered an alternative Covid-19 vaccine.  As of 23 June 2021, there have been 298,081 Yellow Cards reported for the Covid-19 vaccines, including just over a million suspected reactions. This included 1,403 deaths.   It’s not quite clear what this claim means. A Google search of 85% in relation to Covid-19 vaccines directs you towards the results of studies into the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in people aged over 80. One, for example, is a Public Health England report into the effectiveness of the Covid-19 vaccines in people over the age of 80. The report says that PHE data shows that two doses of vaccine have an effectiveness against mortality of around 85%. This means that they reduce the risk of dying from Covid-19. It does not mean that people who receive the vaccine only have an 85% chance of survival.  As a quick sense check, if the 85% chance of survival was true, it would mean that 15% of people who received a Covid-19 vaccine died afterwards as a result. Given that up to 6 July 2021, roughly 45 million first doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in the UK, this would result in approximately seven million deaths—which clearly hasn’t happened.     All three of the vaccines currently in use in the UK (Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna) have been authorised for use. A fourth, Janssen has been authorised, but is not yet in use.  Across the UK, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has a temporary authorisation (sometimes known as a regulation 174 authorisation) issued by the MHRA.  In Great Britain, the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines have another type of authorisation, called a “conditional marketing authorisation” which has been issued by the MHRA. We have written more about the difference between these types of authorisation before.  The European Medicines Agency has authorised the use of all four of these vaccines, under its own conditional marketing authorisation. It is under these authorisations that the AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines are made available in Northern Ireland.  As we have written previously, the Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines have all had analysis of safety and efficacy data from phase three trials (involving tens of thousands of participants) published in peer-reviewed articles in medical journals such as The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine. Long-term protection and safety data will continue to be collected over the next couple of years, and so the completion dates for the trials are in 2022 and 2023.  The FDA has also authorised the use of the Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen vaccines.   It’s not clear whether it is being claimed that the vaccines themselves or the act of giving them is in breach of the ethical research principles that were developed in the wake of Nazi attrocities.  Either way, as we’ve written before, medical ethics, healthcare law and social epidemiology experts have told us that the principles of the Nuremberg Code are not applicable to the current vaccine roll-out.","https://www.facebook.com/david.faleymartin/videos/10160548038101980,https://brandnewtube.com/watch/parents-watch-now-ex-nhs-nurse-louise-hampton-speaks-the-truth-amp-facts-please-share_QMn9Nqmmmb7NYp4.html,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-53948820,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-isolated-virus/,https://theconversation.com/i-study-viruses-how-our-team-isolated-the-new-coronavirus-to-fight-the-global-pandemic-133675,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7045880/,https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0516_article,https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/6/20-0516_article,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-isolated-virus/,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-side-effects-express/,https://fullfact.org/online/yellow-card-astrazeneca-reactions/,https://fullfact.org/online/viral-video-covid-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/health/do-not-resuscitate-video/,https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/the-yellow-card-scheme/,https://web.archive.org/web/20210605171951/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#summary,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/994726/20210616_Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting__v2_-_clean.pdf#page=16,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-advises-on-covid-19-vaccine-for-people-aged-under-40,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#summary,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989360/PHE_COVID-19_vaccine_effectiveness_report_March_2021_v2.pdf,https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2021/02/23/covid-19-analysing-first-vaccine-effectiveness-in-the-uk/,https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1088,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989360/PHE_COVID-19_vaccine_effectiveness_report_March_2021_v2.pdf#page=3,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/information-for-uk-recipients-on-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/conditions-of-authorisation-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#history,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory/overview/public-health-threats/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/treatments-vaccines/vaccines-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines-authorised#authorised-covid-19-vaccines-section,https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/glossary/conditional-marketing-authorisation,https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/eu-exit-frequently-asked-questions,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19/covid-19-vaccines,https://fullfact.org/health/nuremberg-code-covid/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Video in a car shares misinformation about Covid-19 vaccines,,,,,, -16,,,,Other,Pippa Allen-Kinross,2021-07-02,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/lateral-flow-tests-cordial/,"Diluted cordial poured onto a lateral flow test appears to test positive, meaning the tests are a farce.",2021-07-02,fullfact,,"A widely shared post on Facebook claims that lateral flow tests are “a big farce” because pouring some diluted cordial onto one appeared to give a positive Covid-19 result. The poster also claims this means they would falsely test positive after drinking.  As we have written many times before, the acidity in some foods and drinks can break a test and cause a second line to appear, as if the test were positive.  This does not mean that the tests are unreliable when used correctly, and it does not mean that the foods and drinks used to break the test are really positive for Covid-19. Lateral flow tests are unlikely to give a false positive result if used correctly. To avoid the risk of consumed food or drink affecting the result of a lateral flow test, government guidance states: “Do not eat or drink for at least 30 minutes before doing the test to reduce the risk of spoiling the test.” We have previously fact checked similar claims about ketchup, oranges, kiwi fruit and Coca-Cola.  Using food and drinks on lateral flow tests has been in the news after reports that pupils are attempting to get time off school by using liquids like lemon juice to create false positive results.","https://www.facebook.com/gem.turner.90/posts/10165545601115154,https://fullfact.org/online/ketchup-squash-fruit/,https://www.apr.cz/data/uploads/covid-19/cpr_05_diaquick-covid-19-ag-cassette_2020-09-18.pdf,https://en.joysbio.com/covid-19-antigen-rapid-test-kit/,https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Options-use-of-rapid-antigen-tests-for-COVID-19.pdf#page=4,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957271/COVID-19-self-test-instructions.pdf#page=4,https://fullfact.org/online/ketchup-covid-positive-lateral-flow-test/,https://fullfact.org/online/orange-covid-positive/,https://fullfact.org/online/kiwi-covid/,https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/tiktok-fake-covid-positive-test-schools-1079693,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Pouring diluted cordial onto a Covid-19 test won’t give an accurate result,,,,,, -17,,,,Other,Pippa Allen-Kinross,2021-07-02,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/news/michael-gove-public-first/,The court found there was no actual bias in the awarding of a contract to Public First.,2021-07-02,fullfact,,"During an appearance on Sky News on 15 June, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove was asked about a recent ruling at the High Court on the government’s decision to award a £560,000 contract to marketing agency Public First during the pandemic. The agency is run by former colleagues of both Mr Gove and Dominic Cummings, the former chief adviser to the Prime Minister.  Mr Gove insisted the High Court did not find “actual bias” in the decision to award the contract, and there was no breach of the ministerial code. We take a look at what the ruling found.  The legal action was taken by The Good Law Project into the decision to award the contract to Public First “for the provision of focus group and communications support services.” It challenged the decision to award the contract on three grounds: that the government didn’t have the basis for awarding the contract without competition, that the award of the contract for a period of six months was disproportionate, and that the decision to award this contract to Public First gave rise to “apparent bias”, as observers would conclude there was bias due to the connections between Mr Cummings, Mr Gove and the directors of Public First. Lawyers for the Cabinet Office disputed the claims and argued that there was no time to run a procurement process due to the pandemic, and the decision to award the contract was based on professional assessment rather than personal connections.  They argued that “in all the circumstances of the case, a fair-minded and informed observer, who had knowledge of the facts, would not conclude that there was a real possibility that the decision maker was biased.” The claimant failed on the first two grounds. However, the judge held that the decision making process which led to the award of the contract did give rise to “apparent bias” and so was unlawful.   The ruling said: “The defendant's failure to consider any other research agency, by reference to experience, expertise, availability or capacity, would lead a fair-minded and informed observer to conclude that there was a real possibility, or a real danger, that the decision-maker was biased."" But it also added: ""The fair-minded and informed observer would have appreciated that there was an urgent need for research through focus groups on effective communications in response to the Covid-19 crisis and that those research services were required immediately."" The ruling also stated that neither Mr Gove nor Mr Cummings “had any involvement in the appointment of Public First” to carry out initial work in February 2020. This work then turned into a six month contract, awarded in June 2020. The ruling does not state whether or not Mr Gove had any involvement with the awarding of this contract. Mr Gove said on Sky News that the court found there was “no actual bias” in its ruling, something which was disputed by The Good Law Project’s director Jolyon Maugham on Twitter. What is important here is that there is more than one kind of bias. ‘Actual bias’ means that the decision-maker was prejudiced in favour or against a particular party (in this case Public First), while ‘apparent bias’ means that a fair minded and informed observer would conclude that there was a real possibility of bias.  In the ruling, it clearly states: “There is no suggestion of actual bias in this case. The allegation is that the circumstances in which the contract was awarded to Public First gave rise to apparent bias.” It also states: “It is emphasised that the court is not concerned with any suggestion of actual bias. But as explained above, the absence of actual bias is not in itself a defence to an allegation of apparent bias.” This means that the court did not find actual bias in this case. Actual bias was never alleged by The Good Law Project or examined by the court. Therefore Mr Gove’s claim that “the court found that there was no actual bias” is wrong. The Ministerial Code is a set of rules and principles which set the standards of conduct for government ministers. It is not legally binding.  The Institute for Government explains that, when a break of the UK Ministerial Code is alleged to have taken place, “whether and how it is investigated is entirely at the prime minister’s discretion.” The Ministerial Code says: “Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.” Labour has demanded an investigation into whether Mr Gove breached the code following the ruling. However, the Cabinet Office has said there will be no investigation as Mr Gove was not personally involved in the decision to award the contract.","https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/good-law-project-v-cabinet-office/,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57413115,https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Good-Law-Project-v-Cabinet-Office-judgment.pdf#page=4,https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/good-law-project-v-cabinet-office/,https://twitter.com/JolyonMaugham/status/1404725232246661122?s=20,https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Good-Law-Project-v-Cabinet-Office-judgment.pdf#page=34,https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Good-Law-Project-v-Cabinet-Office-judgment.pdf#page=39,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/ministerial-code,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/ministerial-code,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/826920/August-2019-MINISTERIAL-CODE-FINAL-FORMATTED-2.pdf#page=32,https://labour.org.uk/press/labour-demands-investigation-into-ministerial-code-breach-over-unlawful-michael-gove-contract/,https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/09/covid-contract-for-firm-run-by-cummings-friends-was-unlawful-judge-rules,https://fullfact.org/news/boris-johnson-whatsapp-covid-life-expectancy-cummings/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/what-has-prime-minister-said-about-booing-england-players/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/times-woke-survey/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/sun-cancel-culture/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/matt-hancock-private-email/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Was Michael Gove right about court ruling over bias in contracts?,,,,,, -18,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-06-29,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/Hart-Newsround-report-misleading/,Children are more likely to produce more harmful spike proteins after they’ve been vaccinated.,2021-06-29,fullfact,,"An online article by science pressure group the Health Advisory and Recovery Team (HART) has claimed a video by children’s TV show Newsround made a number of misleading claims about the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children.  Since the video was released, Newsround made one correction in an accompanying article on its website stating “the claim that the vaccine is 100% safe has been removed from an online transcript of this article.”  It also included a statement from UK drug regulator the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).  It said: ""We have carefully reviewed clinical trial data in children aged 12 to 15 years and have concluded that the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective in this age group and that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh any risk."" However, a number of other claims HART made are themselves misleading.  HART said this Pfizer trial was “grossly underpowered” to detect relatively rare serious events as only 1,131 children received the vaccine in the trial and claimed that seven of the children in the trial had severe adverse events associated with the vaccine, one of which was life-threatening. It also raised questions over the ability of the trial to demonstrate efficacy, claiming that because the risk of symptomatic Covid-19 in children is so low, you would need to vaccinate more than two million people to detect one death.  It is true that the trial, which had over 6,000 participants, was too small to detect very rare adverse events. Dr Jason Oke, senior statistician at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, told Full Fact “Trials are rarely, if ever, of sufficient size (or powered) to detect differences in rare adverse events and this trial...is no exception.  “So, I would say that [HART’s] statement is not incorrect but I would suggest that this issue is not unique to this study.” While seven serious adverse events were detected among the vaccine trial group, none of the events were recorded as being related to the vaccine.  HART’s assessment of Pfizer’s efficacy data (which found 18 cases of Covid-19 in the unvaccinated group, and none in the vaccinated group) appears to only consider vaccination worthwhile if it prevents death.  While the trial was too small to detect a difference in Covid-19 deaths, that was not its purpose. It set out to measure the impact of efficacy of vaccines in reducing the risk of Covid-19, and found the vaccine worked. As Full Fact and others have reported, the vaccine is not only to reduce the risk of dying from Covid-19 (which we have previously reported is close to one in 100,000 in children who catch the disease) but to reduce non-lethal but harmful symptomatic Covid-19, transmission of the disease, and long Covid. HART also cited an open letter to CEO of the MHRA Dr June Raine as evidence of the vaccines’ harmfulness, claiming it was an “independent preliminary Yellow Card reporting review (which) advises that all COVID-19 vaccination should be halted, pending a full independent safety enquiry.” The “review” argues that 1,253 deaths and 888,196 adverse reactions (ADR) reported via the Yellow Card Scheme were “covid-19 vaccine attributed”.  We’ve said on a number of occasions that reporting of deaths and adverse events following a vaccine does not mean they are connected.  Some adverse events have been investigated and are possibly linked to vaccination. The MHRA has received reports of 389 cases of blood clotting following the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 68 were fatal. Its advice remains “that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks in the majority of people.”  Under 40s however are being offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine.  According to the latest statistics, there have been 395 instances of anaphylaxis/anaphylactoid reactions in response to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, 16 instances after the Moderna vaccine and 760 after the AstraZeneca vaccine. Anyone with a history of allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine or hypersensitivity to the Moderna vaccine have been told to not receive those vaccines.  Reports of Bell’s Palsy (a type of facial paralysis) have been analysed but “so far is similar to the expected natural rate and does not currently suggest an increased risk following the vaccines.” There have been eight reports of Capillary Leak Syndrome (where fluid leaks from the small blood vessels into the body, which can lead to organ failure and death). While it is an extremely rare condition, whose triggers are not well understood, the MHRA has advised the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be used by anyone with a history of such episodes.  The MHRA also monitored reports of myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammatory heart conditions) following vaccination. It says the reports are “very rare”, “typically mild” and people should attend for vaccination when invited “unless advised otherwise.” A range of menstrual disorders have been reported after the Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines but the number of reports are said to be low in relation to the number of women who have had their vaccine and how common such disorders are generally. Of other adverse events with a fatal outcome following vaccination “review of individual reports and patterns of reporting does not suggest the vaccine played a role in the death.” HART also claimed that children produce more spike proteins generated by the Covid-19 vaccine.  It claimed recent evidence shows these proteins are harmful. We believe this refers to statements made by viral immunologist Byram Bridle who claimed, just as spike proteins from the Covid-19 virus can enter the bloodstream and cause cellular damage, so can spike proteins generated by the Covid-19 vaccine. While we don’t know whether children produce more spike proteins following vaccination we recently fact checked Mr Bridle’s comments. Spike proteins generated by the vaccines work differently to those generated by the Covid-19 virus, and so the assumption that spike proteins generated by the vaccine could also harm cells in the bloodstream is unevidenced..  His theory has also been addressed by a number of other scientists and fact checkers.  HART also noted Newsround hadn’t mentioned some of the Pfizer vaccine's side effects, citing a recent FDA report and an upcoming U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emergency meeting on associated myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart, which can lead to heart failure). The CDC reported earlier this month that more than half of the myocarditis cases reported to the U.S Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System after the second dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines were in people aged between 12 and 24.  This has led to the FDA adding a warning to the Pfizer and Modera vaccines.  As noted earlier, the MHRA has received reports of myocarditis following vaccination but say instances are very rare, events were typically mild and individuals should still come forward for their vaccine unless advised not to.","https://www.hartgroup.org/bbc-newsround-vaccine/,https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/57389353,https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/57389353,https://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMoa2107456/suppl_file/nejmoa2107456_appendix.pdf#page=10,https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210331005503/en/,https://fullfact.org/online/risk-children-death-covid/,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-19-in-children/,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-QA-graphic/,https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-nhs-to-launch-long-covid-services-for-children-12332812,https://fullfact.org/online/Piers-Corbyn-wrong-covid-vaccine-figures/,https://fullfact.org/health/do-not-resuscitate-video/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57021738,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.ukcolumn.org/community/forums/topic/dr-byram-bridle-assoc-prof-of-viral-immunology-latest-vaccine-research/,https://fullfact.org/online/conservative-woman-vaccine-scientist-spike-protein/,https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-vaccine-safe-idUSL2N2NX1J6,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-377989296609,https://www.fda.gov/media/150054/download,https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/agenda-archive/agenda-2021-06-18-508.pdf,https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cdc-heart-inflammation-cases-ages-16-24-higher-than-expected-after-mrna-covid-19-2021-06-10/,https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/953647,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Critical report on BBC Newsround story is misleading,,,,,, -19,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-06-29,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/Hart-Newsround-report-misleading/,Children are more likely to produce more harmful spike proteins after they’ve been vaccinated.,2021-06-29,fullfact,,"An online article by science pressure group the Health Advisory and Recovery Team (HART) has claimed a video by children’s TV show Newsround made a number of misleading claims about the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children.  Since the video was released, Newsround made one correction in an accompanying article on its website stating “the claim that the vaccine is 100% safe has been removed from an online transcript of this article.”  It also included a statement from UK drug regulator the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).  It said: ""We have carefully reviewed clinical trial data in children aged 12 to 15 years and have concluded that the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective in this age group and that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh any risk."" However, a number of other claims HART made are themselves misleading.  HART said this Pfizer trial was “grossly underpowered” to detect relatively rare serious events as only 1,131 children received the vaccine in the trial and claimed that seven of the children in the trial had severe adverse events associated with the vaccine, one of which was life-threatening. It also raised questions over the ability of the trial to demonstrate efficacy, claiming that because the risk of symptomatic Covid-19 in children is so low, you would need to vaccinate more than two million people to detect one death.  It is true that the trial, which had over 6,000 participants, was too small to detect very rare adverse events. Dr Jason Oke, senior statistician at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, told Full Fact “Trials are rarely, if ever, of sufficient size (or powered) to detect differences in rare adverse events and this trial...is no exception.  “So, I would say that [HART’s] statement is not incorrect but I would suggest that this issue is not unique to this study.” While seven serious adverse events were detected among the vaccine trial group, none of the events were recorded as being related to the vaccine.  HART’s assessment of Pfizer’s efficacy data (which found 18 cases of Covid-19 in the unvaccinated group, and none in the vaccinated group) appears to only consider vaccination worthwhile if it prevents death.  While the trial was too small to detect a difference in Covid-19 deaths, that was not its purpose. It set out to measure the impact of efficacy of vaccines in reducing the risk of Covid-19, and found the vaccine worked. As Full Fact and others have reported, the vaccine is not only to reduce the risk of dying from Covid-19 (which we have previously reported is close to one in 100,000 in children who catch the disease) but to reduce non-lethal but harmful symptomatic Covid-19, transmission of the disease, and long Covid. HART also cited an open letter to CEO of the MHRA Dr June Raine as evidence of the vaccines’ harmfulness, claiming it was an “independent preliminary Yellow Card reporting review (which) advises that all COVID-19 vaccination should be halted, pending a full independent safety enquiry.” The “review” argues that 1,253 deaths and 888,196 adverse reactions (ADR) reported via the Yellow Card Scheme were “covid-19 vaccine attributed”.  We’ve said on a number of occasions that reporting of deaths and adverse events following a vaccine does not mean they are connected.  Some adverse events have been investigated and are possibly linked to vaccination. The MHRA has received reports of 389 cases of blood clotting following the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 68 were fatal. Its advice remains “that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks in the majority of people.”  Under 40s however are being offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine.  According to the latest statistics, there have been 395 instances of anaphylaxis/anaphylactoid reactions in response to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, 16 instances after the Moderna vaccine and 760 after the AstraZeneca vaccine. Anyone with a history of allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine or hypersensitivity to the Moderna vaccine have been told to not receive those vaccines.  Reports of Bell’s Palsy (a type of facial paralysis) have been analysed but “so far is similar to the expected natural rate and does not currently suggest an increased risk following the vaccines.” There have been eight reports of Capillary Leak Syndrome (where fluid leaks from the small blood vessels into the body, which can lead to organ failure and death). While it is an extremely rare condition, whose triggers are not well understood, the MHRA has advised the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be used by anyone with a history of such episodes.  The MHRA also monitored reports of myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammatory heart conditions) following vaccination. It says the reports are “very rare”, “typically mild” and people should attend for vaccination when invited “unless advised otherwise.” A range of menstrual disorders have been reported after the Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines but the number of reports are said to be low in relation to the number of women who have had their vaccine and how common such disorders are generally. Of other adverse events with a fatal outcome following vaccination “review of individual reports and patterns of reporting does not suggest the vaccine played a role in the death.” HART also claimed that children produce more spike proteins generated by the Covid-19 vaccine.  It claimed recent evidence shows these proteins are harmful. We believe this refers to statements made by viral immunologist Byram Bridle who claimed, just as spike proteins from the Covid-19 virus can enter the bloodstream and cause cellular damage, so can spike proteins generated by the Covid-19 vaccine. While we don’t know whether children produce more spike proteins following vaccination we recently fact checked Mr Bridle’s comments. Spike proteins generated by the vaccines work differently to those generated by the Covid-19 virus, and so the assumption that spike proteins generated by the vaccine could also harm cells in the bloodstream is unevidenced..  His theory has also been addressed by a number of other scientists and fact checkers.  HART also noted Newsround hadn’t mentioned some of the Pfizer vaccine's side effects, citing a recent FDA report and an upcoming U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emergency meeting on associated myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart, which can lead to heart failure). The CDC reported earlier this month that more than half of the myocarditis cases reported to the U.S Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System after the second dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines were in people aged between 12 and 24.  This has led to the FDA adding a warning to the Pfizer and Modera vaccines.  As noted earlier, the MHRA has received reports of myocarditis following vaccination but say instances are very rare, events were typically mild and individuals should still come forward for their vaccine unless advised not to.","https://www.hartgroup.org/bbc-newsround-vaccine/,https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/57389353,https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/57389353,https://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMoa2107456/suppl_file/nejmoa2107456_appendix.pdf#page=10,https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210331005503/en/,https://fullfact.org/online/risk-children-death-covid/,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-19-in-children/,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-QA-graphic/,https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-nhs-to-launch-long-covid-services-for-children-12332812,https://fullfact.org/online/Piers-Corbyn-wrong-covid-vaccine-figures/,https://fullfact.org/health/do-not-resuscitate-video/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57021738,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.ukcolumn.org/community/forums/topic/dr-byram-bridle-assoc-prof-of-viral-immunology-latest-vaccine-research/,https://fullfact.org/online/conservative-woman-vaccine-scientist-spike-protein/,https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-vaccine-safe-idUSL2N2NX1J6,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-377989296609,https://www.fda.gov/media/150054/download,https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/agenda-archive/agenda-2021-06-18-508.pdf,https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cdc-heart-inflammation-cases-ages-16-24-higher-than-expected-after-mrna-covid-19-2021-06-10/,https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/953647,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Critical report on BBC Newsround story is misleading,,,,,, -20,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-06-29,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/Hart-Newsround-report-misleading/,Children are more likely to produce more harmful spike proteins after they’ve been vaccinated.,2021-06-29,fullfact,,"An online article by science pressure group the Health Advisory and Recovery Team (HART) has claimed a video by children’s TV show Newsround made a number of misleading claims about the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for children.  Since the video was released, Newsround made one correction in an accompanying article on its website stating “the claim that the vaccine is 100% safe has been removed from an online transcript of this article.”  It also included a statement from UK drug regulator the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).  It said: ""We have carefully reviewed clinical trial data in children aged 12 to 15 years and have concluded that the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective in this age group and that the benefits of this vaccine outweigh any risk."" However, a number of other claims HART made are themselves misleading.  HART said this Pfizer trial was “grossly underpowered” to detect relatively rare serious events as only 1,131 children received the vaccine in the trial and claimed that seven of the children in the trial had severe adverse events associated with the vaccine, one of which was life-threatening. It also raised questions over the ability of the trial to demonstrate efficacy, claiming that because the risk of symptomatic Covid-19 in children is so low, you would need to vaccinate more than two million people to detect one death.  It is true that the trial, which had over 6,000 participants, was too small to detect very rare adverse events. Dr Jason Oke, senior statistician at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, told Full Fact “Trials are rarely, if ever, of sufficient size (or powered) to detect differences in rare adverse events and this trial...is no exception.  “So, I would say that [HART’s] statement is not incorrect but I would suggest that this issue is not unique to this study.” While seven serious adverse events were detected among the vaccine trial group, none of the events were recorded as being related to the vaccine.  HART’s assessment of Pfizer’s efficacy data (which found 18 cases of Covid-19 in the unvaccinated group, and none in the vaccinated group) appears to only consider vaccination worthwhile if it prevents death.  While the trial was too small to detect a difference in Covid-19 deaths, that was not its purpose. It set out to measure the impact of efficacy of vaccines in reducing the risk of Covid-19, and found the vaccine worked. As Full Fact and others have reported, the vaccine is not only to reduce the risk of dying from Covid-19 (which we have previously reported is close to one in 100,000 in children who catch the disease) but to reduce non-lethal but harmful symptomatic Covid-19, transmission of the disease, and long Covid. HART also cited an open letter to CEO of the MHRA Dr June Raine as evidence of the vaccines’ harmfulness, claiming it was an “independent preliminary Yellow Card reporting review (which) advises that all COVID-19 vaccination should be halted, pending a full independent safety enquiry.” The “review” argues that 1,253 deaths and 888,196 adverse reactions (ADR) reported via the Yellow Card Scheme were “covid-19 vaccine attributed”.  We’ve said on a number of occasions that reporting of deaths and adverse events following a vaccine does not mean they are connected.  Some adverse events have been investigated and are possibly linked to vaccination. The MHRA has received reports of 389 cases of blood clotting following the AstraZeneca vaccine, of which 68 were fatal. Its advice remains “that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks in the majority of people.”  Under 40s however are being offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca vaccine.  According to the latest statistics, there have been 395 instances of anaphylaxis/anaphylactoid reactions in response to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, 16 instances after the Moderna vaccine and 760 after the AstraZeneca vaccine. Anyone with a history of allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine or hypersensitivity to the Moderna vaccine have been told to not receive those vaccines.  Reports of Bell’s Palsy (a type of facial paralysis) have been analysed but “so far is similar to the expected natural rate and does not currently suggest an increased risk following the vaccines.” There have been eight reports of Capillary Leak Syndrome (where fluid leaks from the small blood vessels into the body, which can lead to organ failure and death). While it is an extremely rare condition, whose triggers are not well understood, the MHRA has advised the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be used by anyone with a history of such episodes.  The MHRA also monitored reports of myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammatory heart conditions) following vaccination. It says the reports are “very rare”, “typically mild” and people should attend for vaccination when invited “unless advised otherwise.” A range of menstrual disorders have been reported after the Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines but the number of reports are said to be low in relation to the number of women who have had their vaccine and how common such disorders are generally. Of other adverse events with a fatal outcome following vaccination “review of individual reports and patterns of reporting does not suggest the vaccine played a role in the death.” HART also claimed that children produce more spike proteins generated by the Covid-19 vaccine.  It claimed recent evidence shows these proteins are harmful. We believe this refers to statements made by viral immunologist Byram Bridle who claimed, just as spike proteins from the Covid-19 virus can enter the bloodstream and cause cellular damage, so can spike proteins generated by the Covid-19 vaccine. While we don’t know whether children produce more spike proteins following vaccination we recently fact checked Mr Bridle’s comments. Spike proteins generated by the vaccines work differently to those generated by the Covid-19 virus, and so the assumption that spike proteins generated by the vaccine could also harm cells in the bloodstream is unevidenced..  His theory has also been addressed by a number of other scientists and fact checkers.  HART also noted Newsround hadn’t mentioned some of the Pfizer vaccine's side effects, citing a recent FDA report and an upcoming U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emergency meeting on associated myocarditis (an inflammation of the heart, which can lead to heart failure). The CDC reported earlier this month that more than half of the myocarditis cases reported to the U.S Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System after the second dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines were in people aged between 12 and 24.  This has led to the FDA adding a warning to the Pfizer and Modera vaccines.  As noted earlier, the MHRA has received reports of myocarditis following vaccination but say instances are very rare, events were typically mild and individuals should still come forward for their vaccine unless advised not to.","https://www.hartgroup.org/bbc-newsround-vaccine/,https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/57389353,https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/57389353,https://www.nejm.org/doi/suppl/10.1056/NEJMoa2107456/suppl_file/nejmoa2107456_appendix.pdf#page=10,https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210331005503/en/,https://fullfact.org/online/risk-children-death-covid/,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-19-in-children/,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-QA-graphic/,https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-nhs-to-launch-long-covid-services-for-children-12332812,https://fullfact.org/online/Piers-Corbyn-wrong-covid-vaccine-figures/,https://fullfact.org/health/do-not-resuscitate-video/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57021738,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://www.ukcolumn.org/community/forums/topic/dr-byram-bridle-assoc-prof-of-viral-immunology-latest-vaccine-research/,https://fullfact.org/online/conservative-woman-vaccine-scientist-spike-protein/,https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-vaccine-safe-idUSL2N2NX1J6,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/byram-bridles-claim-that-covid-19-vaccines-are-toxic-fails-to-account-for-key-differences-between-the-spike-protein-produced-during-infection-and-vaccination-misrepresents-studies/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-377989296609,https://www.fda.gov/media/150054/download,https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/acip/meetings/downloads/agenda-archive/agenda-2021-06-18-508.pdf,https://www.reuters.com/world/us/cdc-heart-inflammation-cases-ages-16-24-higher-than-expected-after-mrna-covid-19-2021-06-10/,https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/953647,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Critical report on BBC Newsround story is misleading,,,,,, -21,,,,False,Tom Norton,2021-06-24,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/instagram-post-gets-it-wrong-about-covid-19-vaccines-and-animal-testing/,Covid-19 has a survival rate of 99.998%.,2021-06-24,fullfact,,"An Instagram post has made misleading claims about Covid-19 survival rates and vaccine safety testing.  It states: “99.998% chance of survival But takes part in human vaccine trial where they skipped animal testing.” Both of the claims are untrue. As we’ve covered many times before, the estimated Covid-19 survival rate has been estimated to be somewhere between 99-99.5%, though this has likely increased with the vaccine roll-out.  However, precise estimates are difficult to make because we don’t know the total number of people who caught Covid-19 and therefore what proportion survived. In any case, we can say the survival rate of the disease is lower than 99.98% because 0.2% of the population have already died with Covid-19 recorded as a cause on their death certificate, as this fact check explains. As we’ve said before the Moderna, Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines have all been tested on animals, as has the recently-approved Janssen vaccine. The confusion may have arisen from reports that the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines were permitted to carry out human trials concurrently with animal trials. The AstraZeneca vaccine was tested out on mice and monkeys before people. All of the vaccines required thorough assessment by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they were approved as safe for use. The MHRA continues to monitor the vaccines’ safety as well as any potential adverse effects.","https://www.instagram.com/p/CPTLjbnHz-G/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-ifr-more-01/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-QA-graphic/,https://perma.cc/MH8U-MJKF?type=image,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:9792931264,https://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/research-medical-benefits/how-effective-is-the-astrazenecaoxford-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Instagram post gets it wrong about Covid-19 vaccines and animal testing,,,,,, -22,,,,Other,Grace Rahman,2021-06-23,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/nhs-data-cut-off/,"Data will be linked to your NHS number, date of birth and postcode.",2021-06-23,fullfact,,"A Facebook post with over 600 shares claims that the government “has told your GP to hand over your health data, including mental & sexual health, to third parties for payment” and the deadline to opt-out of this is 23 June 2021. This deadline has changed, and this claim needs context. From September, NHS Digital will start collecting patient data from GP records in England about all living patients, including children. This is called the General Practice Data for Planning and Research data collection, and it will be used to help the NHS improve health and care services, according to NHS Digital. As the post claims, this will include information about mental and sexual health, as well as diagnoses, symptoms, test results, medications, information about physical health, a person’s sex, ethnicity and which staff treated them. NHS Digital says it will not sell your data, but does have a price list “to cover the cost of processing and delivering our service” to external organisations who want to use it for health and care planning and research uses. We have written much more about who is allowed to access the data here. The post claims that “data will be linked to your NHS number, postcode & date of birth”. This claim needs more context. Although the data collection won’t include people’s names or where they live, details like NHS numbers, postcodes and dates of birth will be collected. However, this will go through a process called pseudonymisation, which means codes will be generated to replace these details.  NHS Digital says this means that no one will be able to directly identify you in the data, without also having access to the key that links each patient to their code. However, NHS Digital does make a distinction between pseudonymisation and complete anonymisation, and so although the data will be de-personalised it will not be completely anonymous (you can read more about the distinction here). NHS Digital maintains the keys to convert these codes back into data that could identify you, but won’t do that “unless in the circumstances of any specific request it is necessary for it to be provided in an identifiable form”.  The post claims that the date to opt-out of this data collection is 23 June, which was true until 8 June, when a minister in the Department for Health and Social Care, Jo Churchill, told the House of Commons the implementation date had changed from 1 July to 1 September. To opt-out, you need to print, fill in and return this document to your GP practice. It’s not clear when exactly you have to return the opt out form to your GP to make sure it gets processed before the new implementation day on 1 September. The previous deadline, of 23 June, was a week before implementation day.  If you opt-out after this deadline, no more data will be collected. NHS Digital told Full Fact: “With regards to [General Practice Data for Planning and Research] specifically, the data will start to flow from the 1 September and patients would need to opt out ahead of this date if they do not want their data to be shared.” The user’s caption of the Facebook post was wrong when it was written, on 21 June, although the screenshot of a Double Down News tweet it includes was posted before the deadline changed.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5977364492333498&set=a.329142327155771&type=3,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/transparency-notice#how-sharing-patient-data-with-nhs-digital-helps-the-nhs-and-you,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research#what-data-is-shared,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/advice-for-the-public#we-are-not-going-to-sell-your-data,https://digital.nhs.uk/services/data-access-request-service-dars/data-access-request-service-dars-charges,https://fullfact.org/health/nhs-data/,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/transparency-notice#what-patient-data-we-collect,https://www.phc.ox.ac.uk/intranet/information-governance/information-governance/what-is-the-difference-between-anonymisation-and-pseudonymisation,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/transparency-notice#who-we-share-your-patient-data-with,https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/0aba1ed3-335d-4746-a65c-886b8adac067?in=12:01:51&out=12:02:51,https://nhs-prod.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/assets/website-assets/data-and-information/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/type-1-opt-out-form.docx,https://digital.nhs.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/collection-of-gp-data-for-planning-and-research-to-go-ahead-on-1-september-2021,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5977364492333498&set=a.329142327155771&type=3,https://twitter.com/DoubleDownNews/status/1399008002510929922,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",The deadline for opting out of the NHS GP data collection has changed,,,,,, -23,,,,Other,Grace Rahman,2021-06-23,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/nhs-data-cut-off/,"Data will be linked to your NHS number, date of birth and postcode.",2021-06-23,fullfact,,"A Facebook post with over 600 shares claims that the government “has told your GP to hand over your health data, including mental & sexual health, to third parties for payment” and the deadline to opt-out of this is 23 June 2021. This deadline has changed, and this claim needs context. From September, NHS Digital will start collecting patient data from GP records in England about all living patients, including children. This is called the General Practice Data for Planning and Research data collection, and it will be used to help the NHS improve health and care services, according to NHS Digital. As the post claims, this will include information about mental and sexual health, as well as diagnoses, symptoms, test results, medications, information about physical health, a person’s sex, ethnicity and which staff treated them. NHS Digital says it will not sell your data, but does have a price list “to cover the cost of processing and delivering our service” to external organisations who want to use it for health and care planning and research uses. We have written much more about who is allowed to access the data here. The post claims that “data will be linked to your NHS number, postcode & date of birth”. This claim needs more context. Although the data collection won’t include people’s names or where they live, details like NHS numbers, postcodes and dates of birth will be collected. However, this will go through a process called pseudonymisation, which means codes will be generated to replace these details.  NHS Digital says this means that no one will be able to directly identify you in the data, without also having access to the key that links each patient to their code. However, NHS Digital does make a distinction between pseudonymisation and complete anonymisation, and so although the data will be de-personalised it will not be completely anonymous (you can read more about the distinction here). NHS Digital maintains the keys to convert these codes back into data that could identify you, but won’t do that “unless in the circumstances of any specific request it is necessary for it to be provided in an identifiable form”.  The post claims that the date to opt-out of this data collection is 23 June, which was true until 8 June, when a minister in the Department for Health and Social Care, Jo Churchill, told the House of Commons the implementation date had changed from 1 July to 1 September. To opt-out, you need to print, fill in and return this document to your GP practice. It’s not clear when exactly you have to return the opt out form to your GP to make sure it gets processed before the new implementation day on 1 September. The previous deadline, of 23 June, was a week before implementation day.  If you opt-out after this deadline, no more data will be collected. NHS Digital told Full Fact: “With regards to [General Practice Data for Planning and Research] specifically, the data will start to flow from the 1 September and patients would need to opt out ahead of this date if they do not want their data to be shared.” The user’s caption of the Facebook post was wrong when it was written, on 21 June, although the screenshot of a Double Down News tweet it includes was posted before the deadline changed.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5977364492333498&set=a.329142327155771&type=3,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/transparency-notice#how-sharing-patient-data-with-nhs-digital-helps-the-nhs-and-you,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research#what-data-is-shared,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/advice-for-the-public#we-are-not-going-to-sell-your-data,https://digital.nhs.uk/services/data-access-request-service-dars/data-access-request-service-dars-charges,https://fullfact.org/health/nhs-data/,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/transparency-notice#what-patient-data-we-collect,https://www.phc.ox.ac.uk/intranet/information-governance/information-governance/what-is-the-difference-between-anonymisation-and-pseudonymisation,https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/transparency-notice#who-we-share-your-patient-data-with,https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/0aba1ed3-335d-4746-a65c-886b8adac067?in=12:01:51&out=12:02:51,https://nhs-prod.global.ssl.fastly.net/binaries/content/assets/website-assets/data-and-information/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/type-1-opt-out-form.docx,https://digital.nhs.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/collection-of-gp-data-for-planning-and-research-to-go-ahead-on-1-september-2021,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=5977364492333498&set=a.329142327155771&type=3,https://twitter.com/DoubleDownNews/status/1399008002510929922,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",The deadline for opting out of the NHS GP data collection has changed,,,,,, -24,,,,Other,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-06-23,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/british-airways-covid-vaccine/,British Airways have released a statement telling their pilots that they do not need to have a Covid-19 vaccine.,2021-06-23,fullfact,,"A post on Facebook claims that British Airways has released a statement telling their pilots that they don’t need to have a Covid-19 vaccine, and other airlines are not allowing people to fly who have had a vaccine.  Like other posts we’ve recently checked, the claims made in this post are based on the news that four British Airways pilots have recently died. The airline has confirmed this on social media, and a picture of four books of condolences, which appear to be genuine, have been widely circulated online.  British Airways recently told Full Fact that “there is no truth whatsoever in the claims on social media speculating that the four deaths are linked”, after claims that the deaths were linked to Covid-19 vaccines emerged.  British Airways has confirmed that it has not released a statement telling pilots that they do not need to have a Covid-19 vaccine, as the post claims. It said it has made no changes to guidance which says vaccines are a personal choice.  The post also claims that some of the airlines are “not letting people who’ve had one of the brands” of Covid-19 vaccine fly. This claim seems to originate from a Dutch article published on 26 May, which claims “airlines are now discussing their liability and what to do with the vaccinated as they are not allowed to fly because it is a health risk” and a Russian article, published 31 May, which says (in translation) that vaccinated people “may be banned from flying”. No evidence is given to substantiate either claim.  A similar article also appeared on a Swiss website, which linked to a Spanish article claiming (in translation) that “the main airlines in the world are discussing whether it is advisable to admit vaccinated customers”. Again, no evidence was provided for this claim and other fact checkers such as the Associated Press and Reuters found no record of meetings or discussions between airlines regarding this.  These articles draw links between vaccinated people flying and the risk of developing blood clots.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has identified a possible link between a type of extremely rare blood clot occurring together with low levels of platelets and the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.  Allen Cheng, director of the Infection Prevention and Healthcare Epidemiology unit at Alfred Health in Melbourne, told ABC’s Fact Check team that this is a different type of blood clot to deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is associated with sitting still for long periods of time, for example during a flight.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159134286577305&set=a.257659997304&type=3&eid=ARCe88e4hlM-2NqMlNo7ZqUtw1yA4C2iaXEdH5dm4MjsfDdWT8uptsUdWqDAm0pq9a8-uGa6Sddk8ZSW,https://fullfact.org/online/british-airways-pilot-vaccine/,https://twitter.com/British_Airways/status/1405606519631007748,https://www.vrijspreker.nl/wp/2021/05/niet-vliegen-voor-gevaccineerden/,https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=https://www.osnmedia.ru/obshhestvo/ne-lgoty-a-ogranicheniya-privitym-ot-covid-19-mogut-zapretit-aviaperelety/&prev=search&pto=aue,https://uncutnews.ch/medien-in-spanien-und-russland-fluggesellschaften-gehen-das-problem-der-blutgerinnsel-an-und-empfehlen-geimpften-personen-nicht-zu-reisen,https://mpr21.info/las-aerolineas-se-enfrentan-al-problema-de-los-coagulos-con-recomendaciones-de-no-viajar-a-las-personas-vacunadas/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-248516222683,https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-airlines-clots/fact-check-no-evidence-airlines-met-to-discuss-banning-vaccinated-passengers-idUSL2N2NX252,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-14/airlines-debunk-vaccinated-travellers-ban-rumours-coronacheck/100134084,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",British Airways hasn’t told their pilots they don’t need Covid-19 vaccine,,,,,, -25,,,,Other,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-06-23,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/british-airways-covid-vaccine/,British Airways have released a statement telling their pilots that they do not need to have a Covid-19 vaccine.,2021-06-23,fullfact,,"A post on Facebook claims that British Airways has released a statement telling their pilots that they don’t need to have a Covid-19 vaccine, and other airlines are not allowing people to fly who have had a vaccine.  Like other posts we’ve recently checked, the claims made in this post are based on the news that four British Airways pilots have recently died. The airline has confirmed this on social media, and a picture of four books of condolences, which appear to be genuine, have been widely circulated online.  British Airways recently told Full Fact that “there is no truth whatsoever in the claims on social media speculating that the four deaths are linked”, after claims that the deaths were linked to Covid-19 vaccines emerged.  British Airways has confirmed that it has not released a statement telling pilots that they do not need to have a Covid-19 vaccine, as the post claims. It said it has made no changes to guidance which says vaccines are a personal choice.  The post also claims that some of the airlines are “not letting people who’ve had one of the brands” of Covid-19 vaccine fly. This claim seems to originate from a Dutch article published on 26 May, which claims “airlines are now discussing their liability and what to do with the vaccinated as they are not allowed to fly because it is a health risk” and a Russian article, published 31 May, which says (in translation) that vaccinated people “may be banned from flying”. No evidence is given to substantiate either claim.  A similar article also appeared on a Swiss website, which linked to a Spanish article claiming (in translation) that “the main airlines in the world are discussing whether it is advisable to admit vaccinated customers”. Again, no evidence was provided for this claim and other fact checkers such as the Associated Press and Reuters found no record of meetings or discussions between airlines regarding this.  These articles draw links between vaccinated people flying and the risk of developing blood clots.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has identified a possible link between a type of extremely rare blood clot occurring together with low levels of platelets and the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.  Allen Cheng, director of the Infection Prevention and Healthcare Epidemiology unit at Alfred Health in Melbourne, told ABC’s Fact Check team that this is a different type of blood clot to deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is associated with sitting still for long periods of time, for example during a flight.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159134286577305&set=a.257659997304&type=3&eid=ARCe88e4hlM-2NqMlNo7ZqUtw1yA4C2iaXEdH5dm4MjsfDdWT8uptsUdWqDAm0pq9a8-uGa6Sddk8ZSW,https://fullfact.org/online/british-airways-pilot-vaccine/,https://twitter.com/British_Airways/status/1405606519631007748,https://www.vrijspreker.nl/wp/2021/05/niet-vliegen-voor-gevaccineerden/,https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=https://www.osnmedia.ru/obshhestvo/ne-lgoty-a-ogranicheniya-privitym-ot-covid-19-mogut-zapretit-aviaperelety/&prev=search&pto=aue,https://uncutnews.ch/medien-in-spanien-und-russland-fluggesellschaften-gehen-das-problem-der-blutgerinnsel-an-und-empfehlen-geimpften-personen-nicht-zu-reisen,https://mpr21.info/las-aerolineas-se-enfrentan-al-problema-de-los-coagulos-con-recomendaciones-de-no-viajar-a-las-personas-vacunadas/,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-248516222683,https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-airlines-clots/fact-check-no-evidence-airlines-met-to-discuss-banning-vaccinated-passengers-idUSL2N2NX252,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-14/airlines-debunk-vaccinated-travellers-ban-rumours-coronacheck/100134084,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",British Airways hasn’t told their pilots they don’t need Covid-19 vaccine,,,,,, -26,,,,True,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-06-18,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-cremation-pcr-asymptomatic-transmission/,Covid-19 death statistics have been manipulated.,2021-06-18,fullfact,,"A widely-shared post on Facebook contains a number of inaccurate and misleading claims about the Covid-19 crisis, including claims about asymptomatic transmission, death statistics and cremation procedures.  We’ve checked five of the main ones.  The post claims that people who have died are being rapidly cremated, in some cases against their or their family’s wishes, due to the Coronavirus Act.  It is true that cremation form 5, a confirmatory medical certificate, has been suspended under the Coronavirus Act.  Before Covid-19, cremation form 5 was the second part of a formal procedure to authorise a cremation, designed as a safeguard. Two certificates needed to be signed, one by the registered medical practitioner who attended the deceased during their last illness, and the other—form 5—by a registered medical practitioner who is neither a partner nor a relative of the doctor who completed the first form. The first part of this process, cremation form 4 still applies, but any doctor can complete Form 4 as long as the deceased was seen by another doctor in the 28 days before death, or shortly after death.  Form 4 is still scrutinised by a crematorium medical referee, who has the power to halt a cremation if they are unsatisfied with the way in which a death has been registered. Form 5 was removed, the government guidance states, to simplify the process “in order to address the expected increased volume of deaths and the need to focus a reduced number of available medical practitioners on dealing with more priority cases, whilst keeping a necessary level of safeguards in place. “It is also intended to reduce the likelihood of delays to allowing families to be able to make cremation arrangements for the deceased.” It is untrue that this enables rapid cremation against the wishes of the deceased’s family. Government guidance to local authorities (who manage the deceased) specifically states that they have a legal obligation to consider the deceased's wishes, religion or beliefs where they are known. This should include “contacting and consulting their next of kin or family members to understand the deceased’s wishes”. In the early stages of the pandemic, when the Coronavirus Act 2020 was still at the bill stage and progressing through Parliament, there was some concern that powers granted by the act giving local authorities the power to choose between burial or cremation could lead to people being cremated against their or their family’s wishes.  However, the bill was amended as it passed through Parliament to include a specific clause stipulating that remains must be disposed of in accordance with the deceased’s wishes or in a manner that appears consistent with a person’s religion or beliefs, if known.  The post claims that asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 is “probably the biggest hoax ever inflicted on the public”. As we have written before, there is a significant body of evidence that not only does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 exist, it may account for a large proportion of cases of the virus.   One analysis published in the Lancet in January states that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients are infectious (although potentially less so than symptomatic patients). A meta-analysis of eight Chinese studies, published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, says that transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated in some cases to have accounted for more than half of all Covid-19 transmissions. A review of 22 studies, published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), estimated that the asymptomatic proportion of Covid-19 infections was 28%. The studies specifically differentiated between truly asymptomatic infections and pre-symptomatic infections, which are often conflated.  The author of the Facebook post also questions the reliability of PCR tests, describing them as “useless” and claiming that a high cycle threshold “gives rapidly increasing numbers of false positive results”.  Cycle thresholds have become a particular focus of misinformation during the pandemic, and we have written about them before.  A PCR test is performed by repeatedly replicating target viral material in the sample to the point that it becomes detectable. The number of cycles before the virus is detectable is known as the cycle threshold (Ct). A positive test with a high Ct value may indicate a test from someone who had a very small amount of detectable viral RNA on their initial swab, and therefore may not be infectious or have an ongoing active infection.  However, a positive test with a high Ct value may indicate someone who is still infectious, or who may soon become infectious. PCR tests aren’t perfect, but are generally seen as the gold standard for Covid-19 testing. The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) says: “This test is typically highly accurate and usually does not need to be repeated.” The post claims that “most British labs used between 40 and 45 cycles” during 2020, and cites a Portuguese court ruling on PCR tests, in which judges described the reliability of the tests as “more than debatable” and said that “if a person has a positive PCR test at a cycle threshold of 35 or higher… the chances of a person being infected are less than 3%.”  According to Public Health England (PHE), a typical PCR test will go through a maximum of 40 thermal cycles, although some may go higher. PHE also says that, while a higher Ct value indicates a low concentration of viral genetic material and therefore a lower risk of infectivity, it could also represent a scenario where the risk of infectivity remains, for example, in early infection or where the sample was incorrectly collected.  It is inaccurate to say, as the post claims, that SAGE “had to admit to a mean false positive rate of 2.3% of all conducted tests”. The UK’s operational false positive rate is unknown.  This figure of 2.3% may come from a SAGE document, published in June 2020, in which an examination of 43 external quality assessments of PCR tests for other RNA viruses found a median false positivity rate of 2.3%.  We have written extensively about how Covid-19 deaths are counted throughout the pandemic. As of 17 June, 127,945 deaths have been recorded within 28 days of a positive Covid test in the UK. It is true, as the post claims, that this total may include some people who died for other reasons, besides Covid. However, it also does not include people who did die of Covid, but died more than 28 days after their first positive test, or people at the start of the pandemic who died of Covid but were not tested. Up to Friday 4 June, 2021, there have been 152,397 fatalities where Covid-19 was mentioned as a cause of death on the death certificate.  The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines on recording deaths from Covid-19, published in April 2020, states that, for surveillance purposes, a death from Covid-19 is defined as “a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed Covid-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to Covid disease (e.g. trauma)”. It does not, as the post claims, describe a “confirmed” Covid-19 death as any death following a positive test, even without symptoms of Covid-19. It is untrue that over 90% of Covid-19 deaths were in people who had one or more serious pre-existing conditions (or comorbidities, as the post states). Data compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in England in 2020, 20.7% of Covid-19 deaths in those aged 64 and under and 11.6% of Covid-19 deaths in the over-65s were people who had no pre-existing conditions. In the first quarter of 2021, the most recent data we have, 13% of all people in England and Wales who died of Covid-19 had no pre-existing conditions.  The Facebook post also claims that the average age of death from Covid-19 is 82. This is about right.  The ONS does not publish information on the average age of Covid-19 deaths on a regular basis. However, a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request published in January 2021 shows that between the week ending 9 October, 2020, and the week ending January 1, 2021, the median age of deaths involving Covid-19 was 83.  Data published through a different FOI request to the ONS shows that the median age of Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales, up to and including 2 October, 2020, was also 83.  Even so, research suggests that people who die of Covid lose about a decade of life, on average. Claims that Covid-19 has a survival rate of approximately 99.8% have persisted throughout the pandemic and, as we have written before, this is untrue.  We can work this out simply by looking at the sheer number of people who have died. As of 17 June, 152,397 people have died with Covid-19 mentioned as a cause on their death certificate—about 0.23% of the entire UK population.  If only 0.2% of people die from Covid-19 after catching it (which the claimed 99.8% survival rate implies), then everyone in the country must have already been infected. This is almost certainly not the case.  Rising Covid-19 infection rates show that the virus is continuing to spread. This is very unlikely if everyone has already been infected.","https://www.facebook.com/chris.wakefield.31/posts/10219611813712568,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/confirm-details-of-the-cremation-medical-certificate,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8860/,https://twitter.com/ilovepathology/status/1246727191179788288,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878097/revised-guidance-to-crematorium-medical-referees.pdf#page=7,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8860/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/988273/Section_58_and_Schedule_28_to_the_Coronavirus_Act_2020.pdf#page=23,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus-powers-to-direct-between-burials-and-cremation/,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/schedule/28/part/4/enacted,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-makes-false-claim-that-vaccines-are-gene-therapy/,https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198833/whole-town-study-reveals-more-than-40/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3,https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-what-proportion-are-asymptomatic/,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32651-9/fulltext,https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774707,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925128/S0745_Rapid_review_of_asymptomatic_proportion_of_SARS-CoV-2_infections_in_community_settings.pdf,https://fullfact.org/health/cycle-threshold-values/,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-pcr-test-accuracy/,https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/cclm/58/7/article-p1070.xml,https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/coronavirus-testing-basics,https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t1b01H0Jd4hsMU7V1vy70yr8s3jlBedr/view?fbclid=IwAR0L_Iu6wwIVfFlZpykLhDHroS12MHZqO533Uizzc-5ZfUUmALOOjY58he4,https://www.portugalresident.com/judges-in-portugal-highlight-more-than-debatable-reliability-of-covid-tests/,https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=pt&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dgsi.pt%2Fjtrl.nsf%2F33182fc732316039802565fa00497eec%2F79d6ba338dcbe5e28025861f003e7b30,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926410/Understanding_Cycle_Threshold__Ct__in_SARS-CoV-2_RT-PCR_.pdf#page=6,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926410/Understanding_Cycle_Threshold__Ct__in_SARS-CoV-2_RT-PCR_.pdf#page=3,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/895843/S0519_Impact_of_false_positives_and_negatives.pdf#page=2,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://fullfact.org/health/why-you-cant-compare-deaths-after-a-positive-covid-19-test-with-deaths-after-a-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/health/liam-fox-death-figures/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/Guidelines_Cause_of_Death_COVID-19.pdf,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/preexistingconditionsofpeoplewhodiedduetocovid19englandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/12773averageageofdeathmedianandmeanofpersonswhosedeathwasduetocovid19orinvolvedcovid19bysexdeathsregisteredinweekending9october2020toweekending1january2021englandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/averageageofthosewhohaddiedwithcovid19,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Covid-19 victims cannot be cremated against their wishes,,,,,, -27,,,,True,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-06-18,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-cremation-pcr-asymptomatic-transmission/,Covid-19 death statistics have been manipulated.,2021-06-18,fullfact,,"A widely-shared post on Facebook contains a number of inaccurate and misleading claims about the Covid-19 crisis, including claims about asymptomatic transmission, death statistics and cremation procedures.  We’ve checked five of the main ones.  The post claims that people who have died are being rapidly cremated, in some cases against their or their family’s wishes, due to the Coronavirus Act.  It is true that cremation form 5, a confirmatory medical certificate, has been suspended under the Coronavirus Act.  Before Covid-19, cremation form 5 was the second part of a formal procedure to authorise a cremation, designed as a safeguard. Two certificates needed to be signed, one by the registered medical practitioner who attended the deceased during their last illness, and the other—form 5—by a registered medical practitioner who is neither a partner nor a relative of the doctor who completed the first form. The first part of this process, cremation form 4 still applies, but any doctor can complete Form 4 as long as the deceased was seen by another doctor in the 28 days before death, or shortly after death.  Form 4 is still scrutinised by a crematorium medical referee, who has the power to halt a cremation if they are unsatisfied with the way in which a death has been registered. Form 5 was removed, the government guidance states, to simplify the process “in order to address the expected increased volume of deaths and the need to focus a reduced number of available medical practitioners on dealing with more priority cases, whilst keeping a necessary level of safeguards in place. “It is also intended to reduce the likelihood of delays to allowing families to be able to make cremation arrangements for the deceased.” It is untrue that this enables rapid cremation against the wishes of the deceased’s family. Government guidance to local authorities (who manage the deceased) specifically states that they have a legal obligation to consider the deceased's wishes, religion or beliefs where they are known. This should include “contacting and consulting their next of kin or family members to understand the deceased’s wishes”. In the early stages of the pandemic, when the Coronavirus Act 2020 was still at the bill stage and progressing through Parliament, there was some concern that powers granted by the act giving local authorities the power to choose between burial or cremation could lead to people being cremated against their or their family’s wishes.  However, the bill was amended as it passed through Parliament to include a specific clause stipulating that remains must be disposed of in accordance with the deceased’s wishes or in a manner that appears consistent with a person’s religion or beliefs, if known.  The post claims that asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 is “probably the biggest hoax ever inflicted on the public”. As we have written before, there is a significant body of evidence that not only does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 exist, it may account for a large proportion of cases of the virus.   One analysis published in the Lancet in January states that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients are infectious (although potentially less so than symptomatic patients). A meta-analysis of eight Chinese studies, published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, says that transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated in some cases to have accounted for more than half of all Covid-19 transmissions. A review of 22 studies, published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), estimated that the asymptomatic proportion of Covid-19 infections was 28%. The studies specifically differentiated between truly asymptomatic infections and pre-symptomatic infections, which are often conflated.  The author of the Facebook post also questions the reliability of PCR tests, describing them as “useless” and claiming that a high cycle threshold “gives rapidly increasing numbers of false positive results”.  Cycle thresholds have become a particular focus of misinformation during the pandemic, and we have written about them before.  A PCR test is performed by repeatedly replicating target viral material in the sample to the point that it becomes detectable. The number of cycles before the virus is detectable is known as the cycle threshold (Ct). A positive test with a high Ct value may indicate a test from someone who had a very small amount of detectable viral RNA on their initial swab, and therefore may not be infectious or have an ongoing active infection.  However, a positive test with a high Ct value may indicate someone who is still infectious, or who may soon become infectious. PCR tests aren’t perfect, but are generally seen as the gold standard for Covid-19 testing. The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) says: “This test is typically highly accurate and usually does not need to be repeated.” The post claims that “most British labs used between 40 and 45 cycles” during 2020, and cites a Portuguese court ruling on PCR tests, in which judges described the reliability of the tests as “more than debatable” and said that “if a person has a positive PCR test at a cycle threshold of 35 or higher… the chances of a person being infected are less than 3%.”  According to Public Health England (PHE), a typical PCR test will go through a maximum of 40 thermal cycles, although some may go higher. PHE also says that, while a higher Ct value indicates a low concentration of viral genetic material and therefore a lower risk of infectivity, it could also represent a scenario where the risk of infectivity remains, for example, in early infection or where the sample was incorrectly collected.  It is inaccurate to say, as the post claims, that SAGE “had to admit to a mean false positive rate of 2.3% of all conducted tests”. The UK’s operational false positive rate is unknown.  This figure of 2.3% may come from a SAGE document, published in June 2020, in which an examination of 43 external quality assessments of PCR tests for other RNA viruses found a median false positivity rate of 2.3%.  We have written extensively about how Covid-19 deaths are counted throughout the pandemic. As of 17 June, 127,945 deaths have been recorded within 28 days of a positive Covid test in the UK. It is true, as the post claims, that this total may include some people who died for other reasons, besides Covid. However, it also does not include people who did die of Covid, but died more than 28 days after their first positive test, or people at the start of the pandemic who died of Covid but were not tested. Up to Friday 4 June, 2021, there have been 152,397 fatalities where Covid-19 was mentioned as a cause of death on the death certificate.  The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines on recording deaths from Covid-19, published in April 2020, states that, for surveillance purposes, a death from Covid-19 is defined as “a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed Covid-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to Covid disease (e.g. trauma)”. It does not, as the post claims, describe a “confirmed” Covid-19 death as any death following a positive test, even without symptoms of Covid-19. It is untrue that over 90% of Covid-19 deaths were in people who had one or more serious pre-existing conditions (or comorbidities, as the post states). Data compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in England in 2020, 20.7% of Covid-19 deaths in those aged 64 and under and 11.6% of Covid-19 deaths in the over-65s were people who had no pre-existing conditions. In the first quarter of 2021, the most recent data we have, 13% of all people in England and Wales who died of Covid-19 had no pre-existing conditions.  The Facebook post also claims that the average age of death from Covid-19 is 82. This is about right.  The ONS does not publish information on the average age of Covid-19 deaths on a regular basis. However, a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request published in January 2021 shows that between the week ending 9 October, 2020, and the week ending January 1, 2021, the median age of deaths involving Covid-19 was 83.  Data published through a different FOI request to the ONS shows that the median age of Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales, up to and including 2 October, 2020, was also 83.  Even so, research suggests that people who die of Covid lose about a decade of life, on average. Claims that Covid-19 has a survival rate of approximately 99.8% have persisted throughout the pandemic and, as we have written before, this is untrue.  We can work this out simply by looking at the sheer number of people who have died. As of 17 June, 152,397 people have died with Covid-19 mentioned as a cause on their death certificate—about 0.23% of the entire UK population.  If only 0.2% of people die from Covid-19 after catching it (which the claimed 99.8% survival rate implies), then everyone in the country must have already been infected. This is almost certainly not the case.  Rising Covid-19 infection rates show that the virus is continuing to spread. This is very unlikely if everyone has already been infected.","https://www.facebook.com/chris.wakefield.31/posts/10219611813712568,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/confirm-details-of-the-cremation-medical-certificate,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8860/,https://twitter.com/ilovepathology/status/1246727191179788288,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878097/revised-guidance-to-crematorium-medical-referees.pdf#page=7,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8860/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/988273/Section_58_and_Schedule_28_to_the_Coronavirus_Act_2020.pdf#page=23,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus-powers-to-direct-between-burials-and-cremation/,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/schedule/28/part/4/enacted,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-makes-false-claim-that-vaccines-are-gene-therapy/,https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198833/whole-town-study-reveals-more-than-40/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3,https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-what-proportion-are-asymptomatic/,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32651-9/fulltext,https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774707,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925128/S0745_Rapid_review_of_asymptomatic_proportion_of_SARS-CoV-2_infections_in_community_settings.pdf,https://fullfact.org/health/cycle-threshold-values/,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-pcr-test-accuracy/,https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/cclm/58/7/article-p1070.xml,https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/coronavirus-testing-basics,https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t1b01H0Jd4hsMU7V1vy70yr8s3jlBedr/view?fbclid=IwAR0L_Iu6wwIVfFlZpykLhDHroS12MHZqO533Uizzc-5ZfUUmALOOjY58he4,https://www.portugalresident.com/judges-in-portugal-highlight-more-than-debatable-reliability-of-covid-tests/,https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=pt&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dgsi.pt%2Fjtrl.nsf%2F33182fc732316039802565fa00497eec%2F79d6ba338dcbe5e28025861f003e7b30,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926410/Understanding_Cycle_Threshold__Ct__in_SARS-CoV-2_RT-PCR_.pdf#page=6,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926410/Understanding_Cycle_Threshold__Ct__in_SARS-CoV-2_RT-PCR_.pdf#page=3,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/895843/S0519_Impact_of_false_positives_and_negatives.pdf#page=2,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://fullfact.org/health/why-you-cant-compare-deaths-after-a-positive-covid-19-test-with-deaths-after-a-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/health/liam-fox-death-figures/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/Guidelines_Cause_of_Death_COVID-19.pdf,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/preexistingconditionsofpeoplewhodiedduetocovid19englandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/12773averageageofdeathmedianandmeanofpersonswhosedeathwasduetocovid19orinvolvedcovid19bysexdeathsregisteredinweekending9october2020toweekending1january2021englandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/averageageofthosewhohaddiedwithcovid19,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Covid-19 victims cannot be cremated against their wishes,,,,,, -28,,,,True,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-06-18,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-cremation-pcr-asymptomatic-transmission/,Covid-19 death statistics have been manipulated.,2021-06-18,fullfact,,"A widely-shared post on Facebook contains a number of inaccurate and misleading claims about the Covid-19 crisis, including claims about asymptomatic transmission, death statistics and cremation procedures.  We’ve checked five of the main ones.  The post claims that people who have died are being rapidly cremated, in some cases against their or their family’s wishes, due to the Coronavirus Act.  It is true that cremation form 5, a confirmatory medical certificate, has been suspended under the Coronavirus Act.  Before Covid-19, cremation form 5 was the second part of a formal procedure to authorise a cremation, designed as a safeguard. Two certificates needed to be signed, one by the registered medical practitioner who attended the deceased during their last illness, and the other—form 5—by a registered medical practitioner who is neither a partner nor a relative of the doctor who completed the first form. The first part of this process, cremation form 4 still applies, but any doctor can complete Form 4 as long as the deceased was seen by another doctor in the 28 days before death, or shortly after death.  Form 4 is still scrutinised by a crematorium medical referee, who has the power to halt a cremation if they are unsatisfied with the way in which a death has been registered. Form 5 was removed, the government guidance states, to simplify the process “in order to address the expected increased volume of deaths and the need to focus a reduced number of available medical practitioners on dealing with more priority cases, whilst keeping a necessary level of safeguards in place. “It is also intended to reduce the likelihood of delays to allowing families to be able to make cremation arrangements for the deceased.” It is untrue that this enables rapid cremation against the wishes of the deceased’s family. Government guidance to local authorities (who manage the deceased) specifically states that they have a legal obligation to consider the deceased's wishes, religion or beliefs where they are known. This should include “contacting and consulting their next of kin or family members to understand the deceased’s wishes”. In the early stages of the pandemic, when the Coronavirus Act 2020 was still at the bill stage and progressing through Parliament, there was some concern that powers granted by the act giving local authorities the power to choose between burial or cremation could lead to people being cremated against their or their family’s wishes.  However, the bill was amended as it passed through Parliament to include a specific clause stipulating that remains must be disposed of in accordance with the deceased’s wishes or in a manner that appears consistent with a person’s religion or beliefs, if known.  The post claims that asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 is “probably the biggest hoax ever inflicted on the public”. As we have written before, there is a significant body of evidence that not only does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 exist, it may account for a large proportion of cases of the virus.   One analysis published in the Lancet in January states that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients are infectious (although potentially less so than symptomatic patients). A meta-analysis of eight Chinese studies, published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, says that transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated in some cases to have accounted for more than half of all Covid-19 transmissions. A review of 22 studies, published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), estimated that the asymptomatic proportion of Covid-19 infections was 28%. The studies specifically differentiated between truly asymptomatic infections and pre-symptomatic infections, which are often conflated.  The author of the Facebook post also questions the reliability of PCR tests, describing them as “useless” and claiming that a high cycle threshold “gives rapidly increasing numbers of false positive results”.  Cycle thresholds have become a particular focus of misinformation during the pandemic, and we have written about them before.  A PCR test is performed by repeatedly replicating target viral material in the sample to the point that it becomes detectable. The number of cycles before the virus is detectable is known as the cycle threshold (Ct). A positive test with a high Ct value may indicate a test from someone who had a very small amount of detectable viral RNA on their initial swab, and therefore may not be infectious or have an ongoing active infection.  However, a positive test with a high Ct value may indicate someone who is still infectious, or who may soon become infectious. PCR tests aren’t perfect, but are generally seen as the gold standard for Covid-19 testing. The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) says: “This test is typically highly accurate and usually does not need to be repeated.” The post claims that “most British labs used between 40 and 45 cycles” during 2020, and cites a Portuguese court ruling on PCR tests, in which judges described the reliability of the tests as “more than debatable” and said that “if a person has a positive PCR test at a cycle threshold of 35 or higher… the chances of a person being infected are less than 3%.”  According to Public Health England (PHE), a typical PCR test will go through a maximum of 40 thermal cycles, although some may go higher. PHE also says that, while a higher Ct value indicates a low concentration of viral genetic material and therefore a lower risk of infectivity, it could also represent a scenario where the risk of infectivity remains, for example, in early infection or where the sample was incorrectly collected.  It is inaccurate to say, as the post claims, that SAGE “had to admit to a mean false positive rate of 2.3% of all conducted tests”. The UK’s operational false positive rate is unknown.  This figure of 2.3% may come from a SAGE document, published in June 2020, in which an examination of 43 external quality assessments of PCR tests for other RNA viruses found a median false positivity rate of 2.3%.  We have written extensively about how Covid-19 deaths are counted throughout the pandemic. As of 17 June, 127,945 deaths have been recorded within 28 days of a positive Covid test in the UK. It is true, as the post claims, that this total may include some people who died for other reasons, besides Covid. However, it also does not include people who did die of Covid, but died more than 28 days after their first positive test, or people at the start of the pandemic who died of Covid but were not tested. Up to Friday 4 June, 2021, there have been 152,397 fatalities where Covid-19 was mentioned as a cause of death on the death certificate.  The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines on recording deaths from Covid-19, published in April 2020, states that, for surveillance purposes, a death from Covid-19 is defined as “a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed Covid-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to Covid disease (e.g. trauma)”. It does not, as the post claims, describe a “confirmed” Covid-19 death as any death following a positive test, even without symptoms of Covid-19. It is untrue that over 90% of Covid-19 deaths were in people who had one or more serious pre-existing conditions (or comorbidities, as the post states). Data compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in England in 2020, 20.7% of Covid-19 deaths in those aged 64 and under and 11.6% of Covid-19 deaths in the over-65s were people who had no pre-existing conditions. In the first quarter of 2021, the most recent data we have, 13% of all people in England and Wales who died of Covid-19 had no pre-existing conditions.  The Facebook post also claims that the average age of death from Covid-19 is 82. This is about right.  The ONS does not publish information on the average age of Covid-19 deaths on a regular basis. However, a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request published in January 2021 shows that between the week ending 9 October, 2020, and the week ending January 1, 2021, the median age of deaths involving Covid-19 was 83.  Data published through a different FOI request to the ONS shows that the median age of Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales, up to and including 2 October, 2020, was also 83.  Even so, research suggests that people who die of Covid lose about a decade of life, on average. Claims that Covid-19 has a survival rate of approximately 99.8% have persisted throughout the pandemic and, as we have written before, this is untrue.  We can work this out simply by looking at the sheer number of people who have died. As of 17 June, 152,397 people have died with Covid-19 mentioned as a cause on their death certificate—about 0.23% of the entire UK population.  If only 0.2% of people die from Covid-19 after catching it (which the claimed 99.8% survival rate implies), then everyone in the country must have already been infected. This is almost certainly not the case.  Rising Covid-19 infection rates show that the virus is continuing to spread. This is very unlikely if everyone has already been infected.","https://www.facebook.com/chris.wakefield.31/posts/10219611813712568,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/confirm-details-of-the-cremation-medical-certificate,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8860/,https://twitter.com/ilovepathology/status/1246727191179788288,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878097/revised-guidance-to-crematorium-medical-referees.pdf#page=7,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8860/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/988273/Section_58_and_Schedule_28_to_the_Coronavirus_Act_2020.pdf#page=23,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus-powers-to-direct-between-burials-and-cremation/,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/schedule/28/part/4/enacted,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-makes-false-claim-that-vaccines-are-gene-therapy/,https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198833/whole-town-study-reveals-more-than-40/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3,https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-what-proportion-are-asymptomatic/,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32651-9/fulltext,https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774707,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925128/S0745_Rapid_review_of_asymptomatic_proportion_of_SARS-CoV-2_infections_in_community_settings.pdf,https://fullfact.org/health/cycle-threshold-values/,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-pcr-test-accuracy/,https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/cclm/58/7/article-p1070.xml,https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/coronavirus-testing-basics,https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t1b01H0Jd4hsMU7V1vy70yr8s3jlBedr/view?fbclid=IwAR0L_Iu6wwIVfFlZpykLhDHroS12MHZqO533Uizzc-5ZfUUmALOOjY58he4,https://www.portugalresident.com/judges-in-portugal-highlight-more-than-debatable-reliability-of-covid-tests/,https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=pt&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dgsi.pt%2Fjtrl.nsf%2F33182fc732316039802565fa00497eec%2F79d6ba338dcbe5e28025861f003e7b30,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926410/Understanding_Cycle_Threshold__Ct__in_SARS-CoV-2_RT-PCR_.pdf#page=6,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926410/Understanding_Cycle_Threshold__Ct__in_SARS-CoV-2_RT-PCR_.pdf#page=3,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/895843/S0519_Impact_of_false_positives_and_negatives.pdf#page=2,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://fullfact.org/health/why-you-cant-compare-deaths-after-a-positive-covid-19-test-with-deaths-after-a-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/health/liam-fox-death-figures/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/Guidelines_Cause_of_Death_COVID-19.pdf,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/preexistingconditionsofpeoplewhodiedduetocovid19englandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/12773averageageofdeathmedianandmeanofpersonswhosedeathwasduetocovid19orinvolvedcovid19bysexdeathsregisteredinweekending9october2020toweekending1january2021englandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/averageageofthosewhohaddiedwithcovid19,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Covid-19 victims cannot be cremated against their wishes,,,,,, -29,,,,True,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-06-18,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-cremation-pcr-asymptomatic-transmission/,Covid-19 death statistics have been manipulated.,2021-06-18,fullfact,,"A widely-shared post on Facebook contains a number of inaccurate and misleading claims about the Covid-19 crisis, including claims about asymptomatic transmission, death statistics and cremation procedures.  We’ve checked five of the main ones.  The post claims that people who have died are being rapidly cremated, in some cases against their or their family’s wishes, due to the Coronavirus Act.  It is true that cremation form 5, a confirmatory medical certificate, has been suspended under the Coronavirus Act.  Before Covid-19, cremation form 5 was the second part of a formal procedure to authorise a cremation, designed as a safeguard. Two certificates needed to be signed, one by the registered medical practitioner who attended the deceased during their last illness, and the other—form 5—by a registered medical practitioner who is neither a partner nor a relative of the doctor who completed the first form. The first part of this process, cremation form 4 still applies, but any doctor can complete Form 4 as long as the deceased was seen by another doctor in the 28 days before death, or shortly after death.  Form 4 is still scrutinised by a crematorium medical referee, who has the power to halt a cremation if they are unsatisfied with the way in which a death has been registered. Form 5 was removed, the government guidance states, to simplify the process “in order to address the expected increased volume of deaths and the need to focus a reduced number of available medical practitioners on dealing with more priority cases, whilst keeping a necessary level of safeguards in place. “It is also intended to reduce the likelihood of delays to allowing families to be able to make cremation arrangements for the deceased.” It is untrue that this enables rapid cremation against the wishes of the deceased’s family. Government guidance to local authorities (who manage the deceased) specifically states that they have a legal obligation to consider the deceased's wishes, religion or beliefs where they are known. This should include “contacting and consulting their next of kin or family members to understand the deceased’s wishes”. In the early stages of the pandemic, when the Coronavirus Act 2020 was still at the bill stage and progressing through Parliament, there was some concern that powers granted by the act giving local authorities the power to choose between burial or cremation could lead to people being cremated against their or their family’s wishes.  However, the bill was amended as it passed through Parliament to include a specific clause stipulating that remains must be disposed of in accordance with the deceased’s wishes or in a manner that appears consistent with a person’s religion or beliefs, if known.  The post claims that asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 is “probably the biggest hoax ever inflicted on the public”. As we have written before, there is a significant body of evidence that not only does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 exist, it may account for a large proportion of cases of the virus.   One analysis published in the Lancet in January states that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients are infectious (although potentially less so than symptomatic patients). A meta-analysis of eight Chinese studies, published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, says that transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated in some cases to have accounted for more than half of all Covid-19 transmissions. A review of 22 studies, published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), estimated that the asymptomatic proportion of Covid-19 infections was 28%. The studies specifically differentiated between truly asymptomatic infections and pre-symptomatic infections, which are often conflated.  The author of the Facebook post also questions the reliability of PCR tests, describing them as “useless” and claiming that a high cycle threshold “gives rapidly increasing numbers of false positive results”.  Cycle thresholds have become a particular focus of misinformation during the pandemic, and we have written about them before.  A PCR test is performed by repeatedly replicating target viral material in the sample to the point that it becomes detectable. The number of cycles before the virus is detectable is known as the cycle threshold (Ct). A positive test with a high Ct value may indicate a test from someone who had a very small amount of detectable viral RNA on their initial swab, and therefore may not be infectious or have an ongoing active infection.  However, a positive test with a high Ct value may indicate someone who is still infectious, or who may soon become infectious. PCR tests aren’t perfect, but are generally seen as the gold standard for Covid-19 testing. The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) says: “This test is typically highly accurate and usually does not need to be repeated.” The post claims that “most British labs used between 40 and 45 cycles” during 2020, and cites a Portuguese court ruling on PCR tests, in which judges described the reliability of the tests as “more than debatable” and said that “if a person has a positive PCR test at a cycle threshold of 35 or higher… the chances of a person being infected are less than 3%.”  According to Public Health England (PHE), a typical PCR test will go through a maximum of 40 thermal cycles, although some may go higher. PHE also says that, while a higher Ct value indicates a low concentration of viral genetic material and therefore a lower risk of infectivity, it could also represent a scenario where the risk of infectivity remains, for example, in early infection or where the sample was incorrectly collected.  It is inaccurate to say, as the post claims, that SAGE “had to admit to a mean false positive rate of 2.3% of all conducted tests”. The UK’s operational false positive rate is unknown.  This figure of 2.3% may come from a SAGE document, published in June 2020, in which an examination of 43 external quality assessments of PCR tests for other RNA viruses found a median false positivity rate of 2.3%.  We have written extensively about how Covid-19 deaths are counted throughout the pandemic. As of 17 June, 127,945 deaths have been recorded within 28 days of a positive Covid test in the UK. It is true, as the post claims, that this total may include some people who died for other reasons, besides Covid. However, it also does not include people who did die of Covid, but died more than 28 days after their first positive test, or people at the start of the pandemic who died of Covid but were not tested. Up to Friday 4 June, 2021, there have been 152,397 fatalities where Covid-19 was mentioned as a cause of death on the death certificate.  The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) guidelines on recording deaths from Covid-19, published in April 2020, states that, for surveillance purposes, a death from Covid-19 is defined as “a death resulting from a clinically compatible illness, in a probable or confirmed Covid-19 case, unless there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be related to Covid disease (e.g. trauma)”. It does not, as the post claims, describe a “confirmed” Covid-19 death as any death following a positive test, even without symptoms of Covid-19. It is untrue that over 90% of Covid-19 deaths were in people who had one or more serious pre-existing conditions (or comorbidities, as the post states). Data compiled by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that in England in 2020, 20.7% of Covid-19 deaths in those aged 64 and under and 11.6% of Covid-19 deaths in the over-65s were people who had no pre-existing conditions. In the first quarter of 2021, the most recent data we have, 13% of all people in England and Wales who died of Covid-19 had no pre-existing conditions.  The Facebook post also claims that the average age of death from Covid-19 is 82. This is about right.  The ONS does not publish information on the average age of Covid-19 deaths on a regular basis. However, a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request published in January 2021 shows that between the week ending 9 October, 2020, and the week ending January 1, 2021, the median age of deaths involving Covid-19 was 83.  Data published through a different FOI request to the ONS shows that the median age of Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales, up to and including 2 October, 2020, was also 83.  Even so, research suggests that people who die of Covid lose about a decade of life, on average. Claims that Covid-19 has a survival rate of approximately 99.8% have persisted throughout the pandemic and, as we have written before, this is untrue.  We can work this out simply by looking at the sheer number of people who have died. As of 17 June, 152,397 people have died with Covid-19 mentioned as a cause on their death certificate—about 0.23% of the entire UK population.  If only 0.2% of people die from Covid-19 after catching it (which the claimed 99.8% survival rate implies), then everyone in the country must have already been infected. This is almost certainly not the case.  Rising Covid-19 infection rates show that the virus is continuing to spread. This is very unlikely if everyone has already been infected.","https://www.facebook.com/chris.wakefield.31/posts/10219611813712568,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/confirm-details-of-the-cremation-medical-certificate,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8860/,https://twitter.com/ilovepathology/status/1246727191179788288,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878097/revised-guidance-to-crematorium-medical-referees.pdf#page=7,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8860/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/988273/Section_58_and_Schedule_28_to_the_Coronavirus_Act_2020.pdf#page=23,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus-powers-to-direct-between-burials-and-cremation/,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/7/schedule/28/part/4/enacted,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-makes-false-claim-that-vaccines-are-gene-therapy/,https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198833/whole-town-study-reveals-more-than-40/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3,https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-what-proportion-are-asymptomatic/,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32651-9/fulltext,https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774707,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/925128/S0745_Rapid_review_of_asymptomatic_proportion_of_SARS-CoV-2_infections_in_community_settings.pdf,https://fullfact.org/health/cycle-threshold-values/,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-pcr-test-accuracy/,https://www.degruyter.com/view/journals/cclm/58/7/article-p1070.xml,https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/coronavirus-testing-basics,https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t1b01H0Jd4hsMU7V1vy70yr8s3jlBedr/view?fbclid=IwAR0L_Iu6wwIVfFlZpykLhDHroS12MHZqO533Uizzc-5ZfUUmALOOjY58he4,https://www.portugalresident.com/judges-in-portugal-highlight-more-than-debatable-reliability-of-covid-tests/,https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=pt&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dgsi.pt%2Fjtrl.nsf%2F33182fc732316039802565fa00497eec%2F79d6ba338dcbe5e28025861f003e7b30,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926410/Understanding_Cycle_Threshold__Ct__in_SARS-CoV-2_RT-PCR_.pdf#page=6,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/926410/Understanding_Cycle_Threshold__Ct__in_SARS-CoV-2_RT-PCR_.pdf#page=3,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/895843/S0519_Impact_of_false_positives_and_negatives.pdf#page=2,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://fullfact.org/health/why-you-cant-compare-deaths-after-a-positive-covid-19-test-with-deaths-after-a-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/health/liam-fox-death-figures/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.who.int/classifications/icd/Guidelines_Cause_of_Death_COVID-19.pdf,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/preexistingconditionsofpeoplewhodiedduetocovid19englandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/12773averageageofdeathmedianandmeanofpersonswhosedeathwasduetocovid19orinvolvedcovid19bysexdeathsregisteredinweekending9october2020toweekending1january2021englandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/averageageofthosewhohaddiedwithcovid19,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Covid-19 victims cannot be cremated against their wishes,,,,,, -30,,,,Other,Abbas Panjwani,2021-06-18,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/economy/april-2021-trade-figures/,"Imports from the rest of the world rose to £20.1 billion, their highest since records began in 1997.",2021-06-18,fullfact,,"A column in the Daily Express makes a number of claims about the latest trade data published by the Office for National Statistics.  A few of the claims could use more context.  The figures in the Express refer to the UK’s trade deficit (how much more we import than export), excluding precious metals, with the whole world in the three months to April 2021, not just the trade deficit with the EU. This data includes both trade in goods and services.  For April 2021, data on trade with the EU specifically is only available for goods, and not for services, so we don’t yet know the total trade deficit for the EU for April.  However, for goods only (excluding precious metals), it is correct that EU exports rose and EU imports fell in the three months to April 2021, compared to the three months to January 2021. It’s correct that exports from Britain to the EU, excluding precious metals, were valued at £12.9 billion in April 2021. As for the claim that exports were up 10% on pre-Brexit figures, the Express confirmed to Full Fact this was sourced from a Daily Telegraph article which looked at the change from the period “before pre-Brexit stockpiling began to skew figures at the end of last year.”  This refers to stockpiling which took place prior to the end of the transition period specifically rather than any other part of the Brexit process. Exports did increase 10% between July 2020 and April 2021, but, as the ONS notes, trade volumes are incredibly volatile at the moment and these figures don’t entirely represent the wider picture.  Exports fell considerably in spring 2020 as the pandemic took hold, before rebounding through the latter half of the year, partly influenced by stockpiling mentioned. They then fell again in January 2021, partly due to disruption associated with the end of the transition period, before rebounding again. Also, exports in April 2021 are down on the period before the pandemic started, and on the period before Brexit actually happened in January 2020. All but one month from January 2017 to the start of the pandemic saw the UK export more goods to the EU than in April 2021.  It’s correct that the UK is exporting more goods to non-EU countries (£13.6 billion excluding precious metals) than EU countries (£12.9 billion).  It’s also correct that the UK imported £20.1 billion of goods (excluding precious metals) from non-EU countries in April, which was technically the highest level recorded. But these figures represent cash values, and the value of money has decreased over time (inflation). Non-EU imports were higher during large periods of the late 2010s, once adjusted for inflation. Trade data can move quite a lot from month to month and as we’ve said is especially volatile given the effects of the pandemic, and the end of the transition period.  Therefore, it’s worth considering longer trends in trade data alongside month-to-month changes.  Since the mid-2010s the UK’s balance of trade (exports minus imports) for goods and services combined has grown, with the balance even turning positive for a few months, meaning we exported more than we imported.  There have been big swings in recent quarters, but, overall, it appears as if exports are catching up with imports.  Looking back over this period at trade with the EU specifically, the balance is negative (we import more than we export) and reached a low in 2019 after many years of going down, but did increase in 2020. The UK is a net importer of goods from the EU but a net exporter of services.  Over the past decade, exports of goods to non-EU countries have grown more overall than exports to EU countries.","https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1450410/brexit-news-trade-deal-australia-new-visa-food,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/redir/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpbmRleCI6MSwicGFnZVNpemUiOjEwLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJ1cmkiOiIvZWNvbm9teS9uYXRpb25hbGFjY291bnRzL2JhbGFuY2VvZnBheW1lbnRzL2RhdGFzZXRzL3VrdHJhZGVhbGxjb3VudHJpZXNzZWFzb25hbGx5YWRqdXN0ZWQiLCJsaXN0VHlwZSI6InJlbGF0ZWRkYXRhIn0.PEhdfMGEAX6ic9rkVvlKUWZnl_kIySGvDwylFDVWvto,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl4/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/theimpactsofeuexitandthecoronavirusonuktradeingoods/2021-05-25,https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/theimpactsofeuexitandthecoronavirusonuktradeingoods/2021-05-25,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/news/latest/end-brexit-transition,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktraderecordssheet,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktraderecordssheet,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl8/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/redir/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpbmRleCI6NiwicGFnZVNpemUiOjEwLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJ1cmkiOiIvZWNvbm9teS9uYXRpb25hbGFjY291bnRzL2JhbGFuY2VvZnBheW1lbnRzL2RhdGFzZXRzL3VrdHJhZGVyZWNvcmRzc2hlZXQiLCJsaXN0VHlwZSI6InJlbGF0ZWRkYXRhIn0.Jwl5t2Db7T2yAHdTwnqDRcwq3Pbnpd1EAu3J70XRp3k,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktradegoodsandservicespublicationtables,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsid/mret,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/l86i,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl6/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/l86m/ukea,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl7/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl4/diop,https://fullfact.org/economy/george-freeman-africa-eu-tariffs/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/millionaire-pensioners/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/uk-foreign-aid-g7/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/labours-record-on-unemployment/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/foreign-aid-2021/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",April’s trade figures fact checked,,,,,, -31,,,,Other,Abbas Panjwani,2021-06-18,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/economy/april-2021-trade-figures/,"Imports from the rest of the world rose to £20.1 billion, their highest since records began in 1997.",2021-06-18,fullfact,,"A column in the Daily Express makes a number of claims about the latest trade data published by the Office for National Statistics.  A few of the claims could use more context.  The figures in the Express refer to the UK’s trade deficit (how much more we import than export), excluding precious metals, with the whole world in the three months to April 2021, not just the trade deficit with the EU. This data includes both trade in goods and services.  For April 2021, data on trade with the EU specifically is only available for goods, and not for services, so we don’t yet know the total trade deficit for the EU for April.  However, for goods only (excluding precious metals), it is correct that EU exports rose and EU imports fell in the three months to April 2021, compared to the three months to January 2021. It’s correct that exports from Britain to the EU, excluding precious metals, were valued at £12.9 billion in April 2021. As for the claim that exports were up 10% on pre-Brexit figures, the Express confirmed to Full Fact this was sourced from a Daily Telegraph article which looked at the change from the period “before pre-Brexit stockpiling began to skew figures at the end of last year.”  This refers to stockpiling which took place prior to the end of the transition period specifically rather than any other part of the Brexit process. Exports did increase 10% between July 2020 and April 2021, but, as the ONS notes, trade volumes are incredibly volatile at the moment and these figures don’t entirely represent the wider picture.  Exports fell considerably in spring 2020 as the pandemic took hold, before rebounding through the latter half of the year, partly influenced by stockpiling mentioned. They then fell again in January 2021, partly due to disruption associated with the end of the transition period, before rebounding again. Also, exports in April 2021 are down on the period before the pandemic started, and on the period before Brexit actually happened in January 2020. All but one month from January 2017 to the start of the pandemic saw the UK export more goods to the EU than in April 2021.  It’s correct that the UK is exporting more goods to non-EU countries (£13.6 billion excluding precious metals) than EU countries (£12.9 billion).  It’s also correct that the UK imported £20.1 billion of goods (excluding precious metals) from non-EU countries in April, which was technically the highest level recorded. But these figures represent cash values, and the value of money has decreased over time (inflation). Non-EU imports were higher during large periods of the late 2010s, once adjusted for inflation. Trade data can move quite a lot from month to month and as we’ve said is especially volatile given the effects of the pandemic, and the end of the transition period.  Therefore, it’s worth considering longer trends in trade data alongside month-to-month changes.  Since the mid-2010s the UK’s balance of trade (exports minus imports) for goods and services combined has grown, with the balance even turning positive for a few months, meaning we exported more than we imported.  There have been big swings in recent quarters, but, overall, it appears as if exports are catching up with imports.  Looking back over this period at trade with the EU specifically, the balance is negative (we import more than we export) and reached a low in 2019 after many years of going down, but did increase in 2020. The UK is a net importer of goods from the EU but a net exporter of services.  Over the past decade, exports of goods to non-EU countries have grown more overall than exports to EU countries.","https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1450410/brexit-news-trade-deal-australia-new-visa-food,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/redir/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpbmRleCI6MSwicGFnZVNpemUiOjEwLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJ1cmkiOiIvZWNvbm9teS9uYXRpb25hbGFjY291bnRzL2JhbGFuY2VvZnBheW1lbnRzL2RhdGFzZXRzL3VrdHJhZGVhbGxjb3VudHJpZXNzZWFzb25hbGx5YWRqdXN0ZWQiLCJsaXN0VHlwZSI6InJlbGF0ZWRkYXRhIn0.PEhdfMGEAX6ic9rkVvlKUWZnl_kIySGvDwylFDVWvto,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl4/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/theimpactsofeuexitandthecoronavirusonuktradeingoods/2021-05-25,https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/theimpactsofeuexitandthecoronavirusonuktradeingoods/2021-05-25,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/news/latest/end-brexit-transition,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktraderecordssheet,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktraderecordssheet,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl8/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/redir/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpbmRleCI6NiwicGFnZVNpemUiOjEwLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJ1cmkiOiIvZWNvbm9teS9uYXRpb25hbGFjY291bnRzL2JhbGFuY2VvZnBheW1lbnRzL2RhdGFzZXRzL3VrdHJhZGVyZWNvcmRzc2hlZXQiLCJsaXN0VHlwZSI6InJlbGF0ZWRkYXRhIn0.Jwl5t2Db7T2yAHdTwnqDRcwq3Pbnpd1EAu3J70XRp3k,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktradegoodsandservicespublicationtables,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsid/mret,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/l86i,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl6/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/l86m/ukea,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl7/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl4/diop,https://fullfact.org/economy/george-freeman-africa-eu-tariffs/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/millionaire-pensioners/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/uk-foreign-aid-g7/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/labours-record-on-unemployment/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/foreign-aid-2021/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",April’s trade figures fact checked,,,,,, -32,,,,Other,Abbas Panjwani,2021-06-18,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/economy/april-2021-trade-figures/,"Imports from the rest of the world rose to £20.1 billion, their highest since records began in 1997.",2021-06-18,fullfact,,"A column in the Daily Express makes a number of claims about the latest trade data published by the Office for National Statistics.  A few of the claims could use more context.  The figures in the Express refer to the UK’s trade deficit (how much more we import than export), excluding precious metals, with the whole world in the three months to April 2021, not just the trade deficit with the EU. This data includes both trade in goods and services.  For April 2021, data on trade with the EU specifically is only available for goods, and not for services, so we don’t yet know the total trade deficit for the EU for April.  However, for goods only (excluding precious metals), it is correct that EU exports rose and EU imports fell in the three months to April 2021, compared to the three months to January 2021. It’s correct that exports from Britain to the EU, excluding precious metals, were valued at £12.9 billion in April 2021. As for the claim that exports were up 10% on pre-Brexit figures, the Express confirmed to Full Fact this was sourced from a Daily Telegraph article which looked at the change from the period “before pre-Brexit stockpiling began to skew figures at the end of last year.”  This refers to stockpiling which took place prior to the end of the transition period specifically rather than any other part of the Brexit process. Exports did increase 10% between July 2020 and April 2021, but, as the ONS notes, trade volumes are incredibly volatile at the moment and these figures don’t entirely represent the wider picture.  Exports fell considerably in spring 2020 as the pandemic took hold, before rebounding through the latter half of the year, partly influenced by stockpiling mentioned. They then fell again in January 2021, partly due to disruption associated with the end of the transition period, before rebounding again. Also, exports in April 2021 are down on the period before the pandemic started, and on the period before Brexit actually happened in January 2020. All but one month from January 2017 to the start of the pandemic saw the UK export more goods to the EU than in April 2021.  It’s correct that the UK is exporting more goods to non-EU countries (£13.6 billion excluding precious metals) than EU countries (£12.9 billion).  It’s also correct that the UK imported £20.1 billion of goods (excluding precious metals) from non-EU countries in April, which was technically the highest level recorded. But these figures represent cash values, and the value of money has decreased over time (inflation). Non-EU imports were higher during large periods of the late 2010s, once adjusted for inflation. Trade data can move quite a lot from month to month and as we’ve said is especially volatile given the effects of the pandemic, and the end of the transition period.  Therefore, it’s worth considering longer trends in trade data alongside month-to-month changes.  Since the mid-2010s the UK’s balance of trade (exports minus imports) for goods and services combined has grown, with the balance even turning positive for a few months, meaning we exported more than we imported.  There have been big swings in recent quarters, but, overall, it appears as if exports are catching up with imports.  Looking back over this period at trade with the EU specifically, the balance is negative (we import more than we export) and reached a low in 2019 after many years of going down, but did increase in 2020. The UK is a net importer of goods from the EU but a net exporter of services.  Over the past decade, exports of goods to non-EU countries have grown more overall than exports to EU countries.","https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1450410/brexit-news-trade-deal-australia-new-visa-food,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/redir/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpbmRleCI6MSwicGFnZVNpemUiOjEwLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJ1cmkiOiIvZWNvbm9teS9uYXRpb25hbGFjY291bnRzL2JhbGFuY2VvZnBheW1lbnRzL2RhdGFzZXRzL3VrdHJhZGVhbGxjb3VudHJpZXNzZWFzb25hbGx5YWRqdXN0ZWQiLCJsaXN0VHlwZSI6InJlbGF0ZWRkYXRhIn0.PEhdfMGEAX6ic9rkVvlKUWZnl_kIySGvDwylFDVWvto,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl4/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/theimpactsofeuexitandthecoronavirusonuktradeingoods/2021-05-25,https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/theimpactsofeuexitandthecoronavirusonuktradeingoods/2021-05-25,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/news/latest/end-brexit-transition,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktraderecordssheet,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktraderecordssheet,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl8/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/redir/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpbmRleCI6NiwicGFnZVNpemUiOjEwLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJ1cmkiOiIvZWNvbm9teS9uYXRpb25hbGFjY291bnRzL2JhbGFuY2VvZnBheW1lbnRzL2RhdGFzZXRzL3VrdHJhZGVyZWNvcmRzc2hlZXQiLCJsaXN0VHlwZSI6InJlbGF0ZWRkYXRhIn0.Jwl5t2Db7T2yAHdTwnqDRcwq3Pbnpd1EAu3J70XRp3k,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktradegoodsandservicespublicationtables,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsid/mret,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/l86i,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl6/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/l86m/ukea,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl7/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl4/diop,https://fullfact.org/economy/george-freeman-africa-eu-tariffs/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/millionaire-pensioners/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/uk-foreign-aid-g7/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/labours-record-on-unemployment/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/foreign-aid-2021/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",April’s trade figures fact checked,,,,,, -33,,,,Other,Abbas Panjwani,2021-06-18,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/economy/april-2021-trade-figures/,"Imports from the rest of the world rose to £20.1 billion, their highest since records began in 1997.",2021-06-18,fullfact,,"A column in the Daily Express makes a number of claims about the latest trade data published by the Office for National Statistics.  A few of the claims could use more context.  The figures in the Express refer to the UK’s trade deficit (how much more we import than export), excluding precious metals, with the whole world in the three months to April 2021, not just the trade deficit with the EU. This data includes both trade in goods and services.  For April 2021, data on trade with the EU specifically is only available for goods, and not for services, so we don’t yet know the total trade deficit for the EU for April.  However, for goods only (excluding precious metals), it is correct that EU exports rose and EU imports fell in the three months to April 2021, compared to the three months to January 2021. It’s correct that exports from Britain to the EU, excluding precious metals, were valued at £12.9 billion in April 2021. As for the claim that exports were up 10% on pre-Brexit figures, the Express confirmed to Full Fact this was sourced from a Daily Telegraph article which looked at the change from the period “before pre-Brexit stockpiling began to skew figures at the end of last year.”  This refers to stockpiling which took place prior to the end of the transition period specifically rather than any other part of the Brexit process. Exports did increase 10% between July 2020 and April 2021, but, as the ONS notes, trade volumes are incredibly volatile at the moment and these figures don’t entirely represent the wider picture.  Exports fell considerably in spring 2020 as the pandemic took hold, before rebounding through the latter half of the year, partly influenced by stockpiling mentioned. They then fell again in January 2021, partly due to disruption associated with the end of the transition period, before rebounding again. Also, exports in April 2021 are down on the period before the pandemic started, and on the period before Brexit actually happened in January 2020. All but one month from January 2017 to the start of the pandemic saw the UK export more goods to the EU than in April 2021.  It’s correct that the UK is exporting more goods to non-EU countries (£13.6 billion excluding precious metals) than EU countries (£12.9 billion).  It’s also correct that the UK imported £20.1 billion of goods (excluding precious metals) from non-EU countries in April, which was technically the highest level recorded. But these figures represent cash values, and the value of money has decreased over time (inflation). Non-EU imports were higher during large periods of the late 2010s, once adjusted for inflation. Trade data can move quite a lot from month to month and as we’ve said is especially volatile given the effects of the pandemic, and the end of the transition period.  Therefore, it’s worth considering longer trends in trade data alongside month-to-month changes.  Since the mid-2010s the UK’s balance of trade (exports minus imports) for goods and services combined has grown, with the balance even turning positive for a few months, meaning we exported more than we imported.  There have been big swings in recent quarters, but, overall, it appears as if exports are catching up with imports.  Looking back over this period at trade with the EU specifically, the balance is negative (we import more than we export) and reached a low in 2019 after many years of going down, but did increase in 2020. The UK is a net importer of goods from the EU but a net exporter of services.  Over the past decade, exports of goods to non-EU countries have grown more overall than exports to EU countries.","https://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/1450410/brexit-news-trade-deal-australia-new-visa-food,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/redir/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpbmRleCI6MSwicGFnZVNpemUiOjEwLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJ1cmkiOiIvZWNvbm9teS9uYXRpb25hbGFjY291bnRzL2JhbGFuY2VvZnBheW1lbnRzL2RhdGFzZXRzL3VrdHJhZGVhbGxjb3VudHJpZXNzZWFzb25hbGx5YWRqdXN0ZWQiLCJsaXN0VHlwZSI6InJlbGF0ZWRkYXRhIn0.PEhdfMGEAX6ic9rkVvlKUWZnl_kIySGvDwylFDVWvto,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl4/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/theimpactsofeuexitandthecoronavirusonuktradeingoods/2021-05-25,https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/internationaltrade/articles/theimpactsofeuexitandthecoronavirusonuktradeingoods/2021-05-25,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/news/latest/end-brexit-transition,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktraderecordssheet,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktraderecordssheet,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl8/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/redir/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpbmRleCI6NiwicGFnZVNpemUiOjEwLCJwYWdlIjoxLCJ1cmkiOiIvZWNvbm9teS9uYXRpb25hbGFjY291bnRzL2JhbGFuY2VvZnBheW1lbnRzL2RhdGFzZXRzL3VrdHJhZGVyZWNvcmRzc2hlZXQiLCJsaXN0VHlwZSI6InJlbGF0ZWRkYXRhIn0.Jwl5t2Db7T2yAHdTwnqDRcwq3Pbnpd1EAu3J70XRp3k,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/datasets/uktradegoodsandservicespublicationtables,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/bulletins/uktrade/april2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsid/mret,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/l86i,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl6/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/l86m/ukea,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl7/diop,https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/timeseries/fsl4/diop,https://fullfact.org/economy/george-freeman-africa-eu-tariffs/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/millionaire-pensioners/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/uk-foreign-aid-g7/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/labours-record-on-unemployment/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/foreign-aid-2021/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",April’s trade figures fact checked,,,,,, -34,,,,Mixture,Leo Benedictus,2021-06-17,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/economy/uk-foreign-aid-g7/,The UK was the only G7 nation to reduce aid spending in 2020.,2021-06-17,fullfact,,"On Wednesday, opposition parties said the UK is the only country in the G7 to be reducing foreign aid. On Thursday, a New Statesman article said it was the only G7 country that had  reduced aid last year. Earlier in the week, a group of charities had released an open letter, in which they said that “While other G7 countries have stepped up their aid budget, the UK is the only one to have rowed back on its commitments."" Where 2020 is concerned, the claim by the New Statesman is potentially misleading. The supposed “cut” last year was extremely small—from 0.704% of national income to 0.698%—and the UK’s actual aid spending remained much higher than all other G7 countries, except Germany. The picture in 2021 is less clear, in part because we don’t yet know what any country’s total national income will be. The UK does plan a more substantial reduction this year—down to 0.5%—while most other G7 countries appear likely to raise their spending, at least on some measures. There are many different ways to measure how much a country spends on foreign aid. In cash terms, the US is the world’s biggest donor, but the US has a very large economy, so it also has more money to spend. Since 1970, many countries have endorsed a United Nations pledge to spend 0.7% of their Gross National Income (GNI) on aid each year. In practice, they have often failed to do so. The UK has spent almost exactly 0.7% of national income every year since 2013. However, it announced plans last November to reduce this to 0.5% from 2021. Spending 0.5% of national income on aid would be high by the UK’s historic standards, although it breaks a Conservative manifesto pledge and a legal commitment to maintain the level 0.7%. We have written another article that explains this in more detail. The New Statesman claimed in a headline, and on its “Chart of the Day” that “The UK was the only G7 member to cut foreign aid last year”. This is true, but misleading, because it says nothing about the overall spending levels themselves.   In reality, even while the UK was observing the commitment to spend 0.7% of its income, it did not spend precisely this amount. In 2018, the exact figure was 0.696%; in 2019, it was 0.704%; in 2020, it was 0.698%. This tiny fall of 0.006 percentage points is what the New Statesman chart called a “cut” of $60 “per $1m of GNI”. So the claim is true, but it leaves out the larger picture: that the UK’s aid spending was essentially unchanged in 2020, making it the second-highest donor in the G7, and still spending more than twice as much as Japan, Italy, the US or Canada. The New Statesman did say later in the article: “Britain is also set to be overtaken by France, which last year spent 0.53 per cent, but it will remain ahead of Canada (0.31 per cent), Japan (0.31 per cent), Italy (0.22 per cent) and the US (0.17 per cent).” It is not yet possible to know how much these countries will spend on aid as a proportion of their national income this year. Some projections suggest it will be higher than these figures. The UK’s reduction in aid spending in 2021 will be much larger than it was in 2020. Mr Miliband and Mr Blackford also claimed that it would be the only G7 country reducing aid this year. This appears to be a reference to the planned reduction from 0.7% to 0.5%. When we asked them for the source of the claim that the UK was the only country, Mr Blackford’s office told us that it came from a New Statesman article, but did not specify which one. We can’t find a New Statesman article that makes this claim, and the chart that we’ve already mentioned was published the day after Mr Blackford’s comments, so it’s not quite clear what the source was. We have asked for more clarity on this. Mr Miliband’s office did not reply. Both politicians’ comments resemble a claim made by many charities, academics and universities in an open letter on 6 June, which said: “While other G7 countries have stepped up their aid budget, the UK is the only one to have rowed back on its commitments."" We spoke to Bond, a charity that organised the letter, which told us that this claim is based on the absolute spending on aid by each country. It also cited a research article from January, which says that at least four other G7 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Japan) plan to increase their absolute aid spending in 2021. We have not been able to find clear evidence that the US or Canada plan to raise absolute aid spending in 2021, although there are signs that the US may raise spending in 2022. An increase in absolute spending is also not necessarily an increase in a country’s share of income, if a country earns more in 2021 than it did in 2020. In short, there doesn’t seem to be enough evidence to support Mr MIliband’s or Mr Blackford’s comments, although it is plausible that they will turn out to be true when the evidence arrives.","https://www.newstatesman.com/world/2021/06/uk-was-only-g7-member-cut-foreign-aid-last-year,https://www.bond.org.uk/press-releases/2021/06/uks-words-risk-ringing-hollow-at-g7-unless-aid-cuts-are-reversed-warn,https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-data/ODA-2020-detailed-summary.pdf,https://www.oecd.org/development/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/the07odagnitarget-ahistory.htm,https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/Evolution%20of%20ODA.pdf#page=23,https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/Evolution%20of%20ODA.pdf#page=22,https://ifs.org.uk/uploads/BN322-The-UK%27s-reduction-in-aid-spending-2.pdf#page=7,https://ifs.org.uk/uploads/BN322-The-UK%27s-reduction-in-aid-spending-2.pdf#page=6,https://data.oecd.org/chart/6pc7,https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/spending-review-2020-speech,https://fullfact.org/economy/foreign-aid-2021/,https://www.newstatesman.com/world/2021/06/uk-was-only-g7-member-cut-foreign-aid-last-year,https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-data/aid-at-a-glance.htm,https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-data/statisticsonresourceflowstodevelopingcountries.htm,https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-data/,https://donortracker.org/country/france,https://donortracker.org/country/italy,https://www.bond.org.uk/sites/default/files/20210605_letter_to_the_prime_minister_-_g7.pdf,https://www.cgdev.org/publication/overview-impact-proposed-cuts-uk-aid,https://www.devex.com/news/biden-proposes-6-8b-boost-for-us-international-budget-99627,https://fullfact.org/economy/george-freeman-africa-eu-tariffs/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/millionaire-pensioners/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/april-2021-trade-figures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/labours-record-on-unemployment/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/foreign-aid-2021/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content","The UK will cut aid this year, but barely did last year",,,,,, -35,,,,False,Tom Norton,2021-06-14,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-makes-false-claim-that-vaccines-are-gene-therapy/,Vaccine manufacturers have never claimed their vaccines stop transmission of Covid-19.,2021-06-14,fullfact,,"A video interview of conspiracy theorist David Icke, posted on Facebook, makes a number of misleading and dangerous claims about Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, gene therapy and asymptomatic cases of the virus.  During the video, Mr Icke claims the transmission of Covid-19 through those with asymptomatic cases of the virus is a “hoax” and brands asymptomatic Covid-19 a “load of nonsense”. There is a large amount of evidence that asymptomatic cases not only exist but may have accounted for a huge proportion of total Covid-19 cases. One analysis published in the Lancet in January states that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients are infectious (although may be less so than symptomatic patients). It concluded that “where resources permit, contact tracing should proactively seek people with asymptomatic COVID-19 because they can transmit disease and will need to be contained if a national policy objective is to minimise cases and transmission.” Other analysis has been more forthright – a meta-analysis of eight Chinese studies, published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, says that transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated in some cases to have accounted for more than half of all Covid-19 transmissions. Mr Icke also claims that Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum said Covid-19 was “an opportunity for a great reset to save the world from human caused climate change” and later states that Covid-19 and climate change are “two hoaxes perpetuated by the same force”.  The basis for this, he says, was a book by Mr Schwab and author Theirry Mallaret called “The Great Reset”. Since its publication in 2020 it has drawn the attention of conspiracy theorists.  The Great Reset (very broadly summarised) discusses how the world’s political, business and social institutions may wish to address pre-existing geo-political concerns, such as global warming, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.  In the book Mr Schwab suggests the possibility of creating “long-lasting and wider environmental changes” through changes in behaviours and new activism as society readapts to a world in which it must co-exist with Covid-19. He also provides some evidence of some of the efforts being made by big business and others to achieve this.  However, Mr Schwab also states the pandemic has created significant risk that the climate change agenda could be deprioritised as nations attempt to deal with other pressures caused by the virus.  Mr Schwab states that some economies may even “put aside” concerns about global warming to concentrate on their recovery following Covid-19, which may well include subsidising “fossil-fuel heavy and carbon emitting industries”.  So while Mr Schwab did talk about climate change policy and action in respect of the global recovery from Covid-19, there is nothing to suggest the pandemic was engineered to promote this agenda. Mr Icke also suggests that none of the manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines are “claiming to stop transmission”. Evidence shows vaccines reduce the risk of infection for those who have been vaccinated, and the risk of people who have been vaccinated from passing on the virus.  While manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines have not claimed they prevent 100% of transmission, as they do not, evidence suggests the vaccines significantly reduce the risk. Evidence from Public Health England showed that the vaccine reduces the risk of infection by more than 70% which rises to 85% after two weeks.  Other studies have shown recipients of the Pfizer vaccine were 95% less likely to contract Covid-19. For the Moderna vaccine that was 94% and for AstraZeneca it was 76%.  Initial research, covering over a million contacts in the UK, has found that people who became infected three weeks after their first vaccination were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus onto household contacts. This protection appeared from around two weeks after the vaccination, and was regardless of age. We also have repeatedly written about the links between transmission of Covid-19 and vaccines. Mr Icke says plainly at one point that none of the Covid-19 vaccines fulfill the definition of a vaccine but that “they are a gene therapy”. Gene therapy is a technique to treat illnesses by modifying an individuals' genes, for example by replacing a faulty gene with a healthy one. As we have stated before, some of the Covid-19 vaccines contain messenger RNA (mRNA) that codes a protein specific to a pathogen’s surface. This mRNA provides instructions to make the proteins usually found on the surface of the Covid-19 virus. This in turn prompts the body to make Covid-19 antibodies.  However, introduction of mRNA into human cells does not change the DNA of the human cells and if these cells replicate, the mRNA would not be incorporated into the new cells’ genetic information. There are a number of other claims within the video which we’ve already debunked including false claims that that the inventor of PCR said it couldn’t be used to detect infectious diseases, that vaccines make you infertile and that the current Covid-19 vaccines don’t fulfil the definition of what a vaccine is.","https://www.facebook.com/OracleFilmsUK/videos/vb.110226437870353/505147480839056/?type=2&theater,https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198833/whole-town-study-reveals-more-than-40/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3,https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-what-proportion-are-asymptomatic/,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32651-9/fulltext,https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774707,https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/1/2/22203108/great-reset-world-economic-forum-politics-conservative-conspiracy-parler-america-first,https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/1/2/22203108/great-reset-world-economic-forum-politics-conservative-conspiracy-parler-america-first,http://reparti.free.fr/schwab2020.pdf#page=60,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-real-world-uk-data-shows-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-provides-high-levels-of-protection-from-the-first-dose,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna/information-for-healthcare-professionals-on-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/azd1222-us-phase-iii-primary-analysis-confirms-safety-and-efficacy.html,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-infection-illness/,https://fullfact.org/online/this-morning-vaccines/,https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/cellular-gene-therapy-products/what-gene-therapy,https://fullfact.org/online/rna-vaccine-covid/,https://fullfact.org/online/pcr-test-mullis/,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",David Icke makes false claim that vaccines are ‘gene therapy’,,,,,, -36,,,,False,Tom Norton,2021-06-14,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-makes-false-claim-that-vaccines-are-gene-therapy/,Vaccine manufacturers have never claimed their vaccines stop transmission of Covid-19.,2021-06-14,fullfact,,"A video interview of conspiracy theorist David Icke, posted on Facebook, makes a number of misleading and dangerous claims about Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, gene therapy and asymptomatic cases of the virus.  During the video, Mr Icke claims the transmission of Covid-19 through those with asymptomatic cases of the virus is a “hoax” and brands asymptomatic Covid-19 a “load of nonsense”. There is a large amount of evidence that asymptomatic cases not only exist but may have accounted for a huge proportion of total Covid-19 cases. One analysis published in the Lancet in January states that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients are infectious (although may be less so than symptomatic patients). It concluded that “where resources permit, contact tracing should proactively seek people with asymptomatic COVID-19 because they can transmit disease and will need to be contained if a national policy objective is to minimise cases and transmission.” Other analysis has been more forthright – a meta-analysis of eight Chinese studies, published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, says that transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated in some cases to have accounted for more than half of all Covid-19 transmissions. Mr Icke also claims that Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum said Covid-19 was “an opportunity for a great reset to save the world from human caused climate change” and later states that Covid-19 and climate change are “two hoaxes perpetuated by the same force”.  The basis for this, he says, was a book by Mr Schwab and author Theirry Mallaret called “The Great Reset”. Since its publication in 2020 it has drawn the attention of conspiracy theorists.  The Great Reset (very broadly summarised) discusses how the world’s political, business and social institutions may wish to address pre-existing geo-political concerns, such as global warming, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.  In the book Mr Schwab suggests the possibility of creating “long-lasting and wider environmental changes” through changes in behaviours and new activism as society readapts to a world in which it must co-exist with Covid-19. He also provides some evidence of some of the efforts being made by big business and others to achieve this.  However, Mr Schwab also states the pandemic has created significant risk that the climate change agenda could be deprioritised as nations attempt to deal with other pressures caused by the virus.  Mr Schwab states that some economies may even “put aside” concerns about global warming to concentrate on their recovery following Covid-19, which may well include subsidising “fossil-fuel heavy and carbon emitting industries”.  So while Mr Schwab did talk about climate change policy and action in respect of the global recovery from Covid-19, there is nothing to suggest the pandemic was engineered to promote this agenda. Mr Icke also suggests that none of the manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines are “claiming to stop transmission”. Evidence shows vaccines reduce the risk of infection for those who have been vaccinated, and the risk of people who have been vaccinated from passing on the virus.  While manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines have not claimed they prevent 100% of transmission, as they do not, evidence suggests the vaccines significantly reduce the risk. Evidence from Public Health England showed that the vaccine reduces the risk of infection by more than 70% which rises to 85% after two weeks.  Other studies have shown recipients of the Pfizer vaccine were 95% less likely to contract Covid-19. For the Moderna vaccine that was 94% and for AstraZeneca it was 76%.  Initial research, covering over a million contacts in the UK, has found that people who became infected three weeks after their first vaccination were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus onto household contacts. This protection appeared from around two weeks after the vaccination, and was regardless of age. We also have repeatedly written about the links between transmission of Covid-19 and vaccines. Mr Icke says plainly at one point that none of the Covid-19 vaccines fulfill the definition of a vaccine but that “they are a gene therapy”. Gene therapy is a technique to treat illnesses by modifying an individuals' genes, for example by replacing a faulty gene with a healthy one. As we have stated before, some of the Covid-19 vaccines contain messenger RNA (mRNA) that codes a protein specific to a pathogen’s surface. This mRNA provides instructions to make the proteins usually found on the surface of the Covid-19 virus. This in turn prompts the body to make Covid-19 antibodies.  However, introduction of mRNA into human cells does not change the DNA of the human cells and if these cells replicate, the mRNA would not be incorporated into the new cells’ genetic information. There are a number of other claims within the video which we’ve already debunked including false claims that that the inventor of PCR said it couldn’t be used to detect infectious diseases, that vaccines make you infertile and that the current Covid-19 vaccines don’t fulfil the definition of what a vaccine is.","https://www.facebook.com/OracleFilmsUK/videos/vb.110226437870353/505147480839056/?type=2&theater,https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198833/whole-town-study-reveals-more-than-40/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3,https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-what-proportion-are-asymptomatic/,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32651-9/fulltext,https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774707,https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/1/2/22203108/great-reset-world-economic-forum-politics-conservative-conspiracy-parler-america-first,https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/1/2/22203108/great-reset-world-economic-forum-politics-conservative-conspiracy-parler-america-first,http://reparti.free.fr/schwab2020.pdf#page=60,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-real-world-uk-data-shows-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-provides-high-levels-of-protection-from-the-first-dose,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna/information-for-healthcare-professionals-on-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/azd1222-us-phase-iii-primary-analysis-confirms-safety-and-efficacy.html,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-infection-illness/,https://fullfact.org/online/this-morning-vaccines/,https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/cellular-gene-therapy-products/what-gene-therapy,https://fullfact.org/online/rna-vaccine-covid/,https://fullfact.org/online/pcr-test-mullis/,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",David Icke makes false claim that vaccines are ‘gene therapy’,,,,,, -37,,,,False,Tom Norton,2021-06-14,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-makes-false-claim-that-vaccines-are-gene-therapy/,Vaccine manufacturers have never claimed their vaccines stop transmission of Covid-19.,2021-06-14,fullfact,,"A video interview of conspiracy theorist David Icke, posted on Facebook, makes a number of misleading and dangerous claims about Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers, gene therapy and asymptomatic cases of the virus.  During the video, Mr Icke claims the transmission of Covid-19 through those with asymptomatic cases of the virus is a “hoax” and brands asymptomatic Covid-19 a “load of nonsense”. There is a large amount of evidence that asymptomatic cases not only exist but may have accounted for a huge proportion of total Covid-19 cases. One analysis published in the Lancet in January states that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients are infectious (although may be less so than symptomatic patients). It concluded that “where resources permit, contact tracing should proactively seek people with asymptomatic COVID-19 because they can transmit disease and will need to be contained if a national policy objective is to minimise cases and transmission.” Other analysis has been more forthright – a meta-analysis of eight Chinese studies, published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association, says that transmission from asymptomatic individuals was estimated in some cases to have accounted for more than half of all Covid-19 transmissions. Mr Icke also claims that Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum said Covid-19 was “an opportunity for a great reset to save the world from human caused climate change” and later states that Covid-19 and climate change are “two hoaxes perpetuated by the same force”.  The basis for this, he says, was a book by Mr Schwab and author Theirry Mallaret called “The Great Reset”. Since its publication in 2020 it has drawn the attention of conspiracy theorists.  The Great Reset (very broadly summarised) discusses how the world’s political, business and social institutions may wish to address pre-existing geo-political concerns, such as global warming, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.  In the book Mr Schwab suggests the possibility of creating “long-lasting and wider environmental changes” through changes in behaviours and new activism as society readapts to a world in which it must co-exist with Covid-19. He also provides some evidence of some of the efforts being made by big business and others to achieve this.  However, Mr Schwab also states the pandemic has created significant risk that the climate change agenda could be deprioritised as nations attempt to deal with other pressures caused by the virus.  Mr Schwab states that some economies may even “put aside” concerns about global warming to concentrate on their recovery following Covid-19, which may well include subsidising “fossil-fuel heavy and carbon emitting industries”.  So while Mr Schwab did talk about climate change policy and action in respect of the global recovery from Covid-19, there is nothing to suggest the pandemic was engineered to promote this agenda. Mr Icke also suggests that none of the manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines are “claiming to stop transmission”. Evidence shows vaccines reduce the risk of infection for those who have been vaccinated, and the risk of people who have been vaccinated from passing on the virus.  While manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines have not claimed they prevent 100% of transmission, as they do not, evidence suggests the vaccines significantly reduce the risk. Evidence from Public Health England showed that the vaccine reduces the risk of infection by more than 70% which rises to 85% after two weeks.  Other studies have shown recipients of the Pfizer vaccine were 95% less likely to contract Covid-19. For the Moderna vaccine that was 94% and for AstraZeneca it was 76%.  Initial research, covering over a million contacts in the UK, has found that people who became infected three weeks after their first vaccination were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus onto household contacts. This protection appeared from around two weeks after the vaccination, and was regardless of age. We also have repeatedly written about the links between transmission of Covid-19 and vaccines. Mr Icke says plainly at one point that none of the Covid-19 vaccines fulfill the definition of a vaccine but that “they are a gene therapy”. Gene therapy is a technique to treat illnesses by modifying an individuals' genes, for example by replacing a faulty gene with a healthy one. As we have stated before, some of the Covid-19 vaccines contain messenger RNA (mRNA) that codes a protein specific to a pathogen’s surface. This mRNA provides instructions to make the proteins usually found on the surface of the Covid-19 virus. This in turn prompts the body to make Covid-19 antibodies.  However, introduction of mRNA into human cells does not change the DNA of the human cells and if these cells replicate, the mRNA would not be incorporated into the new cells’ genetic information. There are a number of other claims within the video which we’ve already debunked including false claims that that the inventor of PCR said it couldn’t be used to detect infectious diseases, that vaccines make you infertile and that the current Covid-19 vaccines don’t fulfil the definition of what a vaccine is.","https://www.facebook.com/OracleFilmsUK/videos/vb.110226437870353/505147480839056/?type=2&theater,https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/198833/whole-town-study-reveals-more-than-40/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-03141-3,https://www.cebm.net/covid-19/covid-19-what-proportion-are-asymptomatic/,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32651-9/fulltext,https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774707,https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/1/2/22203108/great-reset-world-economic-forum-politics-conservative-conspiracy-parler-america-first,https://www.deseret.com/indepth/2021/1/2/22203108/great-reset-world-economic-forum-politics-conservative-conspiracy-parler-america-first,http://reparti.free.fr/schwab2020.pdf#page=60,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-real-world-uk-data-shows-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-provides-high-levels-of-protection-from-the-first-dose,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna/information-for-healthcare-professionals-on-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/azd1222-us-phase-iii-primary-analysis-confirms-safety-and-efficacy.html,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-infection-illness/,https://fullfact.org/online/this-morning-vaccines/,https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/cellular-gene-therapy-products/what-gene-therapy,https://fullfact.org/online/rna-vaccine-covid/,https://fullfact.org/online/pcr-test-mullis/,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",David Icke makes false claim that vaccines are ‘gene therapy’,,,,,, -38,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-06-11,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-midazolam/,There's no evidence there is a Covid-19 virus. The illusion of it has been manifested by using a fake test and fraudulent death certificates.,2021-06-11,fullfact,,"Conspiracy theorist David Icke has released a long  video that has been shared on social media, talking about the use of a drug called midazolam during the Covid-19 pandemic. He claims that midazolam was used to facilitate the “culling of old people”, and that Covid-19 is a faked pandemic used as a guise to allow this.  He also claims that tests for Covid-19 are “fake” and death certificates issued during the pandemic are fraudulent.  There is no evidence for any of these claims. Covid-19 is the disease caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus. We have written many times before about the Covid-19 pandemic, and the evidence behind proof of its existence. It has been isolated many times, been recognised worldwide and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation in March 2020. We also know that tests for Covid-19 are largely accurate. We have written more about tests for Covid-19 previously.  There has been some controversy around the way that deaths from Covid-19 have been recorded. Sometimes death tolls count anybody who has died within 28 days of a positive test for Covid-19. Others, however, only include deaths which have Covid-19 recorded as the cause of death on the death certificate by a doctor (the government’s Covid-19 dashboard includes both of these tolls).  Up until the week ending 28 May 2021, the Office for National Statistics data shows there have been 138,367 deaths in England and Wales involving Covid-19 (where Covid-19 is mentioned anywhere on the death certificate), and 123,717 with Covid-19 documented as the underlying cause of death on the death certificate. As of April 2021, there were approximately 42,341 deaths of care home residents involving Covid-19 in England and Wales. This is an approximate figure, as testing availability in the community was variable, particularly during the first wave.  Midazolam is a type of benzodiazepine medication, used as a conscious sedative, anaesthetic agent, anticonvulsant and is also licensed to help manage restlessness and agitation in palliative care.  Midazolam is often prescribed as an ‘anticipatory medication’. These are medications that are prescribed in advance for patients who are nearing the end of life should they experience any common and unpleasant symptoms such as anxiety, pain, nausea and vomiting associated with the dying process. They do not necessarily have to be used, and should be given ‘as required’.  Midazolam can also be used more generally for patients who are not nearing end of life, and for sedation for certain medical procedures.  There is no evidence that midazolam was being used with the intention of ending care home residents’ lives, or that this was a formal policy.  The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) told Full Fact: “These claims are deeply misleading. The government’s top priority throughout this pandemic has always been doing everything possible to save lives.” Euthanasia remains illegal in the UK.  During the Covid-19 pandemic, the government did stockpile certain medications, including midazolam.  DHSC told Full Fact: “COVID-19 has brought about an increase in global and UK demand for a number of medicines, including midazolam to support patients in intensive care or at the end of their lives.” In his video post, Mr Icke says that the UK supplemented stocks by getting midazolam from France. A DHSC spokesperson previously told Full Fact that: “To manage increases in demand, we have been building UK stockpiles of key medicines, including midazolam. “All of the Midazolam purchased for the UK Covid-19 medicines stockpile was sourced within the UK, has been licensed for use in the UK and was destined for the UK market.” There has been some confusion around where the stock came from, as an article published in the Pharmaceutical Journal in May 2020, in which the DHSC reportedly confirmed that “some French label stock” of midazolam was being sold in the UK. It is unclear whether this stock had already reached France or had been produced and held in the UK. We have written more about this previously.  In the video, Mr Icke suggests that the use of midazolam, and practices around end of life care are a return to the Liverpool Care Pathway, which was abolished in 2014.  The Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) was a generic approach to care for the dying, intended to improve end of life care and allow some of the essentials of palliative medicine and hospice model end of life practices into hospitals and other healthcare settings.  It became controversial and was criticised by patient and family groups, media and by some medical professionals who referenced cases where individuals had been ‘put on’ the pathway without consent or discussion and where the pathway had been used as an excuse for depersonalised and substandard care. Complaints included anger around medications being stopped, patients not being offered food and drink, or being inappropriately identified as dying. There were also criticisms that the use of the LCP had hastened people’s deaths through over-prescription of painkillers and/or the withdrawal of hydration or nutrition.  This led to an independent review in 2013, which concluded that although the principles behind the LCP could promote good practice and prevent suffering at the end of life, there had been failings. It was recommended that the LCP be replaced by an individualised end of life care plan for each patient. The review also recommended structural change, education, planning and inspection around end of life care.  Therefore, while midazolam was included as a symptom control option in the LCP, its use has continued as a tenet of good end of life care.  There is no evidence that the LCP has been reinstated. DHSC confirmed that it is not aware of any trusts using the LCP since it was phased out, and NHS England is clear that the LCP must not be used.","https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1053552418504543,https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19,https://fullfact.org/health/Covid-isolated-virus/,https://fullfact.org/health/antivax-video-march-2021/,https://fullfact.org/online/coronavirus-textbook-1989-common-cold/,https://fullfact.org/health/colds-flu-second-wave/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-is-not-flu/,https://fullfact.org/health/antivax-video-march-2021/,https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020,https://fullfact.org/online/screenshot-false-positive-rate-viruses-exist/,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-pcr-test-accuracy/,https://fullfact.org/health/cycle-threshold-values/,https://fullfact.org/health/lateral-flow/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/articles/coronaviruscovid19/latestinsights#deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/latest,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/deathsinvolvingcovid19inthecaresectorenglandandwales/deathsregisteredbetweenweekending20march2020andweekending2april2021,https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/midazolam.html,https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/professionals/palliative-care-knowledge-zone/symptom-control/anticipatory-medicines,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide/,https://pharmaceutical-journal.com/article/news/supplies-of-sedative-used-for-covid-19-patients-diverted-from-france-to-avoid-potential-shortages,https://fullfact.org/online/viral-video-covid-vaccine/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/212450/Liverpool_Care_Pathway.pdf#page=6,https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/media/press-releases/marie-curie-welcomes-recommendations-of-liverpool-care-pathway-review/103369,https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/end-of-life-and-palliative-care/what-is-the-liverpool-care-pathway-08-11-2012/,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5963294/pdf/wellcomeopenres-3-15857.pdf,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/212450/Liverpool_Care_Pathway.pdf#page=3,https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/end-of-life-and-palliative-care/what-is-the-liverpool-care-pathway-08-11-2012/,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5963294/pdf/wellcomeopenres-3-15857.pdf,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/212450/Liverpool_Care_Pathway.pdf#page=4,https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2364029/How-Liverpool-Care-Pathway-used-excuse-appalling-care.html,https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2223286/Hospitals-bribed-patients-pathway-death-Cash-incentive-NHS-trusts-meet-targets-Liverpool-Care-Pathway.html,https://www.compassionindying.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/IN05-What-happened-to-the-Liverpool-Care-Pathway.pdf#page=1,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/212450/Liverpool_Care_Pathway.pdf,https://www.palliativedrugs.com/download/08_06_LCP_renalprescribing.pdf%60#page=7,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Covid-19 is real and not a government euthanasia policy,,,,,, -39,,,,True,Leo Benedictus,2021-06-10,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/economy/foreign-aid-2021/,The present government has spent more on foreign aid than any previous Labour government.,2021-06-10,fullfact,,"On Wednesday, the Prime Minister said that this government has spent more on aid than Labour governments did in the past. He also said that the government was continuing to spend more—even with its planned reduction of the aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income. This is essentially true, with some minor caveats. Since the late 2000s, the UK has spent much more on foreign aid than it used to—both in terms of cash, and as a share of the national income. So the Conservative-led governments since 2010 have certainly spent more on aid than any previous Labour government, and more than any previous Conservative government too. This partly reflects the UK’s commitment, along with many other countries, to the United Nations target of spending 0.7% of national income on foreign aid every year. In practice, countries often do not live up to this.The UK has met the 0.7% aid target every year since 2013, however, and in 2015 the Conservative-led coalition government made doing so a legal requirement. This usually means spending more on aid each year, as the national income grows, but in 2020 it’s expected to mean spending less in cash terms, because the national income fell during the pandemic. Maintaining the 0.7% commitment was also a pledge in the Conservatives’ 2019 general election manifesto. In November 2020, however, the government announced that it would reduce the target to 0.5% for a period, while finances recover from the pandemic. “Our intention is to return to 0.7% when the fiscal situation allows,” the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, said. The new target will substantially reduce the amount of aid spending. Although even at 0.5% of national income, it will be higher than it generally was before 2006. Mr Johnson’s claim that “we continue to spend more than Labour ever did” is therefore accurate if you compare sustained periods of government—although Labour did spend 0.51% of national income on foreign aid in two single years: 2006 and 2009.","https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/spending-review-2020-speech,https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-aid-spend-2019,https://www.oecd.org/development/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/the07odagnitarget-ahistory.htm,https://ifs.org.uk/uploads/BN322-The-UK%27s-reduction-in-aid-spending-2.pdf#page=7,https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn03714/,https://assets-global.website-files.com/5da42e2cae7ebd3f8bde353c/5dda924905da587992a064ba_Conservative%202019%20Manifesto.pdf#page=55,https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/spending-review-2020-speech,https://fullfact.org/economy/george-freeman-africa-eu-tariffs/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/millionaire-pensioners/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/april-2021-trade-figures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/uk-foreign-aid-g7/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/labours-record-on-unemployment/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Boris Johnson was broadly right about aid spending,,,,,, -40,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-06-04,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/Piers-Corbyn-wrong-covid-vaccine-figures/,"Covid-19 vaccines have caused 859,481 adverse reactions.",2021-06-04,fullfact,,"A Facebook post by Piers Corbyn claims that a Channel 4 documentary “The Anti-Vax Conspiracy” failed to highlight deaths from and adverse reactions to Covid-19 vaccines in the UK. But some of the points he makes are not accurate.  The Yellow Card scheme is “the UK system for collecting and monitoring information on safety concerns such as suspected side effects or adverse incidents involving medicines and medical devices.” It relies on voluntary reporting from medics and members of the public, and is intended to provide an early warning of any previously unknown risks. Using the latest statistics when the statement was posted, there were 246,970 adverse reaction reports made to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), among which there were 857,323 suspected reactions (a single report may contain more than one symptom).  However, as we have stated before, while the Yellow Card scheme records reported adverse reactions following vaccination, it does not mean the vaccines are necessarily the cause of  these reactions.  While the MHRA monitors the effects of the vaccines, it has noted the number and nature of Yellow Card reports is “not unusual for a new vaccine for which members of the public and healthcare professionals are encouraged to report any suspected adverse reaction.” The MHRA notes that the “overwhelming majority” of these reports are of injection site reactions that are “not associated with more serious or lasting illness” which “reflect the acute immune response triggered by the body to the vaccines, are typically seen with most types of vaccine and tend to resolve within a day or two.” Out of the 857,323 suspected reactions, 1,400 include more serious potential side effects such as anaphylaxis, blood clots and capillary leak syndrome (a rare but potentially fatal condition where blood leaks from the small blood vessels into the body). Again, this does not mean that the vaccine caused them. There have been 1,213 reported deaths within seven days of vaccination. Although Mr Corbyn gave the correct number, he was wrong to say these were all caused by the vaccines. The MHRA’s report states: “The majority of these reports were in elderly people or people with underlying illness.” The MHRA states that individual reviews have (so far) found no link between these deaths and the vaccine.  Mr Corbyn also claimed people are more likely to die from Covid-19 vaccines than from Covid-19. This is clearly untrue, as at least 123,647 people have already died of Covid in England and Wales so far. Even if everyone in England and Wales had been infected with Covid, this would still make it much more dangerous than vaccination.  Mr Corbyn claims in his post there is a 99.97% survival rate for Covid-19. We’ve written before about how European estimates (i.e. estimates in countries with similar age profiles and healthcare quality as the UK) put the fatality rate at somewhere between 0.5% and 1%, meaning the “survival rate” could be somewhere between 99% and 99.5%. But precise estimates for the UK are difficult to make, because we don’t know how many people have caught Covid, and therefore what proportion have survived.","https://www.facebook.com/stopnewnormaluk/posts/297520508757540,https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/the-yellow-card-scheme/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/989946/Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting_19.05.21.pdf,https://fullfact.org/online/yellow-card-astrazeneca-reactions/,https://fullfact.org/online/460-vaccine-deaths-yellow-card/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/991132/Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting_26_05.pdf#page=14,https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc1399/fig2/datadownload.xlsx,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-ifr-more-01/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Piers Corbyn makes misleading claims about vaccine deaths,,,,,, -41,,,,Other,Abbas Panjwani,2021-06-04,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/MHRA-yellow-card-poster/,Yellow Card data will allow the vaccines to move out of the phase 3 clinical trials and be granted full approval.,2021-06-04,fullfact,,"A poster which has been made to look like it comes from the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been shared on social media, and asks people to report any side effects from Covid-19 vaccines. Full Fact readers have asked us whether the poster is genuine, but it is not.   The poster talks about the importance of the Yellow Card scheme, which is the UK system for collecting reports of safety concerns such as potential side effects involving medical devices and medicines, including vaccines.   It claims that Yellow Card reports are essential to ensure the Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective and will enable the vaccines to move out of phase 3 clinical trials and be granted “full approval”.  However, these claims are not entirely true. The poster is a pretty good imitation of similar graphics published by the MHRA but there are still some clues which suggest that it might not be genuine. Doing a Google image search for “MHRA Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine injury report scheme” returned very similar graphics to the fake one. These images led to a legitimate MHRA webpage which linked to various resources for its “Every report counts campaign”, including posters. However, none of the posters or images there matched the image we’re checking.  And while the style was quite similar (using the same graphics of people and colour scheme), there were some key differences.  The real posters use a slightly different typeface and the MHRA’s logo looks different in the fabricated poster. There is also a grammatical error in the fake poster.   The MHRA confirmed to Full Fact that the image on social media did not come from them. The claims made in the fake poster are also not entirely accurate. It is true that the MHRA has launched a campaign promoting the Yellow Card scheme, and it is important people report suspected side effects from vaccines so they can be investigated. But the fake poster then says: “This [data] will allow [the vaccines] to move out of the phase 3 clinical trials and be granted full approval by the European Medical Agency as it currently only has temporary approval by the MHRA.” This doesn’t accurately represent how vaccine approval works nor the place of Yellow Card reports in the process.  Vaccines, like other drugs, go through a number of stages before being released.  Before human trials, vaccines must be shown to be safe and effective in animals. Then, phase 1 trials among up to 100 adults are focused on making sure the vaccine has no major safety concerns, and to work out the most effective dose. Phase 2 trials involve a few hundred participants and are more focused on checking the vaccine works consistently, and starting to look for any side effects. Phase 3 trials are then conducted among, typically, thousands of participants and are used to gather statistically significant and robust data on a vaccine’s safety and efficacy.  Following phase 3, the vaccine manufacturer can submit all their data to the regulatory body (which in the UK is the MHRA) which will then decide whether to licence the vaccine. The four Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in the UK (Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Janssen) have all published data from their phase 3 trials demonstrating they are safe and effective. Participants in these trials are being monitored for the next few years, but it’s wrong to suggest that Yellow Card reports are needed for the vaccines to “move out of the phase 3 clinical trials.”  It is also wrong to suggest, as some on social media have done, that because these trials are ongoing, people who take the vaccines are themselves in clinical trials. Some drugs also go through trials after being fully rolled out, known as phase 4 trials, which don’t mean that people regularly prescribed them are in clinical trials themselves.  Analysis of the Yellow Card reports so far shows that, other than well-known, temporary, mild and moderate side effects, such as fatigue, the risk of serious illness is very low. One possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare blood clot has been identified. The latest data shows around one in 400,000 people who have been given a dose of the vaccine have died of one of these blood clots in the UK.  The poster claims the vaccines have received “temporary approval” which is essentially correct.  The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines have received temporary authorisation via regulation 174 of the Human Medicines Regulation 2012, while the Moderna and Janssen vaccines have received “conditional marketing authorisation”, a type of licence.  We’ve written about the different types of authorisation for vaccines before.  Normally, vaccines go through a process to obtain marketing authorisation (also known as a licence). In certain scenarios, however, for example in response to “pathogenic agents”, the MHRA may use different types of authorisation. Regulation 174 temporary authorisations are triggered by the government, rather than applied for by the drug company, and authorise the emergency supply of an unlicensed medicine in response to an unmet public health need. The process doesn’t allow them to be turned into full permanent licenses, although that doesn’t stop Pfizer or AstraZeneca applying for a license for their vaccines in the future. A conditional marketing authorisation, as held by Moderna and Janssen for their Covid vaccines, is applied for by the company in question. It is also a form of temporary authorisation, but can be converted into a full, permanent marketing authorisation, or licence.   The MHRA has previously told Full Fact that temporary authorisation and conditional marketing authorisations are “regulatory tools that enable medicines to be approved at the earliest time possible during an emergency situation, as soon as there are robust data to show that the benefits outweigh the risks” and added that no vaccine would be authorised in this way “unless the expected high standards are met”.","https://twitter.com/BluesManV2/status/1398551917840711685,https://www.facebook.com/ANHInternational/photos/a.867511463290190/5491771804197443,https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/the-yellow-card-scheme/,https://www.google.com/search?q=MHRA+Coronavirus+(Covid-19)+vaccine+injury+report+scheme&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiNgsWEsfvwAhWzDWMBHd72DaYQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1536&bih=722#imgrc=A5obLUBDLxp27M,https://coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/,https://coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/campaignpage,https://downloads.ctfassets.net/58vt0wp5xpi9/1cq6VCa1c0MwC7uXmAtF2N/b6a4b3853a9362b475017cf225628ed6/A4_Poster_EveryReportCounts-1-.pdf,https://images.ctfassets.net/58vt0wp5xpi9/7p797fj8tVdb7aXCHbhjGw/2d85aecf0c19caa879531effb26583fd/Email_Signature_Version-1_ERC-1-.png,https://coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/campaignpage,https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/vaccine-development,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32661-1/fulltext,https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2034577,https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2035389,https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2101544,https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04516746?term=NCT04516746&draw=2&rank=1,https://twitter.com/BluesManV2/status/1398551917840711685,https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/vaccine-development,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#analysis-of-data,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/information-for-uk-recipients-on-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/information-for-uk-recipients-on-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/regulation/174/made,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna/summary-of-the-public-assessment-report-for-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/made/data.pdf#page=35,https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/access-to-treatment/how-are-drugs-licensed-in-the-uk,https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/access-to-treatment/how-are-drugs-licensed-in-the-uk,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/regulation/174/made,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Poster about Yellow Card scheme is not real,,,,,, -42,,,,Other,Abbas Panjwani,2021-06-04,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/MHRA-yellow-card-poster/,Yellow Card data will allow the vaccines to move out of the phase 3 clinical trials and be granted full approval.,2021-06-04,fullfact,,"A poster which has been made to look like it comes from the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has been shared on social media, and asks people to report any side effects from Covid-19 vaccines. Full Fact readers have asked us whether the poster is genuine, but it is not.   The poster talks about the importance of the Yellow Card scheme, which is the UK system for collecting reports of safety concerns such as potential side effects involving medical devices and medicines, including vaccines.   It claims that Yellow Card reports are essential to ensure the Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective and will enable the vaccines to move out of phase 3 clinical trials and be granted “full approval”.  However, these claims are not entirely true. The poster is a pretty good imitation of similar graphics published by the MHRA but there are still some clues which suggest that it might not be genuine. Doing a Google image search for “MHRA Coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine injury report scheme” returned very similar graphics to the fake one. These images led to a legitimate MHRA webpage which linked to various resources for its “Every report counts campaign”, including posters. However, none of the posters or images there matched the image we’re checking.  And while the style was quite similar (using the same graphics of people and colour scheme), there were some key differences.  The real posters use a slightly different typeface and the MHRA’s logo looks different in the fabricated poster. There is also a grammatical error in the fake poster.   The MHRA confirmed to Full Fact that the image on social media did not come from them. The claims made in the fake poster are also not entirely accurate. It is true that the MHRA has launched a campaign promoting the Yellow Card scheme, and it is important people report suspected side effects from vaccines so they can be investigated. But the fake poster then says: “This [data] will allow [the vaccines] to move out of the phase 3 clinical trials and be granted full approval by the European Medical Agency as it currently only has temporary approval by the MHRA.” This doesn’t accurately represent how vaccine approval works nor the place of Yellow Card reports in the process.  Vaccines, like other drugs, go through a number of stages before being released.  Before human trials, vaccines must be shown to be safe and effective in animals. Then, phase 1 trials among up to 100 adults are focused on making sure the vaccine has no major safety concerns, and to work out the most effective dose. Phase 2 trials involve a few hundred participants and are more focused on checking the vaccine works consistently, and starting to look for any side effects. Phase 3 trials are then conducted among, typically, thousands of participants and are used to gather statistically significant and robust data on a vaccine’s safety and efficacy.  Following phase 3, the vaccine manufacturer can submit all their data to the regulatory body (which in the UK is the MHRA) which will then decide whether to licence the vaccine. The four Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in the UK (Oxford-AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Janssen) have all published data from their phase 3 trials demonstrating they are safe and effective. Participants in these trials are being monitored for the next few years, but it’s wrong to suggest that Yellow Card reports are needed for the vaccines to “move out of the phase 3 clinical trials.”  It is also wrong to suggest, as some on social media have done, that because these trials are ongoing, people who take the vaccines are themselves in clinical trials. Some drugs also go through trials after being fully rolled out, known as phase 4 trials, which don’t mean that people regularly prescribed them are in clinical trials themselves.  Analysis of the Yellow Card reports so far shows that, other than well-known, temporary, mild and moderate side effects, such as fatigue, the risk of serious illness is very low. One possible link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and a rare blood clot has been identified. The latest data shows around one in 400,000 people who have been given a dose of the vaccine have died of one of these blood clots in the UK.  The poster claims the vaccines have received “temporary approval” which is essentially correct.  The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines have received temporary authorisation via regulation 174 of the Human Medicines Regulation 2012, while the Moderna and Janssen vaccines have received “conditional marketing authorisation”, a type of licence.  We’ve written about the different types of authorisation for vaccines before.  Normally, vaccines go through a process to obtain marketing authorisation (also known as a licence). In certain scenarios, however, for example in response to “pathogenic agents”, the MHRA may use different types of authorisation. Regulation 174 temporary authorisations are triggered by the government, rather than applied for by the drug company, and authorise the emergency supply of an unlicensed medicine in response to an unmet public health need. The process doesn’t allow them to be turned into full permanent licenses, although that doesn’t stop Pfizer or AstraZeneca applying for a license for their vaccines in the future. A conditional marketing authorisation, as held by Moderna and Janssen for their Covid vaccines, is applied for by the company in question. It is also a form of temporary authorisation, but can be converted into a full, permanent marketing authorisation, or licence.   The MHRA has previously told Full Fact that temporary authorisation and conditional marketing authorisations are “regulatory tools that enable medicines to be approved at the earliest time possible during an emergency situation, as soon as there are robust data to show that the benefits outweigh the risks” and added that no vaccine would be authorised in this way “unless the expected high standards are met”.","https://twitter.com/BluesManV2/status/1398551917840711685,https://www.facebook.com/ANHInternational/photos/a.867511463290190/5491771804197443,https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/the-yellow-card-scheme/,https://www.google.com/search?q=MHRA+Coronavirus+(Covid-19)+vaccine+injury+report+scheme&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiNgsWEsfvwAhWzDWMBHd72DaYQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1536&bih=722#imgrc=A5obLUBDLxp27M,https://coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/,https://coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/campaignpage,https://downloads.ctfassets.net/58vt0wp5xpi9/1cq6VCa1c0MwC7uXmAtF2N/b6a4b3853a9362b475017cf225628ed6/A4_Poster_EveryReportCounts-1-.pdf,https://images.ctfassets.net/58vt0wp5xpi9/7p797fj8tVdb7aXCHbhjGw/2d85aecf0c19caa879531effb26583fd/Email_Signature_Version-1_ERC-1-.png,https://coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/campaignpage,https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/vaccine-development,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32661-1/fulltext,https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2034577,https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa2035389,https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2101544,https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04516746?term=NCT04516746&draw=2&rank=1,https://twitter.com/BluesManV2/status/1398551917840711685,https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/vaccine-development,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#analysis-of-data,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/information-for-uk-recipients-on-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/information-for-uk-recipients-on-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/regulation/174/made,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna/summary-of-the-public-assessment-report-for-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/made/data.pdf#page=35,https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/access-to-treatment/how-are-drugs-licensed-in-the-uk,https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/access-to-treatment/how-are-drugs-licensed-in-the-uk,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1916/regulation/174/made,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Poster about Yellow Card scheme is not real,,,,,, -43,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-06-04,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,The Covid-19 vaccine contains a nanobot transmitter which can connect you to the “internet of things”.,2021-06-04,fullfact,,"A video posted on Facebook, filmed at Twickenham Stadium where many people queued to receive a Covid-19 vaccination on the May Bank Holiday, includes a number of false claims.   During the video a recording of someone who identifies herself as Kate Shemirani can be heard making various false and harmful claims about the vaccines, some of which we’ve looked into. Not only have we repeatedly debunked claims that Covid-19 vaccines are “devices”, but all four vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Astra-Zeneca, Janssen) are authorised as vaccines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It’s not clear what is meant by an “immune response” which would lead to your body attacking itself. There is no evidence that the currently approved Covid-19 vaccines cause autoimmune diseases or other autoimmune responses.  We have previously debunked claims that the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility in women (Professor Jonathan Stoye, Virologist at the Francis Crick Institute, told Full Fact the possibility of a risk is “vanishingly small”) and they risk causing infertility in young men (evidence shows the vaccine may help protect male fertility). Many other news outlets, fact checkers and health businesses have also dispelled claims that Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility. Covid-19 vaccines do not contain micro-transmitters of any kind. While the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines do use nanoparticles, this is just a generic term for very small particles that can be found in nature or can be man-made. These however are not “nanobots”. They don’t send data and cannot connect to WiFi. Nanoparticles have been used to deliver medicines into the body since the 1990s. In another section of the video, one of the protestors says over the microphone: This is wrong for several reasons. Firstly, the British Red Cross is not responsible for managing blood donations in England, it’s NHS Blood and Transplant. Secondly, you can give blood after having a vaccine. However, in England, you have to wait seven days from your vaccination or, if you experience side effects, 28 days after recovery from those side effects. NHS Blood and Transplant says it is a precautionary measure and that leaving a gap prevents side effects from being confused with other illnesses, making blood donation safer.  The claim may be based on a falsehood recently repeated by The Stone Roses’ lead singer Ian Brown, that the Japanese Red Cross doesn’t accept blood donations after a vaccine. This is also incorrect. The Japanese Red Cross only asks those who have been vaccinated to wait for 48 hours after being vaccinated to give blood.","https://www.facebook.com/fiona.hine.7/videos/vb.504850440/10165495628185441/?type=2&theater,https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/twickenham-queues-covid-vaccine-b938120.html,https://fullfact.org/online/viral-video-covid-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-magnet-bluetooth/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/05/28/fact-check-covid-19-vaccine-not-cause-autoimmune-disease/4719138001/,https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/is-it-true/is-it-true-do-covid-19-vaccines-cause-autoimmune-diseases#:~:text=cause%20autoimmune%20diseases%3F-,Autoimmune%20diseases%2C%20such%20as%20arthritis%20and%20multiple%20sclerosis%2C%20are%20chronic,vaccines%20can%20cause%20autoimmune%20diseases.,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:9889529642,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/vaccines-are-safe-and-arent-associated-with-autoimmune-disease-contrary-to-claim-in-viral-video-by-chiropractor-steven-baker/,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-covid-fertility/,https://fullfact.org/health/there-isnt-pork-in-covid-19-vaccines/,https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/05/12/no-evidence-that-covid-19-coronavirus-vaccines-damage-placenta-or-cause-infertility-says-study/?sh=47e307794e8d,https://www.wxyz.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/fact-check-no-the-covid-19-vaccine-doesnt-cause-infertility,https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/covid-affect-fertility,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-vaccines-artificial-intelligence/,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-magnet-bluetooth/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-vaccine-nanoparticles/,https://www.britannica.com/science/nanoparticle,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-vaccines-artificial-intelligence/,https://factcheckni.org/articles/is-the-red-cross-refusing-blood-donations-from-anyone-who-has-received-a-covid-19-vaccination/,https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/,https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/,https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/#:~:text=Can%20I%20give%20blood%20if,need%20to%20wait%207%20days,https://fullfact.org/online/ian-brown-wrong-to-claim-japan-refuses-blood-from-anyone-whos-been-vaccinated/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Hecklers at Twickenham Stadium vaccine drive spout false claims,,,,,, -44,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-06-04,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,The Covid-19 vaccine contains a nanobot transmitter which can connect you to the “internet of things”.,2021-06-04,fullfact,,"A video posted on Facebook, filmed at Twickenham Stadium where many people queued to receive a Covid-19 vaccination on the May Bank Holiday, includes a number of false claims.   During the video a recording of someone who identifies herself as Kate Shemirani can be heard making various false and harmful claims about the vaccines, some of which we’ve looked into. Not only have we repeatedly debunked claims that Covid-19 vaccines are “devices”, but all four vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Astra-Zeneca, Janssen) are authorised as vaccines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It’s not clear what is meant by an “immune response” which would lead to your body attacking itself. There is no evidence that the currently approved Covid-19 vaccines cause autoimmune diseases or other autoimmune responses.  We have previously debunked claims that the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility in women (Professor Jonathan Stoye, Virologist at the Francis Crick Institute, told Full Fact the possibility of a risk is “vanishingly small”) and they risk causing infertility in young men (evidence shows the vaccine may help protect male fertility). Many other news outlets, fact checkers and health businesses have also dispelled claims that Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility. Covid-19 vaccines do not contain micro-transmitters of any kind. While the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines do use nanoparticles, this is just a generic term for very small particles that can be found in nature or can be man-made. These however are not “nanobots”. They don’t send data and cannot connect to WiFi. Nanoparticles have been used to deliver medicines into the body since the 1990s. In another section of the video, one of the protestors says over the microphone: This is wrong for several reasons. Firstly, the British Red Cross is not responsible for managing blood donations in England, it’s NHS Blood and Transplant. Secondly, you can give blood after having a vaccine. However, in England, you have to wait seven days from your vaccination or, if you experience side effects, 28 days after recovery from those side effects. NHS Blood and Transplant says it is a precautionary measure and that leaving a gap prevents side effects from being confused with other illnesses, making blood donation safer.  The claim may be based on a falsehood recently repeated by The Stone Roses’ lead singer Ian Brown, that the Japanese Red Cross doesn’t accept blood donations after a vaccine. This is also incorrect. The Japanese Red Cross only asks those who have been vaccinated to wait for 48 hours after being vaccinated to give blood.","https://www.facebook.com/fiona.hine.7/videos/vb.504850440/10165495628185441/?type=2&theater,https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/twickenham-queues-covid-vaccine-b938120.html,https://fullfact.org/online/viral-video-covid-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-magnet-bluetooth/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/05/28/fact-check-covid-19-vaccine-not-cause-autoimmune-disease/4719138001/,https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/is-it-true/is-it-true-do-covid-19-vaccines-cause-autoimmune-diseases#:~:text=cause%20autoimmune%20diseases%3F-,Autoimmune%20diseases%2C%20such%20as%20arthritis%20and%20multiple%20sclerosis%2C%20are%20chronic,vaccines%20can%20cause%20autoimmune%20diseases.,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:9889529642,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/vaccines-are-safe-and-arent-associated-with-autoimmune-disease-contrary-to-claim-in-viral-video-by-chiropractor-steven-baker/,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-covid-fertility/,https://fullfact.org/health/there-isnt-pork-in-covid-19-vaccines/,https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/05/12/no-evidence-that-covid-19-coronavirus-vaccines-damage-placenta-or-cause-infertility-says-study/?sh=47e307794e8d,https://www.wxyz.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/fact-check-no-the-covid-19-vaccine-doesnt-cause-infertility,https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/covid-affect-fertility,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-vaccines-artificial-intelligence/,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-magnet-bluetooth/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-vaccine-nanoparticles/,https://www.britannica.com/science/nanoparticle,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-vaccines-artificial-intelligence/,https://factcheckni.org/articles/is-the-red-cross-refusing-blood-donations-from-anyone-who-has-received-a-covid-19-vaccination/,https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/,https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/,https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/#:~:text=Can%20I%20give%20blood%20if,need%20to%20wait%207%20days,https://fullfact.org/online/ian-brown-wrong-to-claim-japan-refuses-blood-from-anyone-whos-been-vaccinated/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Hecklers at Twickenham Stadium vaccine drive spout false claims,,,,,, -45,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-06-04,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,The Covid-19 vaccine contains a nanobot transmitter which can connect you to the “internet of things”.,2021-06-04,fullfact,,"A video posted on Facebook, filmed at Twickenham Stadium where many people queued to receive a Covid-19 vaccination on the May Bank Holiday, includes a number of false claims.   During the video a recording of someone who identifies herself as Kate Shemirani can be heard making various false and harmful claims about the vaccines, some of which we’ve looked into. Not only have we repeatedly debunked claims that Covid-19 vaccines are “devices”, but all four vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Astra-Zeneca, Janssen) are authorised as vaccines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It’s not clear what is meant by an “immune response” which would lead to your body attacking itself. There is no evidence that the currently approved Covid-19 vaccines cause autoimmune diseases or other autoimmune responses.  We have previously debunked claims that the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility in women (Professor Jonathan Stoye, Virologist at the Francis Crick Institute, told Full Fact the possibility of a risk is “vanishingly small”) and they risk causing infertility in young men (evidence shows the vaccine may help protect male fertility). Many other news outlets, fact checkers and health businesses have also dispelled claims that Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility. Covid-19 vaccines do not contain micro-transmitters of any kind. While the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines do use nanoparticles, this is just a generic term for very small particles that can be found in nature or can be man-made. These however are not “nanobots”. They don’t send data and cannot connect to WiFi. Nanoparticles have been used to deliver medicines into the body since the 1990s. In another section of the video, one of the protestors says over the microphone: This is wrong for several reasons. Firstly, the British Red Cross is not responsible for managing blood donations in England, it’s NHS Blood and Transplant. Secondly, you can give blood after having a vaccine. However, in England, you have to wait seven days from your vaccination or, if you experience side effects, 28 days after recovery from those side effects. NHS Blood and Transplant says it is a precautionary measure and that leaving a gap prevents side effects from being confused with other illnesses, making blood donation safer.  The claim may be based on a falsehood recently repeated by The Stone Roses’ lead singer Ian Brown, that the Japanese Red Cross doesn’t accept blood donations after a vaccine. This is also incorrect. The Japanese Red Cross only asks those who have been vaccinated to wait for 48 hours after being vaccinated to give blood.","https://www.facebook.com/fiona.hine.7/videos/vb.504850440/10165495628185441/?type=2&theater,https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/twickenham-queues-covid-vaccine-b938120.html,https://fullfact.org/online/viral-video-covid-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-magnet-bluetooth/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/05/28/fact-check-covid-19-vaccine-not-cause-autoimmune-disease/4719138001/,https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/is-it-true/is-it-true-do-covid-19-vaccines-cause-autoimmune-diseases#:~:text=cause%20autoimmune%20diseases%3F-,Autoimmune%20diseases%2C%20such%20as%20arthritis%20and%20multiple%20sclerosis%2C%20are%20chronic,vaccines%20can%20cause%20autoimmune%20diseases.,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:9889529642,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/vaccines-are-safe-and-arent-associated-with-autoimmune-disease-contrary-to-claim-in-viral-video-by-chiropractor-steven-baker/,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-covid-fertility/,https://fullfact.org/health/there-isnt-pork-in-covid-19-vaccines/,https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/05/12/no-evidence-that-covid-19-coronavirus-vaccines-damage-placenta-or-cause-infertility-says-study/?sh=47e307794e8d,https://www.wxyz.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/fact-check-no-the-covid-19-vaccine-doesnt-cause-infertility,https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/covid-affect-fertility,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-vaccines-artificial-intelligence/,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-magnet-bluetooth/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-vaccine-nanoparticles/,https://www.britannica.com/science/nanoparticle,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-vaccines-artificial-intelligence/,https://factcheckni.org/articles/is-the-red-cross-refusing-blood-donations-from-anyone-who-has-received-a-covid-19-vaccination/,https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/,https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/,https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/#:~:text=Can%20I%20give%20blood%20if,need%20to%20wait%207%20days,https://fullfact.org/online/ian-brown-wrong-to-claim-japan-refuses-blood-from-anyone-whos-been-vaccinated/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Hecklers at Twickenham Stadium vaccine drive spout false claims,,,,,, -46,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-06-04,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/Twickenham-Covid-19-vaccine-claims-false/,The Covid-19 vaccine contains a nanobot transmitter which can connect you to the “internet of things”.,2021-06-04,fullfact,,"A video posted on Facebook, filmed at Twickenham Stadium where many people queued to receive a Covid-19 vaccination on the May Bank Holiday, includes a number of false claims.   During the video a recording of someone who identifies herself as Kate Shemirani can be heard making various false and harmful claims about the vaccines, some of which we’ve looked into. Not only have we repeatedly debunked claims that Covid-19 vaccines are “devices”, but all four vaccines (Pfizer, Moderna, Astra-Zeneca, Janssen) are authorised as vaccines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It’s not clear what is meant by an “immune response” which would lead to your body attacking itself. There is no evidence that the currently approved Covid-19 vaccines cause autoimmune diseases or other autoimmune responses.  We have previously debunked claims that the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility in women (Professor Jonathan Stoye, Virologist at the Francis Crick Institute, told Full Fact the possibility of a risk is “vanishingly small”) and they risk causing infertility in young men (evidence shows the vaccine may help protect male fertility). Many other news outlets, fact checkers and health businesses have also dispelled claims that Covid-19 vaccines cause infertility. Covid-19 vaccines do not contain micro-transmitters of any kind. While the Pfizer and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines do use nanoparticles, this is just a generic term for very small particles that can be found in nature or can be man-made. These however are not “nanobots”. They don’t send data and cannot connect to WiFi. Nanoparticles have been used to deliver medicines into the body since the 1990s. In another section of the video, one of the protestors says over the microphone: This is wrong for several reasons. Firstly, the British Red Cross is not responsible for managing blood donations in England, it’s NHS Blood and Transplant. Secondly, you can give blood after having a vaccine. However, in England, you have to wait seven days from your vaccination or, if you experience side effects, 28 days after recovery from those side effects. NHS Blood and Transplant says it is a precautionary measure and that leaving a gap prevents side effects from being confused with other illnesses, making blood donation safer.  The claim may be based on a falsehood recently repeated by The Stone Roses’ lead singer Ian Brown, that the Japanese Red Cross doesn’t accept blood donations after a vaccine. This is also incorrect. The Japanese Red Cross only asks those who have been vaccinated to wait for 48 hours after being vaccinated to give blood.","https://www.facebook.com/fiona.hine.7/videos/vb.504850440/10165495628185441/?type=2&theater,https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/twickenham-queues-covid-vaccine-b938120.html,https://fullfact.org/online/viral-video-covid-vaccine/,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-magnet-bluetooth/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/05/28/fact-check-covid-19-vaccine-not-cause-autoimmune-disease/4719138001/,https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/covid-19-vaccines/is-it-true/is-it-true-do-covid-19-vaccines-cause-autoimmune-diseases#:~:text=cause%20autoimmune%20diseases%3F-,Autoimmune%20diseases%2C%20such%20as%20arthritis%20and%20multiple%20sclerosis%2C%20are%20chronic,vaccines%20can%20cause%20autoimmune%20diseases.,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:9889529642,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/vaccines-are-safe-and-arent-associated-with-autoimmune-disease-contrary-to-claim-in-viral-video-by-chiropractor-steven-baker/,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-covid-fertility/,https://fullfact.org/health/there-isnt-pork-in-covid-19-vaccines/,https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/05/12/no-evidence-that-covid-19-coronavirus-vaccines-damage-placenta-or-cause-infertility-says-study/?sh=47e307794e8d,https://www.wxyz.com/news/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine/fact-check-no-the-covid-19-vaccine-doesnt-cause-infertility,https://www.bupa.co.uk/newsroom/ourviews/covid-affect-fertility,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-vaccines-artificial-intelligence/,https://fullfact.org/online/vaccine-magnet-bluetooth/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-vaccine-nanoparticles/,https://www.britannica.com/science/nanoparticle,https://fullfact.org/online/david-icke-vaccines-artificial-intelligence/,https://factcheckni.org/articles/is-the-red-cross-refusing-blood-donations-from-anyone-who-has-received-a-covid-19-vaccination/,https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/,https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/,https://www.blood.co.uk/news-and-campaigns/news-and-statements/coronavirus-covid-19-updates/#:~:text=Can%20I%20give%20blood%20if,need%20to%20wait%207%20days,https://fullfact.org/online/ian-brown-wrong-to-claim-japan-refuses-blood-from-anyone-whos-been-vaccinated/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Hecklers at Twickenham Stadium vaccine drive spout false claims,,,,,, -47,,,,False,Abbas Panjwani,2021-06-03,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/education/literacy-numeracy-uk-telegraph/,The UK has the lowest literacy rates in its history,2021-06-03,fullfact,,"A column in the Daily Telegraph makes a number of eye-catching claims about the state of education in the UK, but not all of them are right.  In the piece, journalist Celia Walden argues that schemes to help pupils catch up on their learning after the pandemic should focus on the core education of literacy and numeracy. She writes: “Do we really need reminding that […] we have the lowest literacy rates in our history.” This isn’t true. We’ve asked the Telegraph what Ms Walden was referring to but it has not responded. Our World in Data, a statistical publication from the University of Oxford, has collated figures going back to 1475, showing literacy in the late 15th century was around 5% - meaning only 5% of the population could read and write.  It is currently around 99%, although a significant number have low levels of literacy. Assuming that Ms Walden was referring to the more recent past, it also appears as if this has improved slightly over the past few decades, based on the little consistent data available.  The average adult literacy scores improved between 1996 and 2012. And England’s score in international tests among children shows reading aptitude has remained similar or even increased since 2006.   The Telegraph article goes on to claim: “Our child literacy and numeracy rates consistently languish either at or near the bottom of every international table.”  We have asked the Telegraph for the source of this claim. It possibly refers to a 2012 analysis by the OECD which found that England had the highest proportion of teenagers aged 16-19 with low levels of literacy and numeracy among 23 countries and territories. However, it would be wrong to say that the UK’s child literacy and numeracy rates are at or near the bottom of every international table. More recent data, albeit covering children of different ages, paints a more positive picture.  In 2016, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) tested 10-year-olds across 50 countries and territories. Northern Ireland placed seventh and England placed joint-eighth, while Scotland and Wales did not participate. In 2018, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tested 15-year-olds across around 80 countries and territories and the UK was above average for both reading and mathematics. And in 2019, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) tested pupils in year 5 and year 9 with much the same outcome. Students from the UK (specifically England and Northern Ireland, as Scotland and Wales didn’t participate), outperformed the average. These studies all measure, in their own ways, average aptitude in maths and reading, rather than the proportion of children who meet a definition of “illiterate” or “innumerate”.","https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2021/05/24/now-not-time-back-creative-syllabus-children-need-get-back/,https://ourworldindata.org/literacy,https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org//sites/605ec8b3-en/index.html?itemId=/content/component/605ec8b3-en#fig-2.6,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/246534/bis-13-1221-international-survey-of-adult-skills-2012.pdf#page=145,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/904420/PISA_2018_England_national_report_accessible.pdf#page=29,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/664562/PIRLS_2016_National_Report_for_England-_BRANDED.pdf#page=31,https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/02/which-countries-have-the-best-literacy-and-numeracy-rates?utm_content=buffer34a53&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer,https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/english-teenagers-are-the-most-illiterate-in-the-developed-world-report-reveals-a6841166.html,https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pirls/pirls2016/tables/pirls2016_table01.asp,https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pirls/pirls2016/tables/pirls2016_table01.asp,https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pirls/pirls2016/tables/pirls2016_table01.asp,https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/PISA2018_CN_GBR.pdf,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/941351/TIMSS_2019_National_Report.pdf#page=8,https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/education/timss-2019-in-northern-ireland-main-report.pdf#page=8,https://fullfact.org/education/evening-standard-missing-school-children-covid/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/maria-miller-nine-ten-girls-ofsted/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/ofsted-sexual-abuse-schools/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/school-pupils-return-classroom-covid/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/pupil-funding-conservatives/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Telegraph columnist wrongly claims literacy at the lowest level in UK history,,,,,, -48,,,,Other,Grace Rahman,2021-06-01,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/this-morning-vaccines/,The survival rate from Covid-19 is 99.8%.,2021-06-01,fullfact,,"A heated exchange between presenter Dermot O’Leary and guest Beverley Turner on This Morning, about whether the Covid-19 vaccines stop you from catching and passing on the disease has gone viral on social media.  Ms Turner claimed: “[The vaccine] does not stop you contracting or passing on the virus.” Multiple, reliable forms of evidence show that vaccines greatly reduce a person’s chance of contracting or passing on a virus. Ms Turner has asked us to clarify that she meant that the vaccines don’t always stop the transmission of the disease, which is correct as set out below. The NHS website says that the vaccines reduce your risk of catching, spreading, getting symptoms, getting ill, and dying from Covid, and she has asked us to clarify that her remarks about transmission were intended to reflect that. Studies have found that people given one dose of the Pfizer vaccine have a 70% reduced risk of becoming infected, both with and without symptoms, rising to 85% after the second dose. This data comes from testing healthcare workers who were tested for Covid every two weeks, regardless of whether they had symptoms. Data in adults over 70 shows that both the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines are between 60-70% effective against symptomatic disease around a month after the first dose, and 85-90% after the second dose of Pfizer (this particular study didn’t look at the effect after two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine). As to Ms Turner’s claim on vaccines not stopping people passing on the virus, the evidence suggests that one dose of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines significantly reduces your chances of passing on the virus to members of your household, if you do catch it. Initial research, covering over a million contacts in the UK, has found that people who became infected three weeks after their first vaccination were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus onto household contacts. This protection appeared from around two weeks after the vaccination, and was regardless of age. This may be what Ms Turner was referring to when she then went on to say there was “a little bit of evidence to suggest that it might minimise transmission, but that’s because it ameliorates your symptoms and if it ameliorates your symptoms then you are less likely to pass it on.” She also made a number of other claims about the Covid survival rate and whether the vaccine is in trials that we have written about before. Ms Turner described the Covid-19 vaccine as a “trial drug”. While it’s not quite clear what this means, we have checked similar claims before. These claims have been based on the fact that some of the Covid-19 vaccine trials have completion dates set in the future. As we’ve explained before, data on key safety and efficacy outcomes has already been published in peer-reviewed journals, but data on long term protection and safety will continue to be collected over the coming years.  The three coronavirus vaccines currently approved and being rolled out in the UK have been through all the normal stages of vaccine testing, including animal and human studies. The survival rate is almost certainly lower than this in the UK, as we’ve written before.  We’ve covered elsewhere how  estimates for Europe (countries with similar age profiles and healthcare quality as the UK) put the fatality rate at somewhere between 0.5% and 1%, meaning the “survival rate” could be somewhere between 99% and 99.5%, but not as high as 99.8%. Covid-19 is more dangerous in older populations, which is part of the reason survival rates vary between countries. As of 14 May there have been about 153,000 deaths registered with Covid-19 recorded as a cause on the death certificate. That’s about 0.23% of the entire UK population. If the survival rate really was 99.8%, and 0.23% had died, that implies that the entire population of the UK has been infected. As we’ve written before, this is almost certainly not the case. The figures don’t show high enough rates of infection for this to be the case. It’s true that the average age of death involving Covid-19 is 82. That was the average age of people whose deaths were registered in England and Wales between October 2020 and January 2021 which involved Covid-19. It’s been estimated that people who die of Covid lose, on average, around ten years of life.","https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=387100835942532,https://www.facebook.com/demikate.ivemadeitthisfar/videos/120301673544611/,https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3790399,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-real-world-uk-data-shows-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-provides-high-levels-of-protection-from-the-first-dose,https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.01.21252652v1,https://healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2021/03/12/covid19vaccines-faqs/,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/one-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-can-cut-household-transmission-by-up-to-half,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-19-vaccines/,https://www.modernatx.com/modernas-work-potential-vaccine-against-covid-19,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2020/covid-19-vaccine-azd1222-showed-robust-immune-responses-in-all-participants-in-phase-i-ii-trial.html,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/astrazeneca-us-vaccine-trial-met-primary-endpoint.html,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-share-positive-early-data-lead-mrna,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-confirm-high-efficacy-and-no-serious,https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/vaccine-development,https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-positive-interim-phase-1-data-its-mrna-vaccine,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-data-preclinical-studies-mrna,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-ifr-more-01/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveydata,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/12773averageageofdeathmedianandmeanofpersonswhosedeathwasduetocovid19orinvolvedcovid19bysexdeathsregisteredinweekending9october2020toweekending1january2021englandandwales,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",This Morning guest makes misleading claims on vaccine efficacy,,,,,, -49,,,,Other,Grace Rahman,2021-06-01,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/this-morning-vaccines/,The survival rate from Covid-19 is 99.8%.,2021-06-01,fullfact,,"A heated exchange between presenter Dermot O’Leary and guest Beverley Turner on This Morning, about whether the Covid-19 vaccines stop you from catching and passing on the disease has gone viral on social media.  Ms Turner claimed: “[The vaccine] does not stop you contracting or passing on the virus.” Multiple, reliable forms of evidence show that vaccines greatly reduce a person’s chance of contracting or passing on a virus. Ms Turner has asked us to clarify that she meant that the vaccines don’t always stop the transmission of the disease, which is correct as set out below. The NHS website says that the vaccines reduce your risk of catching, spreading, getting symptoms, getting ill, and dying from Covid, and she has asked us to clarify that her remarks about transmission were intended to reflect that. Studies have found that people given one dose of the Pfizer vaccine have a 70% reduced risk of becoming infected, both with and without symptoms, rising to 85% after the second dose. This data comes from testing healthcare workers who were tested for Covid every two weeks, regardless of whether they had symptoms. Data in adults over 70 shows that both the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines are between 60-70% effective against symptomatic disease around a month after the first dose, and 85-90% after the second dose of Pfizer (this particular study didn’t look at the effect after two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine). As to Ms Turner’s claim on vaccines not stopping people passing on the virus, the evidence suggests that one dose of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines significantly reduces your chances of passing on the virus to members of your household, if you do catch it. Initial research, covering over a million contacts in the UK, has found that people who became infected three weeks after their first vaccination were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus onto household contacts. This protection appeared from around two weeks after the vaccination, and was regardless of age. This may be what Ms Turner was referring to when she then went on to say there was “a little bit of evidence to suggest that it might minimise transmission, but that’s because it ameliorates your symptoms and if it ameliorates your symptoms then you are less likely to pass it on.” She also made a number of other claims about the Covid survival rate and whether the vaccine is in trials that we have written about before. Ms Turner described the Covid-19 vaccine as a “trial drug”. While it’s not quite clear what this means, we have checked similar claims before. These claims have been based on the fact that some of the Covid-19 vaccine trials have completion dates set in the future. As we’ve explained before, data on key safety and efficacy outcomes has already been published in peer-reviewed journals, but data on long term protection and safety will continue to be collected over the coming years.  The three coronavirus vaccines currently approved and being rolled out in the UK have been through all the normal stages of vaccine testing, including animal and human studies. The survival rate is almost certainly lower than this in the UK, as we’ve written before.  We’ve covered elsewhere how  estimates for Europe (countries with similar age profiles and healthcare quality as the UK) put the fatality rate at somewhere between 0.5% and 1%, meaning the “survival rate” could be somewhere between 99% and 99.5%, but not as high as 99.8%. Covid-19 is more dangerous in older populations, which is part of the reason survival rates vary between countries. As of 14 May there have been about 153,000 deaths registered with Covid-19 recorded as a cause on the death certificate. That’s about 0.23% of the entire UK population. If the survival rate really was 99.8%, and 0.23% had died, that implies that the entire population of the UK has been infected. As we’ve written before, this is almost certainly not the case. The figures don’t show high enough rates of infection for this to be the case. It’s true that the average age of death involving Covid-19 is 82. That was the average age of people whose deaths were registered in England and Wales between October 2020 and January 2021 which involved Covid-19. It’s been estimated that people who die of Covid lose, on average, around ten years of life.","https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=387100835942532,https://www.facebook.com/demikate.ivemadeitthisfar/videos/120301673544611/,https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3790399,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-real-world-uk-data-shows-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-provides-high-levels-of-protection-from-the-first-dose,https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.01.21252652v1,https://healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2021/03/12/covid19vaccines-faqs/,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/one-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-can-cut-household-transmission-by-up-to-half,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-19-vaccines/,https://www.modernatx.com/modernas-work-potential-vaccine-against-covid-19,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2020/covid-19-vaccine-azd1222-showed-robust-immune-responses-in-all-participants-in-phase-i-ii-trial.html,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/astrazeneca-us-vaccine-trial-met-primary-endpoint.html,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-share-positive-early-data-lead-mrna,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-confirm-high-efficacy-and-no-serious,https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/vaccine-development,https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-positive-interim-phase-1-data-its-mrna-vaccine,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-data-preclinical-studies-mrna,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-ifr-more-01/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveydata,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/12773averageageofdeathmedianandmeanofpersonswhosedeathwasduetocovid19orinvolvedcovid19bysexdeathsregisteredinweekending9october2020toweekending1january2021englandandwales,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",This Morning guest makes misleading claims on vaccine efficacy,,,,,, -50,,,,Other,Grace Rahman,2021-06-01,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/this-morning-vaccines/,The survival rate from Covid-19 is 99.8%.,2021-06-01,fullfact,,"A heated exchange between presenter Dermot O’Leary and guest Beverley Turner on This Morning, about whether the Covid-19 vaccines stop you from catching and passing on the disease has gone viral on social media.  Ms Turner claimed: “[The vaccine] does not stop you contracting or passing on the virus.” Multiple, reliable forms of evidence show that vaccines greatly reduce a person’s chance of contracting or passing on a virus. Ms Turner has asked us to clarify that she meant that the vaccines don’t always stop the transmission of the disease, which is correct as set out below. The NHS website says that the vaccines reduce your risk of catching, spreading, getting symptoms, getting ill, and dying from Covid, and she has asked us to clarify that her remarks about transmission were intended to reflect that. Studies have found that people given one dose of the Pfizer vaccine have a 70% reduced risk of becoming infected, both with and without symptoms, rising to 85% after the second dose. This data comes from testing healthcare workers who were tested for Covid every two weeks, regardless of whether they had symptoms. Data in adults over 70 shows that both the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines are between 60-70% effective against symptomatic disease around a month after the first dose, and 85-90% after the second dose of Pfizer (this particular study didn’t look at the effect after two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine). As to Ms Turner’s claim on vaccines not stopping people passing on the virus, the evidence suggests that one dose of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines significantly reduces your chances of passing on the virus to members of your household, if you do catch it. Initial research, covering over a million contacts in the UK, has found that people who became infected three weeks after their first vaccination were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus onto household contacts. This protection appeared from around two weeks after the vaccination, and was regardless of age. This may be what Ms Turner was referring to when she then went on to say there was “a little bit of evidence to suggest that it might minimise transmission, but that’s because it ameliorates your symptoms and if it ameliorates your symptoms then you are less likely to pass it on.” She also made a number of other claims about the Covid survival rate and whether the vaccine is in trials that we have written about before. Ms Turner described the Covid-19 vaccine as a “trial drug”. While it’s not quite clear what this means, we have checked similar claims before. These claims have been based on the fact that some of the Covid-19 vaccine trials have completion dates set in the future. As we’ve explained before, data on key safety and efficacy outcomes has already been published in peer-reviewed journals, but data on long term protection and safety will continue to be collected over the coming years.  The three coronavirus vaccines currently approved and being rolled out in the UK have been through all the normal stages of vaccine testing, including animal and human studies. The survival rate is almost certainly lower than this in the UK, as we’ve written before.  We’ve covered elsewhere how  estimates for Europe (countries with similar age profiles and healthcare quality as the UK) put the fatality rate at somewhere between 0.5% and 1%, meaning the “survival rate” could be somewhere between 99% and 99.5%, but not as high as 99.8%. Covid-19 is more dangerous in older populations, which is part of the reason survival rates vary between countries. As of 14 May there have been about 153,000 deaths registered with Covid-19 recorded as a cause on the death certificate. That’s about 0.23% of the entire UK population. If the survival rate really was 99.8%, and 0.23% had died, that implies that the entire population of the UK has been infected. As we’ve written before, this is almost certainly not the case. The figures don’t show high enough rates of infection for this to be the case. It’s true that the average age of death involving Covid-19 is 82. That was the average age of people whose deaths were registered in England and Wales between October 2020 and January 2021 which involved Covid-19. It’s been estimated that people who die of Covid lose, on average, around ten years of life.","https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=387100835942532,https://www.facebook.com/demikate.ivemadeitthisfar/videos/120301673544611/,https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3790399,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-real-world-uk-data-shows-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-provides-high-levels-of-protection-from-the-first-dose,https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.01.21252652v1,https://healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2021/03/12/covid19vaccines-faqs/,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/one-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-can-cut-household-transmission-by-up-to-half,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-19-vaccines/,https://www.modernatx.com/modernas-work-potential-vaccine-against-covid-19,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2020/covid-19-vaccine-azd1222-showed-robust-immune-responses-in-all-participants-in-phase-i-ii-trial.html,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/astrazeneca-us-vaccine-trial-met-primary-endpoint.html,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-share-positive-early-data-lead-mrna,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-confirm-high-efficacy-and-no-serious,https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/vaccine-development,https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-positive-interim-phase-1-data-its-mrna-vaccine,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-data-preclinical-studies-mrna,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-ifr-more-01/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveydata,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/12773averageageofdeathmedianandmeanofpersonswhosedeathwasduetocovid19orinvolvedcovid19bysexdeathsregisteredinweekending9october2020toweekending1january2021englandandwales,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",This Morning guest makes misleading claims on vaccine efficacy,,,,,, -51,,,,Other,Grace Rahman,2021-06-01,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/this-morning-vaccines/,The survival rate from Covid-19 is 99.8%.,2021-06-01,fullfact,,"A heated exchange between presenter Dermot O’Leary and guest Beverley Turner on This Morning, about whether the Covid-19 vaccines stop you from catching and passing on the disease has gone viral on social media.  Ms Turner claimed: “[The vaccine] does not stop you contracting or passing on the virus.” Multiple, reliable forms of evidence show that vaccines greatly reduce a person’s chance of contracting or passing on a virus. Ms Turner has asked us to clarify that she meant that the vaccines don’t always stop the transmission of the disease, which is correct as set out below. The NHS website says that the vaccines reduce your risk of catching, spreading, getting symptoms, getting ill, and dying from Covid, and she has asked us to clarify that her remarks about transmission were intended to reflect that. Studies have found that people given one dose of the Pfizer vaccine have a 70% reduced risk of becoming infected, both with and without symptoms, rising to 85% after the second dose. This data comes from testing healthcare workers who were tested for Covid every two weeks, regardless of whether they had symptoms. Data in adults over 70 shows that both the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca vaccines are between 60-70% effective against symptomatic disease around a month after the first dose, and 85-90% after the second dose of Pfizer (this particular study didn’t look at the effect after two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine). As to Ms Turner’s claim on vaccines not stopping people passing on the virus, the evidence suggests that one dose of either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines significantly reduces your chances of passing on the virus to members of your household, if you do catch it. Initial research, covering over a million contacts in the UK, has found that people who became infected three weeks after their first vaccination were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus onto household contacts. This protection appeared from around two weeks after the vaccination, and was regardless of age. This may be what Ms Turner was referring to when she then went on to say there was “a little bit of evidence to suggest that it might minimise transmission, but that’s because it ameliorates your symptoms and if it ameliorates your symptoms then you are less likely to pass it on.” She also made a number of other claims about the Covid survival rate and whether the vaccine is in trials that we have written about before. Ms Turner described the Covid-19 vaccine as a “trial drug”. While it’s not quite clear what this means, we have checked similar claims before. These claims have been based on the fact that some of the Covid-19 vaccine trials have completion dates set in the future. As we’ve explained before, data on key safety and efficacy outcomes has already been published in peer-reviewed journals, but data on long term protection and safety will continue to be collected over the coming years.  The three coronavirus vaccines currently approved and being rolled out in the UK have been through all the normal stages of vaccine testing, including animal and human studies. The survival rate is almost certainly lower than this in the UK, as we’ve written before.  We’ve covered elsewhere how  estimates for Europe (countries with similar age profiles and healthcare quality as the UK) put the fatality rate at somewhere between 0.5% and 1%, meaning the “survival rate” could be somewhere between 99% and 99.5%, but not as high as 99.8%. Covid-19 is more dangerous in older populations, which is part of the reason survival rates vary between countries. As of 14 May there have been about 153,000 deaths registered with Covid-19 recorded as a cause on the death certificate. That’s about 0.23% of the entire UK population. If the survival rate really was 99.8%, and 0.23% had died, that implies that the entire population of the UK has been infected. As we’ve written before, this is almost certainly not the case. The figures don’t show high enough rates of infection for this to be the case. It’s true that the average age of death involving Covid-19 is 82. That was the average age of people whose deaths were registered in England and Wales between October 2020 and January 2021 which involved Covid-19. It’s been estimated that people who die of Covid lose, on average, around ten years of life.","https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=387100835942532,https://www.facebook.com/demikate.ivemadeitthisfar/videos/120301673544611/,https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3790399,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-real-world-uk-data-shows-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-provides-high-levels-of-protection-from-the-first-dose,https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.01.21252652v1,https://healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2021/03/12/covid19vaccines-faqs/,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/one-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-can-cut-household-transmission-by-up-to-half,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-19-vaccines/,https://www.modernatx.com/modernas-work-potential-vaccine-against-covid-19,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2020/covid-19-vaccine-azd1222-showed-robust-immune-responses-in-all-participants-in-phase-i-ii-trial.html,https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/astrazeneca-us-vaccine-trial-met-primary-endpoint.html,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-share-positive-early-data-lead-mrna,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-confirm-high-efficacy-and-no-serious,https://vk.ovg.ox.ac.uk/vk/vaccine-development,https://investors.modernatx.com/news-releases/news-release-details/moderna-announces-positive-interim-phase-1-data-its-mrna-vaccine,https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-biontech-announce-data-preclinical-studies-mrna,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-ifr-more-01/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/timeseries/ukpop/pop,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-19-survival-rate-less-998/,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/conditionsanddiseases/datasets/coronaviruscovid19infectionsurveydata,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/12773averageageofdeathmedianandmeanofpersonswhosedeathwasduetocovid19orinvolvedcovid19bysexdeathsregisteredinweekending9october2020toweekending1january2021englandandwales,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",This Morning guest makes misleading claims on vaccine efficacy,,,,,, -52,,,,False,Abbas Panjwani,2021-05-28,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/luc-montagnier/,Luc Montagnier has said there is no chance for survival for people who receive a Covid-19 vaccine.,2021-05-28,fullfact,,"It’s been claimed that Luc Montagnier, a Nobel Laureate, has said there is no chance of survival for people who have received a Covid-19 vaccine. Posts sharing this text also claim that all vaccinated people will die within two years. Professor Montagnier, who led the team that first identified HIV, has expressed views against the Covid-19 vaccination process but there is no evidence he has said they will die within two years or that they have no chance of surviving. A clip sometimes posted alongside these sorts of claims is a two-minute long excerpt from a longer 11 minute interview with Professor Montagnier which has been translated from French into English. In the 11 minute French original, Professor Montagnier does not make the claims attributed to him. There is no evidence we could find which shows he has made these claims anywhere else.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=472286090654699&set=a.110160096867302&type=3,https://www.instagram.com/p/CPLaWr5t9xN/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.instagram.com/p/CPMP57lnq17/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.instagram.com/p/CPMSTHRDkla/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/laureates/montagnier,https://www.facebook.com/veronica.major.3158/videos/431140964720333,https://www.facebook.com/VoieNature/videos/1215893138843019/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",No evidence Nobel Laureate said vaccinated people will die in two years,,,,,, diff --git a/output_sample_truthorfiction.csv b/output_sample_truthorfiction.csv deleted file mode 100644 index d2d40ae..0000000 --- a/output_sample_truthorfiction.csv +++ /dev/null @@ -1,31 +0,0 @@ -,rating_ratingValue,rating_worstRating,rating_bestRating,rating_alternateName,creativeWork_author_name,creativeWork_datePublished,creativeWork_author_sameAs,claimReview_author_name,claimReview_author_url,claimReview_url,claimReview_claimReviewed,claimReview_datePublished,claimReview_source,claimReview_author,extra_body,extra_refered_links,extra_title,extra_tags,extra_entities_claimReview_claimReviewed,extra_entities_body,extra_entities_keywords,extra_entities_author,related_links -0,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/rep-jack-kimble-i-find-it-very-suspicious/,"@RepJackKimble (Rep. Jack Kimble) tweeted, ""I find it very suspicious that the virus now all of a sudden seems to be targeting people who didn't get that ridiculous vaccine. Has anybody else noticed this? Hmm, why is the virus only targeting those who stand up to government vaccination all of a sudden?""",2021-07-23,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged @repjackkimble, decontextualized, out of context, parody, rep jack kimble, satire, satirical twitter, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/repjackkimble/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/decontextualized/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/parody/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rep-jack-kimble/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/satire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/satirical-twitter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",Rep. Jack Kimble: ‘I Find It Very Suspicious …’,,,,,, -1,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/catholic-leader-who-wanted-to-deny-biden-communion-resigns-after-caught-using-gay-dating-app/,"A ""Catholic leader who wanted to deny Biden communion"" resigned after he was caught using a dating app.",2021-07-22,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, PoliticsTagged biden, biden communion, catholic, catholic church, church scandals, grindr, misleading, monsignor burrill, speculation, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/politics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/biden/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/biden-communion/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/catholic/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/catholic-church/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/church-scandals/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/grindr/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misleading/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/monsignor-burrill/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/speculation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",‘Catholic Leader Who Wanted to Deny Biden Communion Resigns After...,,,,,, -2,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/doc-and-marty-made-it-to-2021/,"""Doc and Marty made it to 2021.""",2021-07-22,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged back to the future, decontextualized, doc and marty made it to 2021, imgur, instagram, reddit comments, viral facebook posts, viral reddit posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/back-to-the-future/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/decontextualized/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/doc-and-marty-made-it-to-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/instagram/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/reddit-comments/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-reddit-posts/",‘Doc and Marty Made it to 2021’,,,,,, -3,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/in-tthe-cayman-islands-there-is-a-modest-five-story-building-that-is-home-to-18857-companies/,"""In the Cayman Islands, there is a modest five-story building that is home to 18,857 companies.""",2021-07-21,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, PoliticsTagged barack obama, bernie sanders, cayman islands, imgur, mitt romney, ro khanna, tax evasion, tax shelter, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/politics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/barack-obama/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bernie-sanders/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cayman-islands/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mitt-romney/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ro-khanna/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tax-evasion/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tax-shelter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/","‘In the Cayman Islands, There Is a Modest Five-Story Building That...",,,,,, -4,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/abraham-lincoln-and-the-samurai-fax-machine/,"""There was a 22 year window in which a samurai could have sent a fax to Abraham Lincoln.""",2021-07-21,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged abraham lincoln, abraham lincoln samurai fax machine, fax machine, samurai, samurai sending a fax to abraham lincoln, technically true, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/abraham-lincoln/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/abraham-lincoln-samurai-fax-machine/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/fax-machine/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/samurai/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/samurai-sending-a-fax-to-abraham-lincoln/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/technically-true/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Abraham Lincoln and the Samurai Fax Machine,,,,,, -5,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/snapchat-plant-identifier/,"""If you focus your Snapchat camera on ANY plant & hold the screen it will tell you EXACTLY what that plant is.. DOPE. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW THIS‼️🌳☘️🌵🌿🪴 (or maybe everyone already knew this & I’m just late & easily amused 🤔) PS: WORKS ON DOG BREEDS ALSO ‼️🤯""",2021-07-20,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged dog scanner, plantsnap, snapchat, snapchat plant identifier, snapchat plants, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dog-scanner/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/plantsnap/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snapchat/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snapchat-plant-identifier/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snapchat-plants/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Snapchat Plant Identifier,,,,,, -6,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/this-wenche-thikke/,"A Tumblr post includes an accurate excerpt from Canterbury Tales, including ""this wenche thikke"" and ""[I will not lie.]""",2021-07-20,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged canterbury tales, history memes, Tumblr, viral facebook posts, wenche thikke","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/canterbury-tales/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/history-memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tumblr/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/wenche-thikke/",‘This Wenche Thikke’,,,,,, -7,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/rep-matt-gaetz-says-if-democrats-pass-voting-bill-republicans-will-never-win-another-election/,"In July 2021, Rep. Matt Gaetz said if Democrats passed a voting rights bill, no Republicans would ever win an election again.",2021-07-19,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged for the people act, matt gaetz, matt gaetz republicans will never win another election, Rep. Matt Gaetz, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/for-the-people-act/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/matt-gaetz/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/matt-gaetz-republicans-will-never-win-another-election/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rep-matt-gaetz/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/","Rep. Matt Gaetz Says if Democrats Pass Voting Bill, Republicans...",,,,,, -8,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/hundreds-of-cars-are-lined-up-along-hwy-18-into-mission-south-dakota-as-the-remains-of-native-children-were-returned-to-their-homelands/,"On July 16 2021, ""hundreds of cars lined up along Hwy 18 into Mission, South Dakota as the remains of Native children were returned to their homelands.""",2021-07-19,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged caravan for native children, residential school scandal, residential schools in the US, rosebud sioux children, sicangu, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/caravan-for-native-children/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/residential-school-scandal/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/residential-schools-in-the-us/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rosebud-sioux-children/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/sicangu/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/","‘Hundreds of Cars Are Lined Up Along Hwy 18 Into Mission, South...",,,,,, -9,,,,Not True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/canadian-peanut-butter-packaging/,Image shows Canadian peanut butter sold in a styrofoam tray.,2021-07-16,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged amish peanut butter, canadian peanut butter, canadian peanut butter packaging, deleted tweets, miscaptioned, mislabeled, out of context, viral facebook posts, viral images, viral reddit posts, viral tweets, why is canadian milk in bags","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/amish-peanut-butter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/canadian-peanut-butter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/canadian-peanut-butter-packaging/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/deleted-tweets/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/miscaptioned/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mislabeled/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-images/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-reddit-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/why-is-canadian-milk-in-bags/",‘Canadian Peanut Butter’ Packaging,,,,,, -10,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/captain-america-31-years-ago/,"A comic from 1990 contradicts actor Dean Cain's complaint about a newly ""woke"" Captain America.",2021-07-16,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged art out of context, captain america, captain america 31 years ago, daredevil 283, dean cain, drug war, imgur, latin america, viral clapbacks, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/art-out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/captain-america/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/captain-america-31-years-ago/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/daredevil-283/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dean-cain/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/drug-war/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/latin-america/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-clapbacks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",‘Captain America 31 Years Ago’,,,,,, -11,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/were-cooks-the-largest-occupational-group-to-die-in-the-pandemic/,"""I wish Anthony Bourdain were alive today to articulate the insanity of living in a country where cooks were the largest occupational group to die in a pandemic and restaurant owners are pouting that nobody wants to work in restaurants anymore.""",2021-07-15,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged anthony bourdain, cooks excess mortality, excess mortality, imgur, largest occupational group to die cooks, ucsf, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/anthony-bourdain/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cooks-excess-mortality/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/excess-mortality/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/largest-occupational-group-to-die-cooks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ucsf/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",Were Cooks the Largest Occupational Group to Die in the Pandemic?,,,,,, -12,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/this-picture-was-taken-in-1925-of-a-girl-visiting-her-twin-sisters-grave/,"""This picture was taken in 1925. Its of a girl visiting her twin sisters grave. The twin sister had died the previous year in a house fire. Parents saw her many times talking and playing with her twin sister after she has passed away. They thought it was just part of the grieving process, that is until this was developed.""",2021-07-15,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged after death communication, afterlife, art out of context, creepy images, ghost, imgur, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/after-death-communication/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/afterlife/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/art-out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/creepy-images/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ghost/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/","‘This Picture Was Taken in 1925, Of a Girl Visiting Her Twin...",,,,,, -13,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/national-kool-aid-day-2021-and-mike-lindells-trump-return-claim/,"""My Pillow guy Mike Lindell says August 13th [2021] is the date that Donald Trump will be 'reinstated.' Do you know what else is on August 13th? NATIONAL KOOL-AID DAY. For real. It's the second Friday in August every year. You can't make this up.""",2021-07-14,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged august 13 trump reinstated, election conspiracies, imgur, memes, mike lindell, national kool aid day 2021, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/august-13-trump-reinstated/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/election-conspiracies/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mike-lindell/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/national-kool-aid-day-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",National Kool Aid Day 2021 and Mike Lindell’s ‘Trump Return’ Claim,,,,,, -14,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/friendly-roast-in-2015-hrc-being-roasted/,"TikTok videos labeled ""Friendly Roast in 2015"" and ""HRC Being Roasted"" show then-candidate Donald Trump ""roasting"" Hillary Clinton in 2015.",2021-07-14,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged al smith dinner 2016, donald trump, hillary clinton, out of context, roasts, tiktok, viral facebook posts, viral tiktok posts, viral videos","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/al-smith-dinner-2016/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/donald-trump/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/hillary-clinton/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/roasts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tiktok/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tiktok-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-videos/","‘Friendly Roast in 2015,’ ‘HRC Being Roasted’",,,,,, -15,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/jaleel-white-and-purple-urkel/,"Image depicts Jaleel White (the actor who played Steve Urkel on Family Matters) promoting a cannabis strain called ""Purple Urkel"" with Snoop Dogg.",2021-07-13,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Entertainment, Fact ChecksTagged cannabis, jaleel white snoop dogg, purple urkel, snoop dogg, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/entertainment/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cannabis/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/jaleel-white-snoop-dogg/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/purple-urkel/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snoop-dogg/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Jaleel White and ‘Purple Urkel’,,,,,, -16,,,,Misattributed,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/finland-reindeer-reflective-paint-posts/,"A photograph Finland's reindeer with reflective antlers, painted to prevent roadway accidents.",2021-07-12,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged art out of context, finland, finland reindeer reflective paint, instagram, misleading, viral facebook posts, viral images","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/art-out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/finland/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/finland-reindeer-reflective-paint/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/instagram/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misleading/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-images/",Finland Reindeer Reflective Paint Posts,,,,,, -17,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/albert-einstein-lecturing-a-black-college-facebook-post/,"Albert Einstein spoke at Lincoln University in 1946, and said ""The separation of races is not a disease of colored people but a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it.""",2021-07-12,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged albert einstein, albert einstein quotes, albert einstein racism, einstein lincoln university, lost images, viral facebook posts, viral images","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/albert-einstein/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/albert-einstein-quotes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/albert-einstein-racism/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/einstein-lincoln-university/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/lost-images/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-images/",Albert Einstein Lecturing a Black College Facebook Post,,,,,, -18,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/ogx-dmdm-hydantoin-facebook-post/,"Consumers should avoid OGX products due to the presence of DMDM hydantoin, as the brand was sued over its formulations.",2021-07-09,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged cosmetics, dmdm hydantoin, dmdm hydantoin ogx, does dmdm hydantoin cause hair loss, facebook warnings, formaldehyde, ogx, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cosmetics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dmdm-hydantoin/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dmdm-hydantoin-ogx/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/does-dmdm-hydantoin-cause-hair-loss/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/facebook-warnings/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/formaldehyde/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ogx/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",OGX DMDM Hydantoin Facebook Post,,,,,, -19,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/biden-admin-hhs-secretarys-absolutely-the-governments-business-vaccine-remarks/,"Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said it is ""absolutely the government's business"" to know whether Americans are vaccinated.",2021-07-08,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged becerra knocking on doors, biden vaccine, cnn, decontextualized, misleading, out of context, steven crowder, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/becerra-knocking-on-doors/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/biden-vaccine/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cnn/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/decontextualized/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misleading/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/steven-crowder/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",Biden Admin HHS Secretary’s ‘Absolutely the Government’s Business’...,,,,,, -20,,,,Decontextualized,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/sf-gay-mens-chorus-convert-your-children-song/,"San Francisco's (SF) Gay Men's chorus literally sang they'll ""convert your children"" or are ""coming for your children.""",2021-07-08,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged basically an outright lie, dinesh d'souza, rumble.com, sf gay mens chorus, sf gay mens chorus coming for your children, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/basically-an-outright-lie/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dinesh-dsouza/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rumble-com/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/sf-gay-mens-chorus/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/sf-gay-mens-chorus-coming-for-your-children/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",SF Gay Men’s Chorus ‘Convert Your Children’ Song,,,,,, -21,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/darnella-fraziers-uncle-killed-by-minneapolis-police/,"Darnella Frazier, the girl who filmed the murder of George Floyd, disclosed via Facebook that her uncle was killed by Minneapolis police in July 2021.",2021-07-07,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged darnella frazier uncle, darnella frazier uncle MPD, imgur, leneal frazier, minneapolis, Minneapolis Police Department, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/darnella-frazier-uncle/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/darnella-frazier-uncle-mpd/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/leneal-frazier/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/minneapolis/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/minneapolis-police-department/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Darnella Frazier’s Uncle Killed by Minneapolis Police,,,,,, -22,,,,Mixed,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/the-pledge-of-allegiance-was-adopted-in-1923-the-star-spangled-banner-was-adopted-in-1929/,"""The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1923. The Star Spangled Banner was adopted in 1929. 'Under God' was added to the Pledge in 1954. 'In God We Trust' was added to our money in 1956. So no. They were not created by our Founding Fathers.""",2021-07-07,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged founding fathers, history memes, in god we trust, in god we trust 1956, pledge of allegiance, pledge of allegiance 1923, star spangled banner, star spangled banner 1929, under god, under god 1954, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/founding-fathers/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/history-memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/in-god-we-trust/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/in-god-we-trust-1956/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/pledge-of-allegiance/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/pledge-of-allegiance-1923/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/star-spangled-banner/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/star-spangled-banner-1929/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/under-god/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/under-god-1954/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/","The Pledge of Allegiance Was Adopted in 1923, the Star Spangled...",,,,,, -23,,,,Not True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/shacarri-richardson-rebecca-washington-replacement/,"Sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson will be replaced by a Mormon athlete, Rebecca Washington, on the U.S. Olympic Team",2021-07-07,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged 2021 Summer Olympics, marijuana, olympics, running, Sha'Carri Richardson, twitter","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/2021-summer-olympics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/marijuana/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/olympics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/running/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/shacarri-richardson/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/twitter/",Is Rebecca Washington Replacing Sha’Carri Richardson on the U.S...,,,,,, -24,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/u-s-quietly-slips-out-of-afghanistan-in-dead-of-night-onion-story/,"In 2011, ten years before July 2021 news about the United States leaving Afghanistan in the dead of night, satirical outlet The Onion published a headline predicting it.",2021-07-06,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged Afghanistan, associated press, not satire, ostension, satire, the onion, the onion 10 years ago AP today, US Quietly Slips Out Of Afghanistan In Dead Of Night, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/afghanistan/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/associated-press/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/not-satire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ostension/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/satire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/the-onion/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/the-onion-10-years-ago-ap-today/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/us-quietly-slips-out-of-afghanistan-in-dead-of-night/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",‘U.S. Quietly Slips Out Of Afghanistan In Dead Of Night’ Onion Story,,,,,, -25,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/donald-rumsfeld-and-mount-misery/,"Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld purchased Mount Misery, a house with a violent history.",2021-07-06,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged donald rumsfeld, frederick douglass, mount misery, rachel maddow, rumsfeld mount misery, viral facebook posts, viral videos","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/donald-rumsfeld/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/frederick-douglass/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mount-misery/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rachel-maddow/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rumsfeld-mount-misery/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-videos/",Donald Rumsfeld and Mount Misery,,,,,, -26,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/the-history-of-left-handedness/,A graph shows a sharp perceived rise in the number of left-handed people from approximately the 1920s onward.,2021-07-06,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged charts, left handed, left handed chart, LGBT, stat memes, transgender, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/charts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/left-handed/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/left-handed-chart/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/lgbt/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/stat-memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/transgender/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",‘The History of Left-Handedness’,,,,,, -27,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/walmart-national-anthem-video/,"In July 2021, Walmart shoppers sand the national anthem in Haslet, Texas in July 2021.",2021-07-05,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged National Anthem, tiktok, viral facebook posts, viral tiktok posts, viral tweets, walmart, walmart national anthem","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/national-anthem/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tiktok/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tiktok-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/walmart/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/walmart-national-anthem/",Walmart ‘National Anthem’ Video,,,,,, -28,,,,True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/why-bill-cosby-was-released/,"Bill Cosby's conviction was overturned in June 2021 due to an error made by prosecutors, as detailed in a Facebook post.",2021-07-01,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged bill cosby, imgur, popehat, shaun king, viral facebook posts, why was bill cosby released","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bill-cosby/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/popehat/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/shaun-king/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/why-was-bill-cosby-released/",Why Bill Cosby Was Released,,,,,, -29,,,,Not True,,,,truthorfiction,,https://www.truthorfiction.com/white-house-press-secretary-jen-psaki-blames-gop-for-defunding-police/,"""White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki continued to promote her outrageous claim that Republicans are the ones who pushed for defunding the police yet, when pushed by a reporter on [June 30 2021], she was unable to name a single Republican who has ever championed defunding the police.""",2021-07-01,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged daily wire, Jen Psaki, misquotes, Psaki Blames GOP For Defunding Police But She Can’t Name 1 Republican Who Called For Defunding Police","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/daily-wire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/jen-psaki/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misquotes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/psaki-blames-gop-for-defunding-police-but-she-cant-name-1-republican-who-called-for-defunding-police/",‘White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki Blames GOP for Defunding...,,,,,, diff --git a/output_sample_aap.csv b/samples/output_sample_aap.csv similarity index 100% rename from output_sample_aap.csv rename to samples/output_sample_aap.csv diff --git a/samples/output_sample_afpfactcheck.csv b/samples/output_sample_afpfactcheck.csv new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b3aa1d --- /dev/null +++ b/samples/output_sample_afpfactcheck.csv @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ +,rating_ratingValue,rating_worstRating,rating_bestRating,rating_alternateName,creativeWork_author_name,creativeWork_datePublished,creativeWork_author_sameAs,claimReview_author_name,claimReview_author_url,claimReview_url,claimReview_claimReviewed,claimReview_datePublished,claimReview_source,claimReview_author,extra_body,extra_refered_links,extra_title,extra_tags,extra_entities_claimReview_claimReviewed,extra_entities_body,extra_entities_keywords,extra_entities_author,related_links +0,3,1,5,Misleading,Multiple Sources,2021-07-28,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FP3CE-1,Propolis throat spray treats coronavirus in the throat,2021-07-16,factcheck_afp,,"As Thailand's healthcare system struggled to cope with surging Covid-19 cases in July, multiple Facebook posts claimed a brand of throat spray could ""contain the infection"". The posts are misleading: health experts say the throat spray has not been proven to treat or cure Covid-19. The posts also shared false claims about other home remedies that experts say do not treat or cure the virus.The claim was shared here on Facebook on July 20, 2021.The post has been shared more than 15,000 times.The post's Thai-language caption translates in part as: ""The coronavirus stays in the throat for four days, before it enters the lungs. During this time, we will have symptoms such as itchy throat, dry throat, coughing or sore throat, increased temperature, weakened respiratory system, and the loss of taste.""During this time, you should use lime, vinegar, salt, strong alcohol, and mix them with warm water to rinse your throat. Drink warm water or use propolis extract throat spray to help reduce and contain the infection."" ""Propolis"" refers to a substance obtained from beehives that appears to work against bacteria, viruses, and fungi.A throat spray containing the extract is commercially available in Thailand under the name Propoliz -- approved by the kingdom's Food and Drug Administration as a sore throat remedy.The misleading post circulated online as the kingdom endured its worst Covid-19 wave, with hospitals buckling under the pressure of record daily infections, AFP reported. Similar claims were also shared in Facebook posts here, here, here, and here. These posts are misleading, according to multiple experts.Throat spray""There is not yet enough scientific evidence to use [propolis throat spray] for Covid-19 symptoms,"" Dr. Thira Woratanarat, an associate professor at the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine at Chulalongkorn University, told AFP on July 27.""The research requires more clinical trials.""While several studies have been conducted on the efficacy of propolis against Covid-19, they were done with small sample sizes, Dr. Thira said.""You have to be careful if they claim it has properties against Covid-19,"" he said.Jessada Denduangboripant, a professor at Chulalongkorn University's Department of Biology, told AFP that the claim propolis throat spray works against Covid-19 is ""an exaggeration"". ""Propolis is a natural substance which existed in beehives. It does not have enough power to treat Covid-19.""Home remediesAFP has previously debunked here, here and here claims that gargling various substances, drinking warm water or consuming alcohol can prevent or cure Covid-19 .The World Health Organization (WHO) states: ""If you have any symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, call your health care provider or COVID-19 hotline for instructions and find out when and where to get a test, stay at home for 14 days away from others and monitor your health.""If you have shortness of breath or pain or pressure in the chest, seek medical attention at a health facility immediately.""No evidenceThe claim that the coronavirus stays in the throat for four days is not supported by ""any evidence"", according to Dr. Thiravat Hemachudha, head of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Health Science Center at Chulalongkorn University.""Each person's response to the infection is different that's why the severity of symptoms between us [is] not the same"", he told AFP.",,Thai social media users share misleading claim about 'Covid-19 throat spray',,,,,, +1,1,1,5,False,Multiple persons,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GF7PU-1,This photo shows a political rally for Asaduddin Owaisi in India,2021-07-18,factcheck_afp,,"A photo has been shared hundreds of times in multiple social media posts that claim it shows a large rally for an Indian Muslim politician during the pandemic. The claim is false: the photo shows an Islamic procession in Bangladesh in 2019.The image was shared in a Hindi-language tweet posted on July 19.The caption translates to English as: ""Huge crowd of a specific community gathered in UP’s Moradabad in Asaduddin Owaisi’s rally and here we are, entangled over BJP, BSP and SP. You people too should stop being in any delusion and think about your future"".""UP"" refers to India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh.Asaduddin Owaisi is leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party and member of parliament for Hyderabad in India's southern Telangana state. A screenshot of the misleading post taken on July 25, 2021The post emerged online after speculation about the AIMIM teaming up with other parties in a bid to defeat the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh's upcoming assembly elections in February 2022. The post also misleadingly suggests India's Muslims are permitted to gather for certain political events, while Hindus have been banned from gathering for religious festivals.The photo was posted with a similar claim here, here, and here on Facebook. However, the claim is false.A reverse image search on Google found the photo was published in this Facebook post on November 26, 2019. It was uploaded by photographer Faisal bin Latif in a post about a religious procession in the Bangladeshi city of Chattogram. A photo of the event shared by Faisal bin Latif on 26 November, 2019He also uploaded an album of photos showing the same event on photo-sharing website Flickr.The album's title reads: ""Jashney Julus, Miladunnabi, November 2019.”AFP found a similar video here on a Bengali-language YouTube channel showing a scene that corresponds with the image in the misleading posts.The video's title states that it shows the Miladun Nabi procession in Chattogram in November 2019.Miladun Nabi is an Islamic festival observed by Muslims as Prophet Mohammed’s birthday according to the Islamic calendar.In 2019, the festival was celebrated on November 10 in Bangladesh. Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and YouTube video's one-minute 17-second mark (R): Comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and YouTube videoThe same procession was also reported by Bengali news website Banglanews24.com on November 10, 2019.AFP found a similar structure pictured in the news story (L) with the YouTube video (R): Similarity between the image in the news story (L) with the YouTube video (R) snapshotAFP previously debunked posts sharing the same photo alongside a claim they showed the funeral procession of photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed while covering fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban.",,Bangladesh religious procession image shared in false posts about Indian political rally,,,,,, +2,1,1,5,False,Multiple sources,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9F66BR-1,Consuming durian before or after Covid-19 vaccination can cause death,2021-06-22,factcheck_afp,,"Facebook users in Malaysia are sharing posts that warn against eating durian before or after receiving a Covid-19 jab because it can be ""fatal"". Some of the posts share a photo of a man who purportedly died a day after he was vaccinated because he ate the fruit. The claim is false. The Malaysian deputy health minister said the warning has no medical basis, while police told AFP a post-mortem examination found the man died from heart disease. The claim was shared on June 22, 2021, on Facebook here.The Chinese-language post reads: ""Tell family and friends not to eat durian before or after vaccination. The friend of a person in my garden was vaccinated, and died the next day after eating durian. It is necessary to know and better to be cautious. Life is precious, and it's a pity to lose life due to a moment of ignorance."" Screenshot of the misleading Facebook post taken on July 13, 2021The claim was also shared on Facebook in Chinese here and in Malaysian here.Some posts, including here, here and here, share a photo of a man wearing a pink T-shirt, claiming it shows the man who was vaccinated and purportedly died after consuming durian.However, the claims are false.""Medically speaking, no one has said that. Even in the medical books, it has never been raised that people should not eat durian after getting their vaccine. This is wrong,"" said Malaysian Deputy Health Minister Noor Azmi Ghazali, reported by local media here and here.Malaysia’s Ministry of Health (KKM) posted on June 23, 2021, rejecting the claim as ""false news"". Berita palsu. Jangan sebar atau berkongsi. pic.twitter.com/onVjuvhvy2 — KKMalaysia (@KKMPutrajaya) June 23, 2021 The statement was also shared on its official Facebook page here.The man in the photo was identified as Cheah Kum Seng , 49, who lost consciousness while buying food at a restaurant and was later pronounced dead at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur on June 21, 2021, according to local news reports here and here.In a media statement sent to AFP on July 26, 2021, Sentul district police chief, Assistant Commisioner Beh Eng Lai, said: ""A post-mortem examination was conducted on June 22, 2021, and the cause of death was 'ischemic heart disease'. The case is classified as sudden death.""",,Malaysian authorities rubbish posts linking 'Covid-19 vaccine death' to eating durian,,,,,, +3,3,1,5,Misleading,Multiple sources,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FM2DM-1,Make-A-Wish denies certain wishes to unvaccinated children,2021-06-28,factcheck_afp,,"Multiple social media posts shared in June 2021 claim a US charity that grants ""wishes"" to critically ill children will no longer reward them if they are unvaccinated against Covid-19. The claim is misleading: the posts shared an edited video from the charity's CEO in which he outlined vaccination requirements for rewards that involve air travel and large gatherings. The charity told AFP that its Covid-19 vaccine policy will not apply to children who have received an end-of-life prognosis.The misleading Facebook post about US charity Make-A-Wish was published here on June 28, 2021.""WE’VE [REACHED] A NEW LOW. I always wondered what level of madness was required before ordinary citizens would engage in ACTS OF PURE EVIL,"" the text below the image reads.""When Make-a-Wish forces terminally ill kids & their families to be injected with an experimental genetic agent otherwise they’ll discriminate against and refuse a dying child their last wish, even though the W.H.O recommends not injecting children - we have reached that point."" The post's caption reads: ""How low can humanity go?! Really low!! I recon (sic) there is lower tho (sic)...prove me wrong humans"". A screenshot of the post as of July 27, 2021.A YouTube video has been shared in the Facebook post.It is titled: ""Make-A-Wish will only grant certain wishes to fully vaccinated wish kids"". However, the video is no longer available on YouTube as the user's account has been terminated.Other instances of the claim appear on Facebook here and here, as well as on Twitter here and Telegram here.However, the claim is misleading.Edited videoA reverse image search of the archived version of the YouTube video in the misleading posts found this original video dated June 10, 2021.It features Make-A-Wish America CEO Richard Davis speaking about updates to the charity's Covid-19 policies.In March 2020, the charity postponed all ""wishes"" that involved major travel due to the pandemic.In the two-minute, 22-second video, Davis says all participants for ""wishes"" involving air travel within the US and large gatherings must be fully vaccinated from September 15, 2021.Davis' announcement can be seen below: “We respect everyone’s freedom of choice,” Davis says in the full video, in which he also acknowledges that some children may be too young or too ill to be vaccinated.“We can’t wait until Sept. 15, when we can expand the types of life-changing wishes we can grant.”Charity statementIn a June 28 statement on its website, the charity said it ""has not, does not and will not deny wishes to children who are not vaccinated.""""Since the beginning of the pandemic, Make-A-Wish has safely granted over 6,500 wishes to children and families – regardless of vaccination status. Make-A-Wish will continue to grant wishes to children who are not vaccinated,"" the statement reads.The vaccine policy does not apply to children who have received an end-of-life prognosis, according to the statement.The charity said it would not require anyone to get vaccinated in order to receive a wish.",,This video has been edited -- US charity says it will continue to grant 'wishes' to unvaccinated children,,,,,, +4,5,1,5,False,Multiple people,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GE6MH-1,"All Covid-19 hospital patients were vaccinated, except for one",2021-07-25,factcheck_afp,,"Multiple social media posts shared in July 2021 claim that all Covid-19 patients being treated in hospitals in the Australian state of New South Wales had been vaccinated. The claim is misleading: as of July 26, all of the hospitalised Covid-19 patients were unvaccinated except for one, the state's health authority told AFP.The misleading claim was published in this Instagram post on July 25, 2021.It reads: ""Vaccinated getting Covid??! Out of these Covid cases ALL ARE FULLY VACCINATED (two doses) EXCEPT ONE WHO ONLY HAD ONE DOSE. Why are the vaccinated getting Covid and the unvaccinated are not?! WAKE UP"". A screenshot of the misleading post as of July 26, 2021.The post circulated online following an announcement on July 25 that there were 141 patients being treated for Covid-19 in hospitals in New South Wales, including 43 people in intensive care.The video in the post features a portion of a press conference with Dr Jeremy McAnulty, an official at NSW Health, giving details on new Covid-19 cases.Other instances of the claim appear on Instagram here, here and here. A similar claim appeared here on Facebook. The claim is misleading.A spokesperson for NSW Health told AFP on July 26 that the claims were ""incorrect.""""All [patients in hospital] were unvaccinated save for one,"" the spokesperson said.The misleading claim circulated online after McAnulty misspoke in a press conference broadcast here live by ABC on July 25. At around the six-minute mark, he said: ""141 people are in hospital with Covid at present, and 43 are in intensive care, 18 of whom require ventilation ... all but one person are vaccinated, one person has received one dose of vaccine."" When asked to clarify his remark, McAnulty acknowledged that he had misspoken.At around the 34-minute mark, he clarified: ""Of the 43 patients in intensive care units, 42 have not been vaccinated. One person had a single dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.""",,Posts mislead on proportion of vaccinated Covid-19 victims in Australian state's hospitals,,,,,, +5,1,1,5,False,Hal Turner Radio Show,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GJ3LG-1,French president's entire security force resigned,2021-07-24,factcheck_afp,,"A French member of parliament and an American radio host claimed that Emmanuel Macron's entire security detail resigned to protest the French president's initiative imposing health passes to participate in many aspects of public life. This is false; the Republican Guard did not resign, and it is tasked with presidential palace security, not his direct physical safety.""Protective Detail of France President ALL Resign over COVID Restrictions; will no longer protect President Macron,"" reads the headline of a July 24, 2021 article on the website of the Hal Turner Radio Show, a conspiracy-oriented program AFP has fact-checked before. Below the headline, a photo shows members of the Garde Républicaine, or Republican Guard, an elite French army corps tasked with special missions. Screenshot of an online article taken on July 26, 2021""The Republican Guard, a security detail established to protect the President of France, have ALL resigned, and will no longer protect President Macron!"" the article says of the 2,800-strong force.The Covid-19 restrictions mentioned in the headline refer to a decree by Macron that required proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative test to be able to attend events or enter places with more than 50 people. The ""health pass"" will be extended to restaurants, cafes and shopping centers in August. This was formalized into law by the country's parliament on July 25, 2021, despite widespread protests against it.However, the Republican Guard did not resign in relation to this law, and is not tasked with the French president's immediate physical safety.The unit responsible for direct personal protection of the French head of state is the Groupe de sécurité de la présidence de la République, whose members hail from both the police and the Gendarmerie.The Republican Guard is a French army unit tasked with ""public safety missions and protocol representation,"" according to its official webpage. Its members are not in charge of the direct safety of the French president like the US Secret Service, but they indirectly play this role by ensuring the security of the Elysee Palace, where the president lives. A spokesperson for the Gendarmerie told AFP on July 26, 2021 that the Republican Guard ""is still"" performing its palace duties. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French army tasked with law enforcement roles, to which the Republican Guard answers. On social media, neither the Garde Républicaine nor the Gendarmerie, nor any French media, mentioned a mass resignation of the force's members.The false claims regarding the Republican Guard began when Martine Wonner, an independent member of parliament in France, claimed in a video that the force no longer wished to protect Macron.Wonner is a Covid-skeptic who was part of the government's party before she was ousted due to her controversial stances.She also faced calls from her opposition party to quit that group after she urged people to lay siege to MPs who approved the health pass.Before the vaccine passport law can be applied, it must be approved by France's highest administrative authority, the Constitutional Council, which will vote on it on August 5.",,French president's security detail did not resign over Covid-19 bill,,,,,, +6,1,1,5,False,Multiple authors,2021-07-26,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FR6XQ-1,Aborted foetus cells in Covid-19 mRNA vaccines,2021-07-15,factcheck_afp,,"A video shared hundreds of times on Facebook in South Africa and Zambia claims that mRNA Covid-19 vaccines contain cells taken from aborted human foetuses. The claim is false: the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa told AFP Fact Check that Covid-19 vaccines do not contain cells from aborted foetuses or other human tissue.The three-minute clip has been shared more than 330 times since it was posted on Facebook on July 17, 2021.Besides including the claim that mRNA Covid-19 vaccines contain aborted human foetal matter, the video makes two other unsubstantiated claims: that the vaccines can alter a person’s DNA and that they can render people sterile. Screenshot of the false post, taken on July 20, 2021The clip, which was extracted from a longer video originally posted here on YouTube on February 5, 2021, features preacher Joshua Maponga interviewing guest Mike Southwood in a show dubbed “why Africans should not take vaccine (sic)”.The Zimbabwe-born Maponga lives in South Africa and is an author of several books and has a large following on social media. He also runs Galaxy Universal Network, a media production company in South Africa.Southwood — who makes the false and unsubstantiated claims during his interview — is the founder of the Unity Group in South Africa, which styles itself as a governance reform movement. According to media, Southwood is also the administrator of the #EndTheLockdownMzanzi group, which has been urging South Africans to defy Covid-19 lockdown laws. A shorter version of the clip was published here on Facebook in South Africa on July 15, 2021, and shared more than 600 times.How mRNA vaccines workPfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines are made from messenger RNA. The two vaccines work by giving a “blueprint” of a part of the virus that the body can then recognise and fight when confronted by it later.The vaccines use tiny fat bubbles called lipid nanoparticles to encapsulate fragile mRNA molecules and the information they contain to protect them until they can be safely delivered into cells without being degraded by the body’s enzymes. However, the claim made in the clip that the vaccines include aborted foetus cells is false. No material from aborted foetusesProfessor Penny Moore, from South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), told AFP Fact Check that Covid-19 vaccines do not contain cells from aborted foetuses or any other human material.“They are produced through high-tech molecular biology approaches and in cultures in rigorously controlled laboratories,” said Moore.The World Health Organization (WHO) told AFP Fact Check that “the new mRNA vaccines, such as those developed by Pfizer and Moderna, are synthetic vaccines and do not use foetal cell lines in their production.”What are cell lines?According to the WHO, vaccines are made by growing cultures of the target virus or bacterium: “Viruses need to grow in cells and so vaccine viruses are often grown in eggs (such as the influenza vaccine) or in cell lines derived from mammals, including humans.”The cell lines that are used to grow the viruses originate from a primary culture of cells from an organ of a single animal that has been propagated repeatedly in a laboratory, often over many decades.AFP Fact Check has previously debunked social media posts claiming that Covid-19 vaccines contain MRC-5, which the posts claim are “aborted foetal cells and other DNA”.The best known human cell line is MRC-5, or Medical Research Council cell strain 5, which are cells used to grow viruses for vaccines against rubella, chickenpox and hepatitis A in laboratories. MRC-5 was originally derived from the lung tissue of an aborted foetus in the 1960s but has since been grown without recourse to foetal tissue.The History of Vaccines, an educational tool developed by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, states that “in total, only two foetuses, both obtained from abortions done by maternal choice, have given rise to the human cell strains used in vaccine development”.The Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine — which is not an mRNA but a viral vector vaccine — used a human cell line developed from the retinal cells of a foetus aborted in 1985 in its early production stage. But, the WHO said, “no foetal material is present” in the final J&J Covid-19 vaccine product or any other vaccine that uses human cell lines in early production stages.A spokesperson for the Oxford Vaccine Group, an organisation that was involved in producing the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, told AFP Fact Check that during its development, they used HEK-293 cells.The HEK-293 cell line was originally cultivated from a foetus aborted in the Netherlands in the early 1970s. The NICD’s Moore added that human cell lines were used only in the early stages of the production of some vaccines. “For all vaccines that use cell lines during early production stages, all cells are removed during the purification process and the final vaccine product does not contain this material.”The WHO told AFP Fact Check that it is not aware of any vaccines currently being developed for Covid-19 that contain cell lines obtained from foetal tissue. mRNA Covid-19 vaccines do not alter people’s DNA The unsubstantiated claim that mRNA vaccines can modify human DNA has been widely rejected by scientists. AFP Fact Check has previously debunked the claim here and here.Matthew Miller, an associate professor with the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Science at McMaster University in Canada, was quoted in a previous AFP Fact Check from March 2021 as saying that “mRNA is the code for proteins. It does not alter the DNA of your cells. Indeed, your cells naturally make mRNA from DNA.”Barry Pakes, an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, told AFP Fact Check in April 2021 that “the mRNA cannot be integrated into the human genome. We (humans) lack the enzymes to reverse transcribe mRNA to DNA”.The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also refutes the claim that Covid-19 vaccines can alter people’s DNA.“Covid-19 vaccines do not change or interact with your DNA in any way. Both mRNA and viral vector CovidD-19 vaccines deliver instructions (genetic material) to our cells to start building protection against the virus that causes Covid-19. However, the material never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where our DNA is kept,” the organisation states on its website.Vaccines do not cause infertilityIn the video, Southwood claims that Covid-19 vaccines can cause infertility. “We believe that there are a lot of things in this vaccine that will render people sterile…”The CDC states on its website that “there is currently no evidence that any vaccines, including Covid-19 vaccines, cause fertility problems (problems trying to get pregnant)”.Kate White, an obstetrics and gynaecology professor at Boston School of Medicine, told AFP Fact Check in March 2021 that “there’s no vaccine in the world that can cause infertility”.Dasantila Golemi-Kotra, a microbiologist at York University, told AFP that “vaccine-induced antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 spike protein are unlikely to cross-react with the syncytin-1 or -2 in the body and lead to infertility”.Golemi-Kotra explained that the misinformation could be stemming from the fact that the anti-spike protein antibodies and the syncytin-1 protein of the placenta share a “very short amino acid region”.But this doesn’t mean that the immune system would attack the syncytin protein. The immune system can “recognise a surface in their target protein, which rarely is confined to a single short amino acid sequence,” she said.AFP Fact Check has debunked numerous claims about Covid-19 vaccines, available here.",,mRNA Covid-19 vaccines do not contain cells from aborted human foetuses,,,,,, +7,1,1,5,False,Jane Ruby and Stew Peters,2021-07-23,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FM82U-1,Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine contains dangerous graphene oxide,2021-07-07,factcheck_afp,,"A video featuring a US pundit who claims the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is dangerous because it contains the nanoparticle graphene oxide has been watched more than a million times on social media. But the claims are based on a study whose methodology experts have questioned, Pfizer said the substance is not used in the manufacturing of its shot, and researchers told AFP there is no evidence graphene oxide is used in any vaccines currently on the market.""BREAKING DISCOVERY! The ACTUAL CONTENTS Inside Pfizer Vials EXPOSED!"" says text promoting a segment from the ""Stew Peters Show"" on Canadian video sharing platform Rumble.Peters discusses the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine with Jane Ruby -- a self-described ""health economist and New Right political pundit"" whom AFP has fact-checked before. Screenshot taken on July 22, 2021 of a video from the Stew Peters Show shared on RumbleRuby claims that she read an English translation of the Spanish research that shows the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine is dangerous because it contains graphene oxide.Graphene oxide is a derivative of graphene, which has been reported to have antibacterial and antiviral properties. Graphene is super strong, ultra thin and has potential applications in a range of industries.""It's virtually 99.99 percent graphene oxide,"" Ruby says of the shot, while also claiming the substance is a ""poison"" and that it ""destroys literally everything in the cell.""Clips from the segment can also be found on Facebook, Instagram, and the video-sharing platform BitChute.It is part of a torrent of inaccurate claims about vaccines that have proliferated across the internet as countries around the world seek to immunize their populations against Covid-19.The same claim was amplified by GlobalResearch.ca, a Canadian website that the US State Department has described as ""deeply enmeshed in Russia's broader disinformation and propaganda ecosystem."" But the ingredients of all the Covid-19 vaccines authorized for use in the US and Canada (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca) are publicly listed and do not include graphene oxide.Pfizer spokeswomanDervila Keane confirmed to AFP on July 8, 2021 that ""graphene oxide is not used in the manufacture of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.""Spanish studyIn the video, Ruby is referencing a Spanish study published by Dr Pablo Campra at the end of June. The study was not published in a scientific journal, and has not been subjected to peer review.In it, Campra says that Ricardo Delgado requested the study. Delgado is the founder of La Quinta Columna (Fifth Column), a group that has spread misleading information about masks and PCR tests. Their claims about graphene in Covid-19 shots -- including that it generates electromagnetic properties in humans -- were debunked by AFP Factual in early June.To conduct the study, Campra examined a single sample of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine using optical microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). He then compared the images with those in other scientific literature.He said he found ""solid evidence of the probable presence of graphene derivatives"". Ester Vazquez, an expert in graphene health and safety who works with the European Commission's Graphene Flagship research group, told AFP on July 13 that she had read the study and found it ""rather inconclusive.""She said that microscopy is not an adequate method to study the presence of graphene or graphene oxide.""The tests carried out are insufficient to characterize graphene. It only shows some microscopy images that resemble pictures of graphene and graphene oxide in the literature. However, this is far from scientific proof -- graphene identification would require further analysis using other techniques,"" Vazquez said.Contacted by AFP about the study, Campra said on July 14: ""Our finding is that 99 percent of UV absorbance does not come from RNA, and its signal is compatible with graphene. But, many other substances show the same signal. We found microscopic evidence of graphene sheets, but further spectroscopic evidence is needed to confirm this structure.""Campra, who teaches at the University of Almeria, said that the results and conclusions of his report ""do not imply any institutional position"" of the school.The university issued a statement on July 2 on Twitter distancing itself from the study -- which it called ""unofficial"" -- saying it used methodology that lacked transparency.The methodology of the study was also questioned in a fact check by Health Feedback, a network of scientists, which concluded that Campra did not adhere to ""traceability"" protocols. This leaves the origin of his sample unclear, and makes it impossible to know if it was contaminated during the investigation process.Graphene in vaccinesProfessor Hong Byung-hee, an expert in nanomaterials at Seoul National University, told AFP for another fact-check on July 19 that ""graphene is being tested for biomedical purposes, including for vaccines, but these applications are still in an experimental phase and a long wait is expected before they become commercially available following clinical trials.""Graphene oxide is being studied in vaccines as a possible adjuvant, or ingredient to help the shot trigger stronger immune response. It was recently used as an adjuvant in the investigation of an intranasal vaccine against influenza, developed by the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, in the United States. This vaccine has only been tested in mice and cell culture.Dr Park Jong-bo, a researcher at Biographene, a company that develops graphene-based medicine, also confirmed on July 20 that ""no vaccines on the market (are) based on graphene oxide.""Vaccines currently in use are ""comprised of phospholipid layers, peptides or nucleic acids, and graphene oxide is not part of these categories,"" Park said.AFP Fact Check has debunked a series of inaccurate claims about vaccines, available in English here.",,Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine does not contain dangerous ingredient,,,,,, +8,1,1,5,False,Joe Biden,2021-07-23,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FR7KY-1,Vaccinated people won't get Covid-19,2021-07-21,factcheck_afp,,"US President Joe Biden claimed during a CNN town hall that vaccinated people will not get Covid-19. This is false; despite the high efficacy of the shots, infections still occur among the fully vaccinated population, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.""You're not gonna get Covid if you have these vaccinations,"" Biden said during the July 21, 2021 event, which came as the Covid-19 pandemic is again surging in the United States, propelled by the highly contagious Delta variant. US President Joe Biden (L) participates in a CNN Town Hall meeting hosted by Don Lemon (R) at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 21, 2021 ( AFP / Saul Loeb)But Biden's claim is inaccurate: the vaccines are very effective, but cases among vaccinated people are possible.The CDC said that as of July 12, it had received reports of 5,492 patients with Covid-19 ""breakthrough"" infections being hospitalized or dying, out of a total of more than 159 million fully vaccinated people in the United States.""Covid vaccines are highly effective in preventing infection and even more effective in preventing the serious illness that results in hospitalization and death,"" but no vaccine is 100 percent effective, Tom Skinner, senior public affairs officer at the CDC, told AFP on July 23. During a briefing at the White House on July 22, Press Secretary Jen Psaki addressed a reporter's question regarding the president's remarks on vaccination, saying that vaccinated people were ""largely protected.""""That was the point he was trying to make last night,"" she said.During the town hall, Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated. ""It's really kind of basic,"" he said, at a time when the US vaccination rate has significantly slowed.AFP Fact Check has debunked numerous other inaccurate claims related to Covid-19 and vaccines.July 26, 2021 This story was updated to correct the spelling of exaggerated in the headline.",,Joe Biden exaggerated Covid-19 vaccine efficacy,,,,,, +9,5,1,5,False,Multiple people,2021-07-23,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FL9LJ-3,Aerial footage of an anti-lockdown protest in Greece in 2021,2021-07-16,factcheck_afp,,"As thousands took to the streets in Greece to protest new coronavirus measures, social media posts shared what they claimed to be footage of the demonstration. However, the claim is false; the video shows a protest in Athens in January 2019 against a controversial agreement to rename Macedonia.""Greece Anti Youth [vaccination] Rally. An aerial view, I'd say from these images, the People have had a gutful,"" reads a Facebook post published on July 16, 2021.The video shared alongside the post shows a large demonstration, with many people displaying Greek flags. A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post as of July 22, 2021.The same video was widely shared on social media alongside similar claims, including here and here on Facebook, as well as on Instagram and Twitter.Thousands of people gathered on July 14 in central Athens to protest against new virus measures, after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced mandatory Covid-19 vaccination for all health workers and people entering closed venues such as bars, cinemas and theatres. However, the claim is false. The video in fact shows a different protest in the Greek capital in January 2019, many months before the first Covid-19 cases were reported.A Google reverse image search of keyframes from the video led to this YouTube video from January 21, 2019 about Greeks protesting an agreement to rename Macedonia, now known as North Macedonia.The title of the video reads in Greek: ""Video III - Demonstration for Macedonia. Syntagma Square, 20/01/2019"". Thousands demonstrated in Athen's central Syntagma Square in Athens on January 20, 2019 against Greece's deal with Macedonia that saw it renamed to the Republic of North Macedonia.Macedonia is a former Yugoslav republic, but for most Greeks, Macedonia is the name of their history-rich northern province made famous by Alexander the Great's conquests.Below is a comparison between the video in the misleading post (L) and the YouTube video at 0:19 (R): Similar aerial footage has also been published here in a report about the same demonstration by Greek newspaper Proto Thema on January 20, 2019.The Greek article's headline reads: ""The big rally for Macedonia in 20 photos"".The article translates to English in part: ""A gathering of different ages took place in Syntagma [the square in front of the Greek parliament] in the big march for Macedonia. From all over Greece, citizens were present responding to the invitation of macedonian unions and associations against the Prespa agreement.""Below is a screenshot comparison between the video in the misleading post (L) and a photo published in the Proto Thema report(R):",,This video shows protesters rallying against a deal to rename Macedonia in 2019,,,,,, +10,1,1,5,False,Multiple sources,2021-07-23,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FL92E-4,Video shows Covid-19 victims' bodies wrapped in plastic bags in Indonesia,2021-07-21,factcheck_afp,,"A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times in multiple Facebook posts that claim it shows Covid-19 victims wrapped in plastic bags in Indonesia. The claim is false: the clip actually shows an anti-government protest in Colombia in May 2021. ""In Indonesia, Covid-19 victims were wrapped in a plastic bag. Some people were not even dead. What a sad image! Wish Thailand never has to experience this. Protect yourselves and do not go out,"" reads the Thai-language caption of this video posted on Facebook on July 21, 2021.The video has been viewed more than 4,100 times. Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on July 22, 2021The post circulated online in Thailand after the kingdom's Covid-19 infection and death rates increased, as AFP has reported here. The country has recorded 426, 475 Covid-19 infections and 3,502 deaths as of July 21.The same video was shared here, here, and here on Facebook alongside a similar claim.The claim is false: the video actually shows an anti-government protest in Colombia in 2021.A reverse Google image search with video keyframes extracted with InVID-WeVerify, a digital verification tool, found this longer version footage uploaded on YouTube on May 27, 2021.The video's Spanish-language caption translates to English as: ""Performance [packed] in Medellin during a national strike on May 26, 2021. Medellin is Colombia's second-largest city. At the video's nine-minute 13-second mark, a woman can be heard saying: ""Today is Wednesday, May 26 we are in Poblado Park in Medellin.""This is a performance called ""Empaquetados"" [Packed] in homage to the people who have been found dead or to the people who have not appeared. It is a cry for help to know what is happening with the people who until today nobody knows where they are, people who were captured by the police or by civilians accompanied by the police"". Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (L) and the YouTube video (R): Screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading post (L) and video uploaded on YouTube (R)Colombia has been rocked by protests which broke out late April in opposition to a proposed tax hike under the right-wing administration of President Ivan Duque, AFP reported. The international community has condemned a security response that left more than 60 people dead. A subsequent keyword search found photos of the same event published here on May 28, 2021, by Le Cuento, Colombia-based digital media. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Le cuento (@lecuento_) The photos were credited to Jhonatan Rodriguez, a Colombian photographer. He told AFP he took the photos at an anti-government protest in Medellin on May 26.He said: ""It is an artistic performance that took place on May 26 of this year in Medellin, Colombia. The act of the performance was carried out as a way to protest against the government of Colombia .""Google Street View imagery of Poblado Park also corresponds to the footage shared in the misleading posts. Screenshot of the Google Street View image of Poblado ParkThe event was also reported here on page six of the Colombian newspaper, ADN Medellin, on May 27, 2021.",,This video shows an anti-government protest in Colombia -- not virus victims in Indonesia,,,,,, +11,1,1,5,False,Multiple sources,2021-07-23,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FH42Z-1,No Covid-19 patients die outside of hospitals,2021-07-15,factcheck_afp,,"Multiple Facebook posts circulating in Indonesia claim that nobody has died from Covid-19 outside of the Southeast Asian nation's hospitals. The posts misleadingly question whether the disease is deadly whilst implying Indonesian hospitals are responsible for its virus deaths. The claims are false: thousands of Covid-19 victims in Indonesia have died outside hospitals, according to data recorded by a volunteer group. AFP and other media have reported people died of Covid-19 while self-isolating at home and elsewhere after hospitals became overwhelmed with patients.The claim was shared in this July 15, 2021, Facebook post.It has received more than 120 likes. Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on July 21, 2021The post's Indonesian-language caption translates to English as: ""THEY SAY IT'S FEROCIOUS AND DEADLY. If Covid-19 is dangerous, why don't people die on the streets, at home, the farms, plantations, markets and shopping malls? They always die of Covid-19 at hospitals. WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH HOSPITALS?????""A similar claim was also posted here, here, here and here. The claim is false.As of July 23, 2021, Indonesian volunteer group Lapor Covid-19 has recorded at least 2,491 people who died of Covid-19 while they were self-isolating at home or in places other than hospitals. AFP has reported that Covid-19 patients have died at home after an explosion of Covid-19 cases overwhelmed hospitals in the Southeast Asian archipelago.AFP photos published here and here show health workers removing the body of a Covid-19 patient who died while isolating at home in Bandung, West Java province. Health workers removed the body of a Covid-19 victim who died while isolating at home in Bandung, West Java province, on July 18, 2021, as skyrocketing Covid-19 cases are overwhelming hospitals in the country. ( AFP / Timur Matahari)Indonesian media sites have also reported Covid-19 patients who died on the street; in a market; in a car park; in a streetside stall and on a pedicab.Indonesia has recorded more than three million Covid-19 cases and more than 79,000 deaths, according to the Indonesian Health Ministry's data on July 22, 2021.",,False claim circulates in Indonesia that 'no Covid-19 victims died outside hospitals',,,,,, +12,1,1,5,False,TLC4SuperTeams,2021-07-23,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FL2T7-5,Vaccinated people are at greatest risk from coronavirus Delta variant,2021-07-18,factcheck_afp,,"A Facebook video cites Harvard research to claim that people vaccinated against Covid-19 are at greatest risk from the coronavirus Delta variant that causes the disease. However, a Harvard professor confirmed that the video misrepresents his analysis, and health authorities and studies suggest the best protection from the virus is through vaccination.""Delta Variant Targets Vaxxers,"" says text accompanying a July 18, 2021 Facebook video featuring Jen DePice, a chiropractor and exercise physiologist who goes by ""Dr Jen"" on social media. Screenshot of a Facebook post taken July 21, 2021The highly infectious Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has contributed to a rapid rise in Covid-19 cases in the United States.Delta is one of four notable variants circulating in the United States, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says on its website.In her video, DePice discusses the Delta variant, citing research ""from Harvard"" as evidence to support her claims, and the post links to a Q&A with William Hanage, associate professor of epidemiology and a faculty member in the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.However, Hanage says that his remarks do not support DePice's claims in the video.""Not only are all the claims false, but I did not make them,"" he told AFP on July 20.DePice says ""that the people at greatest risk for the Delta variant are the people that are vaccinated, not the people that are unvaccinated that have already had natural exposure,"" attributing this theory to the Harvard analysis, despite the fact that Hanage makes no mention in the Q&A of people who may have a natural immunity to the Covid-19 virus.Hanage told AFP on July 22, 2021 that ""there is pretty good evidence that the quality of immunity following infection is more variable than following immunization with vaccines available in the US.""""So some people who have prior immunity through infection may be well protected, but others won't be,"" he said. He added that immunity can wane over time, and pointed to research that found: ""If you have recovered from infection and get an mRNA vaccine regardless,... you can expect really quite amazing protection against variants.""The CDC recommends getting the Covid-19 vaccine ""regardless of whether you already had Covid-19.""It says: ""Studies have shown that vaccination provides a strong boost in protection in people who have recovered from Covid-19.""Hanage addressed another of DePice's claims in which she states: ""We are not seeing increasing numbers of people hospitalized or deaths around the world even with an increase of Delta variants."" ""This is not true. Hospitalizations and deaths are increasing wherever Delta has emerged,"" Hanage said. Vaccination is key to preventing severe illness and hospitalization.US surgeon general, Dr Vivek Murthy, told CNN's ""State of the Union"" on July 18: ""We are seeing increasing cases among the unvaccinated in particular. And while if you are vaccinated you are very well protected against hospitalization and death, unfortunately that is not true if you are not vaccinated.""Additional studies suggest that those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 retain protection against the Delta variant.This is indicated in a peer-reviewed article in the scientific journal Nature. A similar conclusion was reached by medical researchers, whose letter on the topic was published in The New England Journal of Medicine.Top US infectious disease specialist Dr Anthony Fauci said at a July 16 briefing that vaccines work against Delta.""The message loud and clear that we need to reiterate is that these vaccines continue to (offer) strong protection against SARS-CoV-2, including the Delta variant,"" meaning ""it's so important for yourself, your family, and your community to get vaccinated,"" said Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.AFP Fact Check has debunked numerous other inaccurate claims related to Covid-19 and vaccines.",,Vaccinated people do not face greatest risk from coronavirus Delta variant,,,,,, +13,2,1,5,Misleading,Multiple source,2021-07-22,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FH3YV-2,Turkey never closes mosques during the Covid-19 pandemic,2021-07-14,factcheck_afp,,"An image of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been shared in multiple posts on Facebook alongside a claim that he announced no mosque in Turkey would be closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The claim circulated online in Indonesia after the country imposed social restrictions in early July 2021. The claim is misleading: Turkey previously ordered all mosques to close in March 2020 in a bid to reduce the spread of Covid-19. As of July 22, 2021, AFP found no evidence that Erdogan announced he would not close Turkey's mosques in 2020 or 2021.One post was shared here on Facebook on July 14, 2021. Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on July 21, 2021The post's Indonesian-language caption translates to English as: ""I hope the Indonesian leader has thoughts like this Turkish leader.""The text superimposed on the picture reads in part: ""'No mosques will be closed in Turkey from the threat of the coronavirus. Closing mosques is more dangerous than the coronavirus.""'Whoever leaves the mosque today, tomorrow he will lose faith because of the False Messiah. Trust in Allah and only Allah will give help'. Recep Tayyip Erdogan (President of Turkey)"".Indonesia imposed tougher social restrictions on July 3, 2021, after Covid-19 cases grew significantly in the country. Shopping malls and places of worship were shuttered in the hand hard-hit islands of Java and Bali, AFP reported here. On July 9, 2021, however, the restrictions were revised to allow places of worship to open but without communal prayers. A similar claim, along with the photo, has been shared more than 80 times on Facebook here, here, here and here. The claim, however, is misleading. Mosque closuresTurkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs announced on its website here on March 19, 2020, that mosques would be closed.The closures were implemented for Friday, March 20, as well as Saturday, March 21 — when Muslims celebrate the Night of Prophet Mohammed's Ascension.Turkey's English newspaper Hurriyet Daily News also published this report about the mosques closure on March 19, 2020.The headline reads: ""Turkey shutters mosques for Friday prayers and holy night"". Turkey also banned communal prayers in mosques during the pandemic from March 2020 until May 2020. As of July 22, 2021, AFP found no credible report about Erdogan insisting that mosques should remain open throughout the pandemic.Erdogan speechA reverse image search on Yandex followed by subsequent keyword searches found the picture shared in the misleading posts was originally published here on the Associated Press (AP) website on December 3, 2019.It shows Erdogan delivering a speech before travelling to a NATO leaders summit in December 2019.The caption reads: ""Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks before departing to attend a NATO leader's summit in London, in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019. Erdogan says there is no change in Turkey's position that is holding up a NATO defense proposal for Poland and Baltic nations until the alliance supports Ankara's concerns related to Syrian Kurdish fighters.""Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the misleading post (L) and the AP photo (R): Screenshot comparison between the picture in the misleading post (L) and the AP photo (R)",,Indonesian Facebook users share misleading claim about Turkey's mosque closures during pandemic,,,,,, +14,3,1,5,Misleading,multiple sources,2021-07-22,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FE6UH-1,Vaccines on the market contain carcinogenic graphene oxide,2021-07-12,factcheck_afp,,"Multiple Facebook posts have repeatedly shared a claim that all commercially available vaccines purportedly contain a cancer-causing substance called graphene oxide. But these posts are misleading: experts separately told AFP that graphene oxide is not used in commercially available vaccines. The most commonly used vaccines go through rigorous testing and have been safely used for decades, according to the World Health Organization.""After investigating the contents of vaccines, 99% was found to be graphene oxide. Like asbestos this causes cancer,"" reads this Korean-language Facebook post on July 12, 2021.""Graphene oxide was found in all vaccines commercially available,"" the post adds. Screenshot of the misleading post. Captured July 20, 2021.Graphene oxide is a derivative of graphene which is reportedly the world's thinnest material first isolated in 2004.A similar claim was also shared in Facebook posts here, here, here and here.But these posts are misleading, according to multiple experts.Graphene oxide ""No vaccines on the market [is] based on graphene oxide,"" Dr Park Jong-bo, a researcher at Biographene, a company that develops graphene-based medicine, told AFP on July 20, 2021.Vaccines currently in use are ""comprised of phospholipid layers, peptides or nucleic acids, and graphene oxide is not part of these categories,"" Park said. The claim that all commercially available vaccines were 99% made up of graphene oxide was ""ungrounded in fact,"" Professor Hong Byung-hee, an expert in nanomaterials at Seoul National University, told AFP on July 19, 2021.""Graphene is being tested for biomedical purposes, including for vaccines, but these applications are still in an experimental phase and a long wait is expected before they become commercially available following clinical trials,"" Hong said.Hong added that the claim that graphene oxide is purportedly like asbestos and causes cancer is misleading.""Graphene has a planar structure, and is very different from asbestos, which has a needle structure,"" he explained.""In the case of graphene oxide... there is some toxicity but relatively little, so the material is being widely researched for use in drug delivery systems and in vivo diagnostic sensors.""Published lists of ingredients in widely used Covid-19 vaccines -- Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen -- do not include graphene oxide. Vaccine safetyVaccines are available for some two dozen diseases including Covid-19, according to this list from the World Health Organization (WHO).""The most commonly used vaccines have been around for decades, with millions of people receiving them safely every year,"" the WHO states here.""Following the introduction of a vaccine, close monitoring continues to detect any unexpected adverse side effects.""",,"Available vaccines do not contain graphene oxide, experts say",,,,,, +15,1,1,5,False,የኢትዮጵያ ብልፅግና ፓርቲ,2021-07-20,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/no-evidence-putin-congratulated-ethiopian-pm-second-filling-controversial-mega-dam,Putin congratulates Ethiopian PM over GERD filling,2021-07-06,factcheck_afp,,"A Facebook post shared hundreds of times on Facebook claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently congratulated Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, on the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Ethiopia's construction of the mega-dam has been a source of diplomatic tension with its downstream neighbours. However, this is false; the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa told AFP Fact Check that Putin never made any such comments. Furthermore, there is no official evidence of the Russian head of state issuing a statement regarding the GERD filling. The post, archived here, has been shared more than 350 times since it was published on Facebook on July 6, 2021. It was shared from an account called “Ethiopian Prosperity Party”, the political party led by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. However, the page is not an official account and was created by a party supporter.  Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on July 16, 2021The post features an image of Putin and Abiy shaking hands. “Congratulations Ethiopians! The second phase of the Abay dam filling is legitimate and demonstrates the right to use its own natural resources (sic),” reads a quote attributed to the Russian leader translated to English. “A country that has many thousand years of history, an example of freedom that doesn’t bend to oppression, the mother of many proud heroes, congratulations Ethiopia,” it concludes.The post surfaced after the onset of this year’s rainy season, which helped speed up the process of filling the mega-dam. An official told AFP  on July 19, 2021, that Ethiopia had attained its second-year target for filling the mega-dam on the Blue Nile River. Ethiopia hit its first target of 4.9 billion cubic metres in July 2020.Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been locked in a tug of war over the use of the Nile ever since Ethiopia started building and filling the GERD using water from the river. Both the governments of Egypt and Sudan have expressed concern that diverting Nile water into the GERD will restrict water supplies in the two countries, affecting millions of people’s livelihoods.Russian embassy denies remarksHowever, the remarks attributed to Putin are fabricated.Valentina Kim, a spokeswoman for the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa, said the leader had not congratulated Abiy. When asked about the false claims, Kim said: “We have not seen them”.“We cannot comment on an event [whose] existence is not proved,” she added. According to the Kremlin’s website, the most recent conversation between both leaders was a phone conversation on April 7, 2020.AFP Fact Check previously debunked a claim that Putin was backing Ethiopia in the dispute over the GERD. Similarly, AFP Fact Check debunked remarks falsely attributed to Putin where he allegedly ridiculed Ethiopia’s prime minister about cloud seeding technology.",,No evidence that Putin congratulated Ethiopian PM on the second filling of controversial mega-dam,,,,,, +16,3,1,5,Misleading,Multiple Sources,2021-07-19,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9F63C6-1,Photos show water shortage and COVID-19 crisis in Kejriwal ruled Delhi,2021-07-13,factcheck_afp,,"Politicians from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have shared photos they claim show various crises under the rule of Delhi's chief minister and opposition politician Arvind Kejriwal. The claim is misleading: most of the images were taken before Arvind was elected as Delhi's chief minister, or do not show events in Delhi.""Kejriwal's development model!"" reads a tweet from July 13 by Adesh Gupta, a BJP politician and head of the party's Delhi unit.He has more than 100,000 Twitter followers.The illustration shows Kejriwal, the leader of India's Aam Aadmi Party, alongside photos purportedly depicting water, oxygen, ventilator, and pollution problems in Delhi. Screenshot of misleading post taken on July 16, 2021. ( AFP)Kejriwal was elected Delhi's chief minister in February 2015. Fellow BJP politicians Dheeraj Pradhan and Rachna Garg also shared the photo in posts here, here and here.However, the posts are misleading. Water crisisThe first photo of a crowd of people scrambling for water was taken before Kejriwal took office.A reverse image search on TinEye shows the picture was taken in 2009 in New Delhi.It was captured by photographer Adnan Abidi for Reuters news agency. It can be found on the agency's website here. The photo's caption reads, ""Residents of Sanjay Colony, a residential neighbourhood, crowd around a water tanker provided by the state-run Delhi Jal (water) Board to fill their containers in New Delhi June 30, 2009. Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has given directives to tackle the burgeoning water crisis caused by uneven distribution of water in the city according to local media. The board is responsible for supplying water in the capital.""Below is a comparison of the photo used in the misleading post (L) and the photo on Reuters' website (R): Screenshot comparing the misleading post and the original image ( AFP)Kejriwal's Aam Admi Party was formed in October 2012, years after the photo was taken. This photo has previously been shared in a misleading context. AFP debunked posts claiming the photo shows Delhi's water crisis in July 2021.Oxygen crisisThe second photo of oxygen tanks was taken in the city of Prayagraj in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh.A reverse image search on TinEye found the photo was taken by Indian news agency Press Trust of India (PTI).It can be found here on the agency's website. The photo was also used in this article by The Indian Express about the shortage of oxygen in India during the second Covid-19 wave in spring 2021.The photo's caption reads: ""Several states are facing acute oxygen shortage owing to the rising Covid-19 cases. In pic, workers unload oxygen cylinders from a truck at a hospital in Prayagraj. (PTI Photo).""Below is a comparison between the photo used in the misleading post (L) and the photo used in The Indian Express article (R): Screenshot comparing the misleading post and the original image ( AFP)Ventilator crisisThe third photo, which shows a hospital, was taken in Iran, not India.A reverse image search on TinEye shows that the photo was taken in Tehran, Iran.It was captured by photographer Ali Shirband on March 1, 2020 for news agency Associated Press.It can be found on AP's website here. The photo's caption reads: ""In this Sunday, March 1, 2020 photo, a medic treats a patient infected with coronavirus, at a hospital in Tehran, Iran. A member of a council that advises Iran's supreme leader died Monday after falling sick from the new coronavirus, becoming the first top official to succumb to the illness striking both citizens and leaders of the Islamic Republic.""Below is a comparison between the photo shared in the misleading post (L) and the photo on AP's website (R): Screenshot comparing the misleading post and the original image ( AFP)The photo was also used in a news article about Iran's Covid-19 crisis here. Pollution problemThe final photo showing pollution was genuinely taken in Delhi when Kejriwal was in power.A reverse image search on TinEye shows that the photo was taken in October, 2018 by AFP photographer Dominique Faget.It can be found on AFP's website here. The photo caption reads: ""Indian pedestrians walk near the India Gate monument amid heavy smog conditions in New Delhi on October 30, 2018. Smog levels spike during winter in Delhi, when air quality often eclipses the World Health Organization's safe levels. Cooler air traps pollutants -- such as from vehicles, building sites and farmers burning crops in regions outside the Indian capital.""The photo was also used in this news report by AFP about Delhi's air pollution.",,BJP politicians share misleading posts critical of Delhi chief minister,,,,,, +17,1,1,5,False,Multiple sources,2021-07-19,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9F92G2-1,This photo shows a Chinese vessel dumping sewage and human waste in the West Philippine Sea,2021-07-12,factcheck_afp,,"A photo has been shared in multiple Twitter and Facebook posts that claim it shows a Chinese shipping vessel dumping human waste in Philippine waters. The claim is false: the photo has in fact circulated in reports about dredging off the coast of Australia.""Chinese vessels dumping human waste part of west philippine sea,"" reads the caption to this photo shared on Twitter on July 12, 2021. Screenshot of the misleading post taken on July 17, 2021""West Philippine Sea"" is the term used in the Philippines for the maritime area in the western part of the Philippine archipelago.The misleading post circulated online after Philippine news organisation GMA News erroneously published a report showing the same photo and claim.The organisation has since apologised for the oversight. In a tweet on July 12, it said: ""We took down the original tweet containing an inaccurate image. We want to thank our followers for tweeting us this feedback. We apologize for the oversight.""The same photo was also shared hundreds of times alongside a similar claim here, here and here on Facebook.The claim is false.A combination of reverse image and keyword searches on Google found the photo was originally published in this press release on October 3, 2014.It was circulated by the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (CAFNEC), an environmental group based in Australia.In the press release, it states that the photo shows: ""Maintenance dredging in Cairns show the impact of dredging and dumping in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area"".The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system.It is located in northeastern Australia, more than 4,800 kilometers away from the West Philippine Sea as shown here on Google Maps.  Screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and the CAFNEC photo (R)According to the photo’s caption, it was taken by photographer Xanthe Rivett for CAFNEC and World Wildlife Fund Australia.The WWF also posted the image on its official Instagram account on the same day.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by WWF-Australia (@wwf_australia) In response to the misleading posts, a World Wildlife Fund Australia representative told AFP on July 16: ""I can confirm the photos were taken in the Cairns Port in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area on 19 September 2014.""They show a ship dumping dredged material.""Philippine fact-checking organisation Vera Files also debunked this misleading claim here.",,"This photo has circulated in reports about dredging off the coast of Australia, not the Philippines",,,,,, +18,5,1,5,False,Multiple sources,2021-07-13,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9EE4BW-1,An image of an electric car cemetery in France,2021-07-07,factcheck_afp,,"A photo has been shared thousands of times in posts claiming it shows an ""electric car cemetery"" in France, where electric cars are purportedly dumped when their batteries wear out. The claim is false; the image in fact shows a Chinese rideshare company's cars parked on the outskirts of Hangzhou. The company's former manager said most of the cars were first-generation electric vehicles set to be replaced with newer models.""Here is an electric car cemetery in France. Nobody wants to buy a used electric car when the battery wears out,"" reads this Facebook post published on July 7. It has since been shared more than 1,000 times. A screenshot of the misleading Facebook post as of July 9, 2021.The same photo was shared alongside similar claims appear on Facebook here and here, and in this tweet shared more than 4,000 times.""Green madness. Electric cars belonging to the city of Paris. No one will buy them because of the cost of the replacement battery. Who will dispose of this junk, especially the batteries?"" the tweet reads.However, the claim is false. A reverse image search and keyword searches found similar photos published by Chinese state-owned newspaper People's Daily here on April 25, 2019. The article refers to the photos, credited to Chinese state news agency Chinanews, as ""a car cemetery in Hangzhou"". A screenshot of an article on the Chinese website (taken 8 July 2021)According to the article, the vehicles are ""new energy-shared cars abandoned in a car park near Hangzhou city along the Qiantang River"".The cars appear to be electric cars manufactured by China's Kandi Technologies Group. In 2015, China's state-owned newspaper Global Times identified similar vehicles with the same logos and white-green paint in Hangzhou as having been produced by Kandi. Identical visual clues can be seen in the photo circulating in misleading posts (L) and Chinanews's image (R), including buildings in the background, an electicity pylon and logos on the cars. On the left, a picture of the Facebook update and on the right, a picture taken by the Chinanews website. AFP has circled the similarities in red.The exact location of the image can also be confirmed through the satellite images of the Shuangpuzhen area on Zoom Earth, where the parking lot and its cars can be seen.The satellite images show pools of water and the buildings in the background. A satellite image of the parking lot, with the buildings visible in the Facebook photo circled in red (Zoom.earth)The electricity pylons visible in the Facebook post also can be found on the highway, south of the parking lot: A satellite image of the parking lot, with the location of the electricity pylons circled in red by AFP (Zoom.earth)The vehicles belong to a Hangzhou-based electric car rideshare company called Microcity, subsidiarity of an electric car rental company named Zhejiang Zuozhongyou Electric Car Service Limited, according to the company's former brand manager.""The cars in the photo belonged to Hangzhou Microcity,""Lou Gaofeng told AFP.Launched in Hangzhou in 2013, Microcity's electric car rideshare service aimed to tackle emissions, congestion and limited parking space, according to the local government's website.Car sharing services in Chinese have struggled to keep their business model profitable. In 2019, Hong Kong-based newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported that many firms had gone bankrupt after an initial boom in ride sharing apps the 2010s, aided by the low price of electric cars.Chinese media reported that thousands of Microcity electric cars have ended up in parking lots on the outskirts of Hangzhou from 2019 (here, here and here).Lou told local newspaper Hangzhou.com.cn in April 2019 that around 3,000 Microcity cars are parked in three different parking lots along the Qiantang River. However, according to the former manager of the company, not all the cars were defective.""I had clearly explained at that time that not all of them had problems. Some of them had problems, some could still be used, others were old enough to be sold to another company and disassembled,"" he told AFP.""Second, it had nothing to do with the spontaneous combustion of the battery, most of them were the first generation electric vehicles which had been produced in 2013 and even earlier and should be replaced due to technologcial progress.""Microcity's current management did not respond to AFP's enquiries on what the company plans to do with the cars in the future.CORRECTION 15/7/21: This article was amended to clarify Lou Gaofeng's quote that the cars in the photograph were first-generation electric cars set to be replaced with newer models.",,This photo does not show an 'electric car cemetery' in France,,,,,, +19,3,1,5,Misleading,Multiple Sources,2021-07-09,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9EG3DM-1,Photo shows helicopter operated by the Royal Thai Army,2021-07-05,factcheck_afp,,"After a fire at a plastics factory in Thailand injured dozens, a photo surfaced in Facebook posts purporting to show a Royal Thai Army helicopter and questioning why the chopper was not deployed to quell the blaze. The claim is misleading; the photo actually shows a helitanker during an exercise in the United States in 2020. Meanwhile, a second photo in the posts genuinely shows a Thai helicopter.The photos were published here on Facebook on July 5, 2021. ""The Royal Thai Army has chinook, the forest department has a helicopter with a water bucket, why didn't anybody collaborate with them?"" the Thai-language post's caption reads. Chinook refers to a type of military, heavy-lift helicopter. ( Montira RUNGJIRAJITTRANON)The images circulated online after an explosion at a plastics factory near the Thai capital Bangkok sent plumes of smoke across the skyline, killing one firefighter and injuring at least 33 people, AFP reported.The photos were also shared on Facebook here and here alongside a similar claim. The images, however, have been shared in a misleading context.First photoA reverse image search on Google found the first photo was published in this article by the US-based blog site Fire Aviation on November 19, 2020.Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and on the Fire Aviation website (R):  ""A CH-47 Chinook Very Large Helitanker (VLHT) with night-flying capability operated by Coulson Aviation is working under an 83-day contract in collaboration with Southern California Edison (SCE) and the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA),"" the article reads.""The Chinook is based at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base in Orange County"".The photo was screenshotted from this  footage tweeted by Orange County Fire Authority (OFCA) on November 19, 2020.The clip shows the helitanker exercise, which was coordinated by  L.A. County Fire Department  and the Orange County Fire Authority (OFCA). Yesterday we had a successful exercise with @LACoFDPIO to showcase the new joint agency Helitanker. This is a regional asset that can be used in multiple counties to fight fires. The helitanker:•Takes 1 min to fill 3,000 gallons•Has a water drop cover of approx 10 acres pic.twitter.com/mzMC2j3pZr — OCFA PIO (@OCFA_PIO) November 19, 2020 Second photoThe second photo genuinely shows a Thai helicopter.Reverse image searches for the second photo found it was previously published in this 2016 report by Thai news site Manager Online.The Thai government staged a demonstration to show how the helicopter was used to extinguish fires in Phitsanulok province, the report says.""Helicopter owned by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was used to extinguish wildfire in Nan, using the water from Nan River, in the middle of a campaign to stop burning the forest,"" the Thai-language article reads.Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and on the Manager Online website (R):  Thailand's Forest Department operates under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.The photo was also published in another report about the event by a Thai-language website here. CORRECTION: This article was updated on July 12, 2021 to clarify that the Facebook posts claimed the photos showed Thai helicopters, but not necessarily Thai helicopters at the scene of the plastics factory fire.",,Wrong helicopter photo shared in posts about Thai factory fire,,,,,, +20,5,1,5,False,Multiples sources,2021-07-07,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9DZ6YU-3,Photo of polluted river is from India,2021-06-27,factcheck_afp,,"A photo of a river clogged with rubbish has been shared in multiple Facebook and Twitter posts which claim that the river is in the Indian city of Mumbai. However, the claim is false; the photo actually shows a river in Philippines' capital Manila. The photo was shared on Facebook here on June 27, 2021, by a page with some 75,000 followers.The Facebook post, sharing two photos, appears to compare two rivers with one looking clean and the other filled with garbage.The caption to the post reads:""Pic 1 - Sabaramati Riverfront, Ahmedabad, Gujarat (Fund spent by Gujarat State: ₹1400 crores)Pic 2 - Mithi River, Mumbai, Maharashtra (Funds spent by BMC & MMRDA: ₹1000+ crores)#TaleOfTwoCities #ModiHaiToMumkinHai"" (#If Modi IsThere It's Possible)   ""Sabaramati Riverfront"" refers to Sabarmati Riverfront in Indian state Gujarat, which is controlled by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).The Mithi River is located in the city of Mumbai in Maharashtra, a state which is controlled by a coalition of opposition parties. The Mithi River was Maharashtra's most polluted river in 2018, according to this report released by the state's Pollution Control Board. The report found that the level of coliform content, which indicates the presence of human and animal excreta, was at least 15 times above the safe limit, as reported by local news outlet Hindustan Times.Since November 2019, a coalition of three parties -- Shiv Sena, the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) -- have formed the government in Maharashtra. However, before that Maharashtra was governed by BJP, which had formed an alliance with Shiv Sena in the state after the 2014 state legislative assembly elections. The identical photos were published by several other accounts on Facebook, for example here and here alongside a similar claim. They were also shared by BJP party members on Twitter as seen here and here. However, the claim is false. While the first image does show the Sabarmati Riverfront as seen on Google Maps, the second photo of the river clogged with garbage is not of the Mithi River in India, but actually shows the Philippines' capital city Manila. A reverse image search on TinEye shows that the original photo was taken in January 2008 in Manila, Philippines by photographer Antonio V. Oquias, as can be seen on the Shutterstock Images website. The caption to the photo reads: ""MANILA, PHILIPPINES - JANUARY 6: A river of garbage prevents the flow of water on January 6, 2008 in Manila, Philippines. Poverty and garbage disposal are major issues in the Philippines.""The photo was also used in this news report on plastic pollution by UK broadcaster BBC. Below is a comparison of the photo used in the Facebook post and the one found on Shutterstock.",,"This photo shows a river in the Philippines, not India",,,,,, +21,1,1,5,False,Gech Ethiopia,2021-07-06,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/image-elephant-shaped-mountain-composite-created-polish-artist-mirekis,This image of an elephant-shaped mountain is a composite created by Polish artist Mirekis,2021-07-01,factcheck_afp,,"An image has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook in Ethiopia alongside a claim that it shows a real mountain cliff shaped like an elephant. But this is false: AFP Fact Check found that the image was digitally created by Polish artist Mirekis.The claim has been shared more than 100 times and had over 500 reactions since it was published on July 1, 2021. “Beautiful Elephant mountain!” the post’s caption reads.  Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on July 5, 2021The image shows a mountain cliff in the shape of an elephant overlooking a snowy valley.However, the image does not show a real landscape. It was digitally created by Mirekis, a Polish artist who combined three images to create the artwork. AFP Fact Check ran a reverse image search and traced the picture to several websites showing Mirekis’s work. The composite comes from a series of images called ""Over the precipice"", initially posted on Mirekis’s Facebook page on January 18, 2018. “The series is still missing spring and fall,” the post’s Polish caption reads. Mirekis shared the image a few days later on Instagram as well as on his 500px page, a photo-sharing platform.    View this post on Instagram           A post shared by Is Mirek (@mirekis7) Original picturesThe composite was created by layering three different images. The original image that can be seen in the foreground of Mirekis’s work was uploaded on Wikimedia Commons by a user called “Giacomozanni” in April 2010. The image shows a mountain in the north-east of Italy where the Malatesta Fortress of Verucchio sits.Noticeable details stand out in the foreground of both images such as the trees and bushes. Image highlighting similarities between the original picture (right) and the compositeThe other two images are composed of a picture of an elephant superimposed on an image of the Creux du Van, a natural rocky cirque located in east Switzerland near the French border. Image highlighting similarities between the original pictures (top) and the compositeMirekis confirmed to AFP Fact Check that the photo in the misleading Facebook showed his artwork. The claim had already been debunked by Snopes in January 2018. While Mirekis’s work was digitally altered and created as a form of art, there is an actual “Elephant Rock” in the cliffs of the island Heimaey in Iceland.  Image from Wiki Commons of “Elephant Rock” in Iceland",,This image of an elephant-shaped mountain is a composite created by Polish artist Mirekis,,,,,, +22,3,1,5,Misleading,Multiple sources,2021-07-02,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9DP93D-1,Posts compare Manila Bay images before and during Rodrigo Duterte presidency,2021-07-26,factcheck_afp,,"A photo collage has been shared thousands of times in Facebook posts that claim it shows a trash-filled beach in the Philippine capital Manila purportedly before Rodrigo Duterte was elected president -- and the same beach after he ordered a cleanup during his term. But these posts are misleading: the trash-filled beach photo is miscaptioned as taken during the presidency of former leader Benigno Aquino III; both images in the photo collage have circulated in news reports since 2020 during Duterte’s term as president.The photo collage was posted here on Facebook on June 26, 2021. It has been shared over 3,000 times since.The photo collage juxtaposes two images of Manila Bay, a natural harbour located west of the Philippine capital Manila.The first image shows a trash-filled beach overlaid with text that reads: “NOYNOY BEFORE”. The second shows a clean beach superimposed with the text: “DUTERTE NOW”.The post’s Tagalog-language caption translates in part as: “They say President BS Aquino III is the protector against environmental waste.”  Screenshot of misleading post taken on July 1, 2021The misleading post circulated days after the death of former Philippine President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on June 24, 2021, AFP reported.Aquino III was the president from 2010 to 2016. He was succeeded by Rodrigo Duterte whose term is until 2022.In 2019, Duterte announced a “major” Manila Bay cleanup. The following year his government began construction of an artificial white sand beach along a portion of the bay.The controversial project has spurred a slew of misinformation, for example here, here and here debunked by AFP.An identical photo collage was also shared alongside a similar claim in Facebook posts here, here and here.But these posts are misleading: both images in the photo collage have circulated in reports published during Duterte’s term.First image A reverse search on Google found the image of the trash-filled beach was published here by Philippine broadcaster GMA News on September 8, 2020 when the Duterte government’s white sand beach project was underway, not during former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino's term.The image’s caption states in part: “A lot of trash drifted to Manila Bay, near the Manila Yacht Club. [This side] is more polluted compared to the other end where the [environment agency] is dumping white sand.”The image corresponds to the 19-second mark of this television report aired by GMA News the same day. Below is a screenshot comparison of the first image in the misleading posts (L) and the original photo from GMA News (R):   The image was taken in this location as seen on Google Maps. Second imageFurther reverse image searches found the second image had also appeared in a news report during the Duterte administration. It was shared here on May 24, 2021 by local media organisation SMNI News.The image’s caption reads in part: “#ManilaBayRehab… #DuterteAdministration”.Below is a screenshot comparison of the second image in the misleading posts (L) and photo shared by SMNI News (R):   The rainbow-colored crosswalk seen in the image corresponds to these photos posted on the Facebook page of Manila City’s mayor in December 2020, when the newly-painted lanes were opened to the public.The image corresponds to this location on Google Street View.The misleading posts were also debunked by Philippine fact-checking organisation Vera Files here.",,Misleading posts circulate anew about beach cleanup in Philippine capital,,,,,, +23,1,1,5,False,Multiple,2021-06-28,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9DC9V8-1,Photos show malnourished lions at Bangladesh zoo,2021-06-19,factcheck_afp,,"Three photos of malnourished lions are circulating in Facebook posts that claim they were taken at a zoo in Bangladesh. The claim is false: the images were originally shared in reports about a zoo in Sudan in January 2020.  The photos of the lions were posted here on Facebook on June 19, 2021. The post has been shared more than 700 times.The post’s Bengali-language caption reads: ''We request the authority of Mirpur Zoo to set these wild animals free. If you can't fulfil your duty, then there is no right to trade with these wild animals. If anyone comes across this post who has the ability to do something about it, then please take some action.''  Mirpur Zoo is Bangladesh’s National Zoo in the capital Dhaka. It is home to more than 2,500 creatures, including eight endangered Bengal tigers, as reported here by AFP.The same images were shared with a similar claim here, here and here on Facebook.However, the claim is false. A reverse image search found two of the three photos were posted here on Facebook in January 2020.They were uploaded on the verified page of Osman Salih, who describes himself as CEO at Sudan Animal Rescue.His post reads in part: ""I was shaken when I saw these lions at the park... their bones are protruding from the skin”.""I urge interested people and institutions to help them,"" he wrote. Below is a screenshot comparison of the images in the misleading post (L) and the images shared by Salih (R) : The campaign to save the five lions caged in Khartoum's Al-Qureshi Park was reported here by AFP on January 20, 2020.The final photo in the misleading post was taken by AFP photographer Ashraf Shazly at al-Qureshi Park in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on January 20, 2020. Below is a screenshot comparison of the final photo in the misleading post (L) and Shazly’s photo (R): Shazly posted the images on Facebook here.",,Facebook users share old photos of lions in Sudan in posts about Bangladesh zoo,,,,,, +24,5,1,5,False,Multiple Sources,2021-06-25,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/these-images-have-circulated-online-reports-about-meteor-sightings-october-2015,Images of meteor visible in northern Thailand in June 2021,2021-06-22,factcheck_afp,,"Images that show a meteor have been shared widely in Twitter and Facebook posts that claim these were shot in Thailand in June 2021. But this claim is false: the images are unrelated to recent meteor sightings in Thailand and have in fact circulated online since October 2015.The images were posted on Twitter here on June 22, 2021. They have been shared more than 1,800 times since.The Thai-language post translates as: “Who is in Chiangmai, they said a loud noise was heard along with green light during around 18:35 it is [an] #asteroid!!! #Chiangrai #meteor”. Screenshot of the misleading Twitter post taken on June 23, 2021The misleading post circulated the same night social media users in Chiang Mai and other areas in northern Thailand reported seeing flashes of light in the sky followed by loud noises.The National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT) confirmed the event was due to a meteor that had broken off from an asteroid and entered the Earth’s atmosphere.Identical images were also shared alongside a similar claim on Facebook here, here and here; and on Twitter here and here.The claim is false: the images have circulated online since at least 2015.First imageA reverse search on Google found the first image was posted here on Instagram by weather photographer Marko Korosec on October 31, 2015.Its caption reads in part: “This spectacular and very bright bolide (fireball) from Southern Taurids meteor shower was observed this evening at 18:12 UTC, Oct 30th, 2015. Looking towards south from Brkini, SW Slovenia.”    View this post on Instagram           A post shared by Marko Korosec (@markokorosecnet)Below is a screenshot comparison of the first image in the misleading post (L) and Korosec’s photo (R): Screenshot comparison of the first image in the misleading post (L) and Korosec’s photo (R)The image was also shared here on the website Spaceweather.com on October 31, 2015 -- and credited to Korosec.Second imageA further reverse search found the second image corresponds to the 59-second mark of this YouTube video posted on November 2, 2015.The video’s caption reads: “Collection of the November 2, 2015 meteorite clips in Thailand”.Below is a screenshot comparison of the second image in the misleading post (L) and its corresponding frame in the YouTube video (R): Screenshot comparison of the second image in the misleading post (L) and its corresponding frame in the YouTube video (R)Video clips showing the same meteor were also shown in this news report aired on November 4, 2015 by Thai broadcaster Ch.3.",,These images have circulated online in reports about meteor sightings since October 2015,,,,,, +25,1,1,5,FALSE,Multiple Sources,2021-06-23,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/californians-can-charge-electric-vehicles-despite-heat-waves,California told everyone to not charge their electric cars,2021-06-18,factcheck_afp,,"Posts shared thousands of times on social media say California told its residents not to charge their electric cars because of a power shortage. This is false; the state has released voluntary energy saving tips that include charging vehicles before an electricity conservation alert is issued, and a spokeswoman for the grid operator denied people were forbidden from charging.“CALIFORNIA literally just told everyone to not charge their electric cars Due to power shortage,” a June 18, 2021 Facebook post read during a heat wave which sent temperatures soaring past 100 degrees Fahrenheit on some days, posing threats of energy shortages.  A screenshot of a Facebook post taken on June 22, 2021“So much for those green energy vehicles. California is asking us to conserve energy and strain on our power grid. No charging electric cars,” a social media user commented in a June 18 tweet. Other examples of the post can also be found on Twitter here, as well as Instagram and Facebook, here and here. “There is no truth in that statement,” Lindsay Buckley, director of communications and external affairs at the California Energy Commission, the state’s energy policy agency, said of the claim.Much of the western United States suffered a record heat wave in June, with approximately 50 million Americans placed on alert on June 15 for ""excessive"" temperatures, approaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit in some areas.As a result, the state’s non-profit power grid manager, California Independent System Operator (ISO), issued  several “Flex Alerts” to help keep the power grid stable. These called on residents to voluntarily conserve energy at selected times including during peak hours of consumption. Alerts were sent state-wide on June 17 and June 18, coinciding with when the social media claims about the electric vehicles started spreading. Anne Gonzales, senior public information officer at ISO, told AFP that they “have encouraged consumers to charge EVs (electric vehicles) before a Flex Alert begins. We do not say anything about ‘not charging’ in our messaging.”On June 17, California ISO also posted advice on what to do before and during a Flex Alert. The organization recommended charging battery powered cars prior to its start.  A screenshot of the Flex Alert website’s tips to help conserve energy in California The website dedicated to these energy saving tips recommends that people avoid charging electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles during an alert, and to charge them overnight instead. Buckley, of the Energy Commission, confirmed to AFP that Flex Alerts “are fully voluntary, and the program's messaging emphasizes shifting energy consumption -- not sacrificing.”Gil Tal, director of the Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, told AFP that “Flex Alerts ask the public not to charge electric vehicles during the alert, which is usually 6:00 pm-9:00 pm or 5:00 pm-10:00 pm at the most.”Most drivers don’t replenish their vehicle batteries during those times anyway, Tal said.Electric vehicle drivers “usually charge at home and can use a timer to start charging after midnight or at work during the day. Very few actually charge during those (peak) hours and even fewer need to charge at that time,” he explained.He added that electric cars’ improved battery life generally only requires a charge every few days. As Californians rely heavily on motor vehicles, the transport sector accounts for about half of the state's greenhouse gas emissions.In September 2020, the office of Governor Gavin Newsom ordered that all new passenger vehicles sold in the state by 2035 should be zero-emission under a new rule aimed at fighting climate change and smog-fouled air.",,Californians can charge electric vehicles despite heat waves,,,,,, +26,3,1,5,Misleading,multiple sources,2021-07-22,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FE6UH-1,Vaccines on the market contain carcinogenic graphene oxide,2021-07-12,factcheck_afp,,"Multiple Facebook posts have repeatedly shared a claim that all commercially available vaccines purportedly contain a cancer-causing substance called graphene oxide. But these posts are misleading: experts separately told AFP that graphene oxide is not used in commercially available vaccines. The most commonly used vaccines go through rigorous testing and have been safely used for decades, according to the World Health Organization.""After investigating the contents of vaccines, 99% was found to be graphene oxide. Like asbestos this causes cancer,"" reads this Korean-language Facebook post on July 12, 2021.""Graphene oxide was found in all vaccines commercially available,"" the post adds. Screenshot of the misleading post. Captured July 20, 2021.Graphene oxide is a derivative of graphene which is reportedly the world's thinnest material first isolated in 2004.A similar claim was also shared in Facebook posts here, here, here and here.But these posts are misleading, according to multiple experts.Graphene oxide ""No vaccines on the market [is] based on graphene oxide,"" Dr Park Jong-bo, a researcher at Biographene, a company that develops graphene-based medicine, told AFP on July 20, 2021.Vaccines currently in use are ""comprised of phospholipid layers, peptides or nucleic acids, and graphene oxide is not part of these categories,"" Park said. The claim that all commercially available vaccines were 99% made up of graphene oxide was ""ungrounded in fact,"" Professor Hong Byung-hee, an expert in nanomaterials at Seoul National University, told AFP on July 19, 2021.""Graphene is being tested for biomedical purposes, including for vaccines, but these applications are still in an experimental phase and a long wait is expected before they become commercially available following clinical trials,"" Hong said.Hong added that the claim that graphene oxide is purportedly like asbestos and causes cancer is misleading.""Graphene has a planar structure, and is very different from asbestos, which has a needle structure,"" he explained.""In the case of graphene oxide... there is some toxicity but relatively little, so the material is being widely researched for use in drug delivery systems and in vivo diagnostic sensors.""Published lists of ingredients in widely used Covid-19 vaccines -- Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen -- do not include graphene oxide. Vaccine safetyVaccines are available for some two dozen diseases including Covid-19, according to this list from the World Health Organization (WHO).""The most commonly used vaccines have been around for decades, with millions of people receiving them safely every year,"" the WHO states here.""Following the introduction of a vaccine, close monitoring continues to detect any unexpected adverse side effects.""",,"Available vaccines do not contain graphene oxide, experts say",,,,,, +27,1,1,5,False,የኢትዮጵያ ብልፅግና ፓርቲ,2021-07-20,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/no-evidence-putin-congratulated-ethiopian-pm-second-filling-controversial-mega-dam,Putin congratulates Ethiopian PM over GERD filling,2021-07-06,factcheck_afp,,"A Facebook post shared hundreds of times on Facebook claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin recently congratulated Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, on the second filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Ethiopia's construction of the mega-dam has been a source of diplomatic tension with its downstream neighbours. However, this is false; the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa told AFP Fact Check that Putin never made any such comments. Furthermore, there is no official evidence of the Russian head of state issuing a statement regarding the GERD filling. The post, archived here, has been shared more than 350 times since it was published on Facebook on July 6, 2021. It was shared from an account called “Ethiopian Prosperity Party”, the political party led by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. However, the page is not an official account and was created by a party supporter.  Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on July 16, 2021The post features an image of Putin and Abiy shaking hands. “Congratulations Ethiopians! The second phase of the Abay dam filling is legitimate and demonstrates the right to use its own natural resources (sic),” reads a quote attributed to the Russian leader translated to English. “A country that has many thousand years of history, an example of freedom that doesn’t bend to oppression, the mother of many proud heroes, congratulations Ethiopia,” it concludes.The post surfaced after the onset of this year’s rainy season, which helped speed up the process of filling the mega-dam. An official told AFP  on July 19, 2021, that Ethiopia had attained its second-year target for filling the mega-dam on the Blue Nile River. Ethiopia hit its first target of 4.9 billion cubic metres in July 2020.Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have been locked in a tug of war over the use of the Nile ever since Ethiopia started building and filling the GERD using water from the river. Both the governments of Egypt and Sudan have expressed concern that diverting Nile water into the GERD will restrict water supplies in the two countries, affecting millions of people’s livelihoods.Russian embassy denies remarksHowever, the remarks attributed to Putin are fabricated.Valentina Kim, a spokeswoman for the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa, said the leader had not congratulated Abiy. When asked about the false claims, Kim said: “We have not seen them”.“We cannot comment on an event [whose] existence is not proved,” she added. According to the Kremlin’s website, the most recent conversation between both leaders was a phone conversation on April 7, 2020.AFP Fact Check previously debunked a claim that Putin was backing Ethiopia in the dispute over the GERD. Similarly, AFP Fact Check debunked remarks falsely attributed to Putin where he allegedly ridiculed Ethiopia’s prime minister about cloud seeding technology.",,No evidence that Putin congratulated Ethiopian PM on the second filling of controversial mega-dam,,,,,, +28,2,1,5,False,Multiple people,2021-07-14,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9EV3G3-1,"Covid-19 vaccines contain ""nanotechnology"" that can change people's DNA",2021-07-05,factcheck_afp,,"Social media posts claim that Covid-19 vaccines contain robotic ""nanotechnology"" that can change people's DNA. While they do include tiny fat bubbles to protect mRNA molecules -- an essential component of the shots -- they do not feature miniature robots, and experts say Covid-19 jabs cannot alter a person's genetic makeup.""NANOTECHNOLOGY IS IN THIS JAB THAT WILL ALTER DNA - STAY AWAY!"" warns a July 5, 2021 Facebook post that features images of miniature robots flooding out of a syringe and interacting with DNA and cells. Screenshot of a Facebook post taken on July 13, 2021But the word ""nanotechnology"" refers to anything that has been engineered at the nanoscale, and it does not necessarily relate to mechanical or mineral elements, as the photo suggests. Nanotechnology is used in the food and cosmetics industries, for example.The mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna differ from previously administered inoculations. Instead of confronting the immune system with part of a virus in a weakened or deactivated form to build antibodies, they give it a ""blueprint"" of a part of the virus that the body can then recognize and fight when confronted by it later.They use tiny fat bubbles called lipid nanoparticles to encapsulate fragile mRNA molecules and the information they contain to protect them until they can be safely delivered into cells without being degraded by the body's enzymes. This video explains how the shots work.Most of the 334 million doses of Covid-19 administered in the United States were mRNA shots. More than 43 million doses in total have been put into arms in Canada.'Nanotechnology' misinterpretedCatherine Klapperich, professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University, told AFP on July 12 that ""there are no robots"" in the Covid-19 vaccines.She lamented that the word ""nanotechnology,"" coined decades ago, has been misinterpreted over time to suggest that ""there's some sort of active, living component that's going to go into your body and be like a little robot, march around and do stuff, and that that must be nefarious.""""But in actuality, the word 'nanotechnology' just simply means that these are technologies or materials that are the scale of a nanometer, and that's it. This is actually a very passive material, it's a lipid,"" she explained.""There's nothing mechanical, there's nothing electrical, there's nothing magnetic,"" she said, adding that without the lipids, very little of the mRNA would get into cells ""and the immune response would not be very strong.""A deluge of inaccurate claims about vaccines has spread across the internet as countries around the world seek to immunize their populations against Covid-19, which has killed more than four million people around the world.Covid-19 vaccines cannot alter people's DNAScientists have widely rejected the unsubstantiated claim that mRNA vaccines can modify human DNA, which AFP earlier debunked here and here.Matthew Miller, associate professor with the Department of Biochemistry & Biomedical Science at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, said for a previous fact-check that ""mRNA is the code for proteins. It does not alter the DNA of your cells. Indeed, your cells naturally make mRNA from DNA.” Boston University's Klapperich explained that ""in your body, messenger RNA is made from DNA, and not the other way around... DNA is never edited, never copied, never changed"" -- and she said it cannot be because that is not something mRNA can do.Barry Pakes, assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto , told AFP on April 28 that ""the mRNA cannot be integrated into the human genome. We (humans) lack the enzymes to reverse transcribe mRNA to DNA.""The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also refuted the claim that Covid-19 vaccines can alter people's DNA here.""Covid-19 vaccines do not change or interact with your DNA in any way. Both mRNA and viral vector Covid-19 vaccines deliver instructions (genetic material) to our cells to start building protection against the virus that causes Covid-19. However, the material never enters the nucleus of the cell, which is where our DNA is kept,"" the federal health agency states on its website.",,Covid-19 vaccines do not contain DNA-altering robots,,,,,, +29,1,1,5,False,Multiple Sources,2021-07-14,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9EY2LT-1,Image shows sunset at North Pole,2021-06-07,factcheck_afp,,"A picture that purports to show the Moon above the Sun has been shared thousands of times in multiple Facebook posts that claim it shows a real sunset at the North Pole. The claim is false: the image has been digitally created by an artist. It has circulated online in misleading posts since at least 2006. The image was shared here on June 7, 2021 by a Facebook page based in New Zealand. A screenshot of the image shared to Facebook, taken July 14, 2021.The post's caption reads: “This is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its closest point last week. A scene most of us will probably never get to see in person. An amazing photo. Enjoy!”The image has been shared thousands of times alongside a similar claim on Facebook pages around the world, including Britain, Italy and the United States.The claim is false.The image, titled ""Hideaway"", was created by Germany-based artist Inga Nielsen.She creates artworks under her online pseudonym Gate to Nowhere and uploads them here on the art-sharing website Deviant Art.  A screenshot of the original artwork. ( AFP)The original image was created using Photoshop and digital landscape rendering software Terragen, according to Nielsen's caption on the original Deviant Art image. “After someone spread it on the web as [sic] photograph of a ‘Sunset at the north pole’, this image became quite popular. It is of course not a photo and it does not show a place anywhere near the terrestrial North Pole,” the caption reads. NASA explanationNASA featured 'Hideaway' as its Astronomy Photo of the Day.It debunked the claim the image showed a sunset at the North Pole, after it initally circulated online in misleading posts in 2006. “The scene could not exist anywhere on the Earth because from the Earth, the Moon and the Sun always have nearly the same angular size,” the NASA website reads. In 2011, astronomer Phil Plait also published this story in Discovery Magazine debunking claims that the image shows a sunset at the North Pole. In this Facebook post sharing the Discovery Magazine article, Nielsen confirmed the image was never intended to be a sunset on Earth. ""This is an alien world thousands if not millions of light years away,"" she wrote.",,This image of the Moon above the Sun was created digitally by an artist,,,,,, +30,1,1,5,False,multiple sources,2021-07-02,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/vaccination-does-not-cause-babies-die-their-sleep,Childhood vaccination causes Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS),2021-06-14,factcheck_afp,,"Social media posts make a series of inaccurate claims linking childhood vaccination and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). But medical experts say vaccines do not cause babies to suddenly die, and that evidence indicates there are lower rates of SIDS in children who receive the recommended shots.Medical understanding of SIDS -- a sudden death of a seemingly healthy infant, generally during sleep -- remains incomplete. But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia say studies show that vaccines do not cause the rare syndrome.Below, AFP Fact Check examines various claims about SIDS and vaccines.‘VIDS’“SIDS has always been VIDS,” says a June 14, 2021 Facebook post with a screenshot of a tweet, abbreviating “Vaccine Infant Death Syndrome.” “Everyone knows a family who lost a perfectly healthy baby to SIDS- a mysterious infant death for no medical reason. Now look around you. How many perfectly healthy adults are dying shortly after their vaccine shot. 2+2=?” says the June 13 tweet, in an implied comparison between SIDS deaths and purported fatalities linked to Covid-19 shots.AFP has debunked numerous false or misleading claims linking the Covid-19 inoculations to deaths. Screenshot of a tweet taken on June 30, 2021But childhood vaccines and Covid-19 shots are not comparable. In the US, the vaccine schedule between the ages of two and four months -- when an infant is most at risk for SIDS -- prevents diseases including hepatitis B, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio.By contrast, Covid-19 shots protect against the illness caused by the novel coronavirus and are not currently recommended for children under 12 years old. Mayo Clinic, Children's National and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) say that immunizing babies may be associated with lower risk of SIDS.Dr Rachel Moon, who chairs the AAP Task Force on SIDS, said that while there is overlap in the period of high risk for SIDS and frequent vaccinations for babies, “multiple studies have looked at this relationship and found that there is no causal relationship, meaning that it’s a coincidence in timing.”“There is no increased risk of SIDS when you get the vaccines. And actually, the studies suggest that babies who are vaccinated are at lower risk of SIDS. That may be because if you’ve been recently ill, you’re more likely to die from SIDS. Vaccinated babies are less likely to get ill, for multiple reasons,” she added.Dr Robert Jacobson, a pediatrician at Mayo Clinic, agreed. “If anything, we see lower rates of Sudden Infant Death among infants vaccinated than in infants who have foregone the vaccinations,” he said.While this reduction may not be directly due to vaccination, ""there’s no data that has shown any one of the vaccines actually increases your risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome,” he said.Link to coronavirus restrictions?Social media posts that circulated in 2020 claimed that the decline in immunizations brought on by measures aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19 led to a decrease in SIDS cases. ""One of the many lessons from the pandemic: fewer pediatrician vaccine visits… and a massive decline in children inexplicably dying in their sleep. (SIDS/SUIDS). Related? Yes. Stop pretending otherwise,” said a screenshot of a tweet in a July 20, 2020 Facebook post. Screenshot of part of a Facebook post, taken on July 2, 2021A Twitter spokesperson said that the account that shared the message is now suspended from Twitter for “coordinated harmful activity,” which can include spreading medical misinformation.The head of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), Robert Anderson, said that data does not show evidence of a “massive” decline in SIDS or infant mortality in general for the first half of 2020.In fact, the yearly number of infant deaths attributed to SIDS ending in the second half of 2019 is equal to the amount during the first half of 2020 -- less than 34 per 100,000 live births.   Screenshot of SIDS death data on the National Center for Health Statistics website, taken on July 1, 2021 Anderson noted that the 2020 data may be “slightly underestimated” because “deaths ultimately attributed to SIDS (or similar terminology) tend to be delayed as they typically require a lengthy investigation.”Faulty ‘evidence’False claims of a link between childhood vaccines and SIDS long predate Covid-19. Some social media posts cite a study by Dr William Torch to back the claim that vaccines cause SIDS, but the 1982 study was challenged by researchers, and Torch himself admitted it was difficult to draw definite conclusions from his work. Screenshot of part of a Facebook post, taken on July 2, 2021A significant decline in US cases in the 1990s is attributed to the implementation of the “Back-to-Sleep” program, which instructs parents on how to safely put their babies to bed.Placing infants on their back on a firm surface with no other items, such as toys or blankets, in a room shared with a parent are all ways to reduce risk of SIDS.SIDS in JapanOther posts laud Japan for halting vaccinations for children under two in 1994, claiming that the country then experienced a 96 percent drop in infant mortality rate. Screenshot of a Facebook post taken on July 1, 2021 While it is true that children in Japan are particularly healthy by international standards, they are also one of the most vaccinated populations in the world.The Japanese schedule for vaccines is similar to that of the US, with multiple shots recommended for babies between two and four months.Japanese law was indeed amended in 1994 to make vaccination more of a civic duty than a strict legal obligation, but in practice, schools ask for children’s vaccination history as they apply.The law on vaccines stipulates that all citizens “must endeavour to undergo a routine vaccination” against “category A diseases,” such as measles, mumps, rubeola, and tetanus. Although there are no fines for not vaccinating children, inoculation rates are very high and frequently reach 100 percent of the population for certain diseases, according to the Japanese Health Ministry.Data showed that SIDS rates in Japan actually took an upturn around 1995 following the law change, but declined in subsequent years.",,Vaccination does not cause babies to die in their sleep,,,,,, +31,1,1,5,False,Multiple people,2021-06-22,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/misleading-claims-about-magnetism-spread-meat-poultry,Meat has been injected with material that makes it magnetic,2021-06-14,factcheck_afp,,"Social media posts claim chicken and beef have been injected with prion proteins, nanoparticles or other material that make them stick to fridge magnets. But the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says its surveillance measures guard against metallic contamination, while experts add that prions could not be responsible, and nanoparticles are not being added to meat.“Don’t go to the store without your magnet,” says a June 14, 2021 Facebook post. Screenshot of a Facebook post taken June 16, 2021In the video, a man sticks a small round magnet onto the outside of a package of chicken. He says: “They’re just putting little prions in here,” suggesting that the prions -- an infectious protein -- are causing magnetic effects.Multiple posts making similar claims about a variety of packaged and unpackaged poultry and meat products can also be found on Instagram, where the most popular iteration has topped 40,000 views. Videos on YouTube and Tik Tok, as well as compilation videos, have further spread the claim.It comes after a series of false and misleading claims that linked Covid-19 vaccinations to magnetism spread around the world. These included a hoax, supposedly shown in videos, that people’s arms exhibit magnetic properties after they receive the shots.Other posts claim a variety of reasons as to why magnets may stick to the meat. One says, “they are putting magnetic nano partials (sic) in our meat,” while another claims “they put heavy toxic metals in our food supply.” Mick West, a British-American science writer, published a video on Metabunk.org, a website dedicated to debunking pseudoscience, demonstrating that magnets, coins, or other smooth objects will stick to various body parts, if one’s skin is slightly oily. “Remove the oil and the object will not stick,” he explains.For similar reasons, magnets might stick to meat and poultry “due to the texture, angle or moisture of the product,” the USDA told AFP.“However, this does not mean that there is metal in the meat or poultry. All meat and poultry products bearing the USDA mark of inspection have been inspected for safety, wholesomeness, and accurate labeling,” a USDA spokesperson said on June 21, 2021.The spokesperson added that all establishments inspected by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service are required to have a system in place “designed to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to acceptable levels any biological, chemical, or physical hazard that is reasonably likely to occur in the product.”As a result, it is unlikely that an undetected piece of metal could contaminate meat products, the spokesperson said, with many establishments going so far as to “install metal detectors and/or X-ray devices for screening their final products to ensure no accidental/unexpected metal (shaving or a broken piece) is present”.FSIS personnel also conduct regular inspections.As for the social media claim that prions may be a magnetic component found in meat, “this suggested hypothesis has no foundation in science,” the USDA spokesperson said, adding: “They are organic matter. More specifically, they are misfolded proteins. Therefore, they would lack any sort of magnetic quality.”Prions have an association with meat through the most well-known prion disease, BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) -- also called mad cow disease -- which affects cattle and is believed to be related to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in humans. Dr James Mastrianni, a professor of neurology at University of Chicago Medicine, told AFP on June 17, 2021: “There is some association of prions in meat, but these came from diseased cows being inadvertently used in the preparation of bovine-derived food. They were never purposely injected into meat, although how could anyone disprove such a crazy hypothesis?“Even if they were injected into meat, they are not magnetic and could certainly not perform the magic act of making a magnet stick to it.”Some of the claims suggest that the phenomenon is caused by nanoparticles -- tiny materials invisible to the eye which can be of various types. Iron is a natural component of beef and other meats but Jaydee Hanson, policy director at the Center for Food Safety, an activist group, told AFP on June 21, 2021: “While there is a remote chance that a powerful magnet could pick up on the magnetism of the iron in meat, it is really unlikely that most refrigerator magnets are that sensitive.“As far as I know, no nano ingredients are being added to meats in the US.”",,"Misleading claims about magnetism spread to meat, poultry",,,,,, +32,1,1,2.5,Misleading,Multiple Sources,2021-06-22,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/posts-misleadingly-claim-muslim-woman-appointed-director-indias-space-agency,Muslim woman Khushboo Mirza appointed director of Indian Space Research Organisation,2021-06-02,factcheck_afp,,"A photo has been shared in multiple Facebook and Instagram posts alongside a claim that it shows a Muslim woman, Khushboo Mirza, who was purportedly appointed “director” of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). The claim is misleading: there is no such post within the ISRO. Mirza has worked as a scientist for the organisation since 2006, according to her LinkedIn profile and says she has never held the post of “director”. The photo was published here on Facebook on June 2, 2021.The post’s Hindi-language caption translates to English as: “Young Khushboo Mirza becomes the director of ISRO due to her talent.” The text superimposed on the image translates as: “35-year old scientist Miss Khushboo Mirza has been promoted as the director in ISRO. She is an alumnus of Aligarh Muslim University and the only 2nd Muslim scientist after APJ Abdul Kalam to hold this rank at ISRO.”ISRO is the Indian Space Research Organisation.Aligarh Muslim University is located in the north Indian city of Aligarh.APJ Abdul Kalam was a former space scientist and President of India.The photo was shared with a similar claim on Facebook here and here; and here on Instagram.The claim is misleading.There is no position with the title “director” within the ISRO, according to this page on the agency’s website.The agency’s most senior position is the chairman. K. Sivan is listed as the chairman as of June 22, 2021.Khushboo Mirza has been working as a scientist with ISRO since 2006, according to her official LinkedIn profile.Mirza was part of the research team of India’s space missions to moon in 2008 and 2019, as reported by Indian news outlets Indian Express; TwoCircles.net; News18; and Patrika.Several Indian news websites, for example here and here, misleadingly claimed Mirza was promoted to director within the ISRO in June 2020.Mirza denied rumours of her promotion here in a Facebook post on June 27, 2020.Below is a screenshot of her Facebook post: She told Indian news site The Quint in June 2021: “The claim that I have been promoted to the Director rank in ISRO is absolutely false. Such claims have been made in the past as well. I have brought this to the notice of my organisation as well.”Former Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam has also never held a top position in the ISRO as claimed in the misleading posts. His name does not feature in this list of former chairmen within the organisation.",,Posts misleadingly claim Muslim woman appointed ‘director’ of India’s space agency,,,,,, +33,3,1,5,Missing context,Multiple sources,2021-06-17,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/defend-billionaires-sign-picturing-musk-not-real-ad,"Billboard of Elon Musk that reads ""Defend Billionaires"" spotted ""in the wild""",2021-06-09,factcheck_afp,,"A tweet claims a billboard with Elon Musk’s photo that reads “Defend billionaires” can be seen outdoors. But the sign is not real. It is the digital artwork of designer Martin Sprouse, and the image was published on Sprouse’s Instagram account the month before it spread on Twitter.“Spotted in the wild. I hate this mf place,” the June 9, 2021 tweet reads. As of June 17, the post had gathered more than 40,000 likes and nearly 7,000 retweets. A screenshot of the tweet taken on June 17, 2021The same visual was also shared on Facebook, here and here, and on Instagram.The image started to be widely shared on social media after the release of an investigative report by New York-based journalism nonprofit ProPublica, which revealed several of the richest Americans have paid zero income tax in some years, including Tesla chief Musk and Amazon’s chairman Jeff Bezos. The report comes as Washington weighs new proposals to address tax avoidance among wealthy individuals and companies.Some social media users, however, were not fooled by the visual imagery and recognized it as a creation of California designer Sprouse. AFP Fact Check found that the original artwork was posted on his official Instagram account “3chordpolitics” on May 18, 2021, about three weeks before the image started to get shared on social media by other users, a search on social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle shows. A similar creation using Bezos’s photo was published by Sprouse on June 11, 2021. In a 2020 interview on YouTube, the artist explained how he does these pieces mainly to express himself, “and maybe, I think people figure it out on their own, they see the graphic and it confirms what they’re feeling, or pisses them off... or they feel comfort and solidarity, which I think is a huge part of the graphics.” “You make a ‘Fuck the police’ graphic, not just to piss off the police, it’s to make comfort for people that have that same feeling,” he said during the interview. At the time of writing this article Sprouse had not responded to an AFP request for comment.",,‘Defend billionaires’ sign picturing Musk is not real ad,,,,,, +34,1,1,5,False,Multiple sources,2021-06-15,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/us-teen-space-enthusiast-has-not-been-chosen-one-way-mission-mars,Aspiring astronaut Alyssa Carson is selected for a one way mission to Mars,2021-05-31,factcheck_afp,,"Facebook posts shared thousands of times claim a 20-year-old American space enthusiast, Alyssa Carson, has been selected for a one-way voyage to become ""the first living being to land on Mars"". The claim is false: as of June 15, 2021, Carson was not a qualified astronaut, and the technology to facilitate a human mission to Mars is still in development. As of June 15, 2021, there were no credible reports of Carson joining a mission to Mars.The claim was shared in this Facebook post published on May 31, 2021. It has been shared more than 500 times.“Beautiful girl Alyssa Carson will voyage to Mars, never to return, on behalf of Earth,” reads the Sinhala-language text.“Usually, as a girl grows up, she has various hopes and dreams. But wouldn't you be surprised if you were told that a 20-year-old girl was ready to risk her life, not knowing what will happen to her and embark on a journey from which she will never return? That is Alyssa Carson, the first living being to land on Mars.” Carson has made headlines for her dream of being among the first humans on Mars. The undergraduate student has taken part in various space camps and academies, and earned her pilot’s license aged 18, according to her website and LinkedIn profile.  Similar posts claiming Carson has been selected for a one-way voyage to Mars have been shared here, here and here.However, the claim is false.As of June 15, 2021, Carson was not a qualified astronaut.""To be able to actually apply as an astronaut, I need a master's degree and then some work experience. It's pretty tough competition,” she told ABC Australia in an interview published on April 1, 2021.Carson and her team did not immediately respond to AFP requests for comment. But as of June 15, 2021 there were no reports of her being selected for a mission to Mars either on her official website, verified social media pages, or in any media reports.NASA said it has not selected any crew members for a mission to Mars.It said it had also not selected a crew for its Artemis programme, which will send astronauts to the Moon to test new technologies ahead of a mission to Mars.“At this time, we have not yet made any crew assignments for Artemis or Mars missions,” NASA Public Affairs Officer Kathryn Hambleton told AFP.The agency says it hopes to send humans to Mars as early as the 2030s. ""Technology development has already begun to enable a crewed Mars mission as early as the 2030s. Many of the capabilities will be demonstrated at the Moon first, during the Artemis missions, while other systems are more uniquely suited for deeper space,"" says the agency.Hambleton said that NASA “does not have any formal relationship” with Alyssa Carson.“NASA has lots of ways we engage with students to promote NASA's core missions and space exploration in general, and we love to see students get interested and excited. However, we do not have any formal relationship with Ms. Carson,” she said.Responding to the claim about a one-way mission to Mars, NASA’s Hambleton said: “We will always bring our crew members home”.",,US teen space enthusiast has not been chosen for one-way mission to Mars,,,,,, +35,1,1,5,False,multiple sources,2021-06-14,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/false-magnetic-claims-circulate-online-about-astrazeneca-vaccine,AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines make human bodies pair with a Bluetooth device,2021-05-28,factcheck_afp,,"Multiple social media posts have shared claims that electronic devices “recognise” people who have received the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. The posts go on to claim that anyone who receives the vaccine will become “magnetic”; will have their DNA altered and will die from blood clots. The claims are false, according to health experts.The claims were shared here on Naver Blog on May 28, 2021.The post's Korean-language caption translates to English as: “Electronic devices recognise a person who got vaccinated against Covid-19 as another device with a Bluetooth function. They pair you and you show up as ‘AstraZeneca’.“Now it all makes sense that people who get a Covid-19 jab dies due to a rare blood clot and becomes magnetic. It has become clear that the vaccines alter your DNA.” Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on June 10, 2021.The claim was shared alongside several screenshots of a video overlaid with English-language text that reads: “AstraZeneca Bluetooth Side Effect” and “Connect to the Bluetooth see what happens part 2!”The video was originally posted on TikTok here on June 4, 2021. It has since been removed.The AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine is among the three coronavirus vaccines being administered in South Korea.As of June 14, 2021, the country had administered more than 7.9 million first doses and more than 711,000 second doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.Similar claims have also been shared on Facebook here and here; as well as on the South Korean social media site Daum Cafe here. The claims are false, according to health experts.Not magnetic“There are no ingredients in the AstraZeneca vaccines or any other Covid-19 vaccines that could turn people into Bluetooth or make a human body react to Bluetooth,” a spokesperson at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) told AFP on June 9, 2021.“Scientifically, the claim does not make sense.”AFP has previously debunked false posts that claim people exhibit magnetic properties after being vaccinated for Covid-19.People can easily change their Bluetooth name using their mobile devices or Windows operating system, as explained here in Korean and here in English.'Extremely rare'No one in South Korea has died from rare blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine as of June 14, 2021.To date, authorities have reported one patient developed blood clots after receiving the jab.“The patient has been treated and recovered,” a KDCA official told AFP on June 14, 2021.“A possibility of having a blood clot as a result of the vaccination against Covid-19 is extremely rare,” the agency said here on its website on June 10, 2021.“It can be treated and recovered if it’s diagnosed at an early stage.”The European Medicines Agency has said unusual blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect of the AstraZeneca vaccine, although it has stressed that its overall benefits in preventing Covid-19 outweigh the risks. AFP reported on the developments here.False DNA claimCovid-19 vaccines cannot alter DNA, health experts say. “Whilst [Covid-19 vaccine] technologies both use genetic codes to produce the spike protein inside the body, this code cannot be incorporated into the body’s DNA,” the Oxford University-run Vaccine Knowledge Project said here on March 17, 2021.“Vaccines do not contain the ‘specialised tools’ needed to ‘copy’ or ‘edit’ DNA.”AFP has previously debunked false claims that Covid-19 vaccines alter DNA.",,False ‘magnetic’ claims circulate online about AstraZeneca vaccine,,,,,, +36,2.5,1,5,Missing context,Multiple sources,2021-06-11,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/vessel-image-was-actually-built-2019,Image shows recently made vessel by Sri Lankan engineers,2021-06-06,factcheck_afp,,"In June 2021, Sri Lankan Facebook users shared an image of a ship they claimed was built ""a few days ago"". But the claim is misleading: the ship in the photograph was actually built and delivered to a Japanese company in 2019.The image of the ship was shared in this post published on June 6, 2021.The Sinhala text superimposed on the image reads: “How’s the biggest ship made in Sri Lanka that impressed even the Japanese? How does it look -- the biggest ship made a few days ago in Sri Lanka with 100 percent knowledge from local engineers? Within a matter of about 21 months, this ship was produced under the request of a Japanese company.” Screenshot of the Facebook post captured on June 7,2021 The same image and claim were shared on Facebook such as here, here and here.However, the claim is misleading.The ship was not built recently -- manufacturing began in Sri Lanka in 2017 and was completed in 2019.A Google keyword search found this article published by Sri Lanka’s leading shipbuilding company, Colombo Dockyard PLC, on June 25, 2019.The article, titled “Colombo Dockyard delivers 'KDDI Cable Infinity' built for Kokusai Cable Ship Co. Ltd. Japan”, says in part: “Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) delivered the first ever modern Cable Laying Vessel built for Kokusai Cable Ship Co. Ltd. (KCS) Japan, on 21st June 2019 attended by a host of dignitaries. This is the biggest ever vessel, price-wise as well as length-wise, built by Colombo Dockyard in its illustrious journey of shipbuilding excellence and the first ever ship built ‘in its class’ from Sri Lanka to Japan.”The prototype of the ship that was unveiled at the event matches the image of the ship in the misleading Facebook posts. Below is a comparison between the photo of the model ship from the 2019 article (L) and the image of the ship in the misleading posts (R) with identical markings highlighted by AFP in yellow:  Comparison between the photo of the model ship from the 2019 article (L) and the image of the ship in the misleading posts (R) with identical markings highlighted by AFP in yellow:A keyword further search found this clip published on Colombo Dockyard’s official YouTube channel on August 16, 2019 that features the ship titled: ‘KDDI Cable Infinity Vessel’.Below is a screenshot comparison of the vessel in the YouTube video (L) and the image in the misleading Facebook posts (R): Multiple local media reports were published in 2019 regarding the production of the cable ship including here by Sri Lankan online newspaper ColomboPage and here by local news service EconomyNext.",,The vessel in the image was actually built in 2019,,,,,, +37,1,1,5,False,Multiple sources,2021-06-10,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/fabricated-tweet-falsely-claims-facebook-founder-had-dig-nigerian-leaders-health,Zuckerberg says Buhari needs medical check up,2021-06-01,factcheck_afp,,"A screenshot shared hundreds of times on Facebook claims to show a tweet from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg making derogatory comments about the health of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. In reality, the tweet was fabricated and Zuckerberg does not have a verified or active Twitter account.“The Nigerian president needs medical checkup he maybe suffering from the inability to think properly (sic),” reads the screenshot of the purported tweet, which was shared on Facebook here, here and here. A screenshot showing the fabricated tweet, taken on June 7, 2021Twitter ban in NigeriaThe tweet appeared after Nigeria’s government announced the indefinite suspension of Twitter on June 4, 2021. The move came in response to the platform deleting one of the president’s tweets for violating Twitter policy, as AFP reported here.The ban sparked international criticism. Joint statement on the Government of Nigeria’s announcement to suspend Twitter ⬇️ #TwitterBan We continue to advocate for the fundamental #HumanRights to freedom of speech and access to information, protected by #Nigeria’s constitution. https://t.co/T57glGUwin pic.twitter.com/sfXKV7Z3HZ — Canada in Nigeria (@CanHCNigeria) June 5, 2021Facebook has since also removed the same comments by Buhari but the Nigerian government has yet to take action against the social media network.Zuckerberg and TwitterThe tweet was fabricated and Zuckerberg has no verified Twitter account. Zuckerberg joined the platform in 2009 under the handle @finkd, not “@Markzuckerberg” as seen in the hoax screenshot. Since creating his account, the Facebook founder has tweeted only 19 times, with his last tweet dating back to January 2012. A screenshot taken on June 9, 2021, showing Zuckerberg's Twitter account and last tweetThough unverified, the account is followed by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, YouTube, Microsoft and Zuckerberg’s Facebook. @finkd is followed by Google CEO, YouTube, Microsoft and Facebook itselfIn 2009, Zuckerberg was reported to have maintained a private account with the handle @zuck which sent no public tweet until it was deactivated. He rejoined Twitter in March 2009 with his current handle, although the account is dormant today. Business Insider reported that Zuckerberg followed only one person in 2019. Zuckerberg used these accounts around the time he was looking to buy Twitter but the deal failed.None of Zuckerberg’s 19 tweets mention Nigeria or Buhari, who was elected in 2015, three years after Zuckerberg last tweeted. There is also no evidence that Zuckerberg has tweeted at all in 2021.According to the fabricated screenshot, the tweet has been retweeted 2.6 million times and liked 3.7 million times. If this was the case, it would be one of the most shared tweets in Twitter history. Wikipedia keeps a list of the most retweeted tweets in history and according to the list, the tweet does not exist.Tweets are easily fabricatedIt is difficult to prove a tweet once existed after it has been deleted unless it was archived on websites like Wayback Machine. The New York Times created a database of all tweets posted by former US president Donald Trump, while Factbase saved all his deleted tweets here. Tweets can also easily be doctored. For example, TweetGen is a website that can be used to generate tweets of choice with pictures and timestamps to make them look real, as shown in the example below: An image of a fabricated tweet made by AFP Fact CheckFacebook is yet to reply to AFP Fact Check’s request for comment.",,Fabricated tweet falsely claims Facebook founder had dig at Nigerian leader’s health,,,,,, +38,1,1,5,False,multiple sources,2021-06-10,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/false-reasons-refuse-covid-19-vaccines-circulate-online,Eight reasons not to get vaccinated against Covid-19,2021-05-29,factcheck_afp,,"As South Korea races to speed up its Covid-19 vaccine roll-out, posts emerged on social media sharing a list of “reasons” not to get the jab. The claims are false: AFP has previously debunked all purported reasons cited in the misleading posts, including claims that coronavirus vaccines have not been tested on animals or that their ingredients have not been published by pharmaceutical companies.The claim was shared here on South Korean blogging platform Naver Blog on May 29, 2021.The Korean-language post reads: “I met with a prominent professor of biotechnology. He’s currently working at a university in Boston, USA. We talked about the current Covid-19 situation.“Since he is afraid of being called a conspiracy theorist, he didn’t want to identify himself. But I’m sharing what I heard because it might be helpful to you.” Screenshot of the misleading Naver Blog post, taken on June 4, 2021.The post lists “eight reasons not to get vaccinated”:1) mRNA technology lacks a track record of studies;2) There is no scientific evidence that Covid-19 vaccines can protect people;3) The virus’s spike protein sheds and reproduces itself;4) The body will become a factory to produce spike protein;5) Covid-19 vaccines were not tested on animals;6) Vaccine makers did not reveal the ingredients of their products;7) Doctors are afraid of reporting adverse events in case of retaliation from drug companies; and8) PCR tests are not scientifically reliable.The same list has been shared on Facebook here and here; on Naver Blog here and here; and on Daum Blog here.The claim surfaced as South Korea raced to beef up its coronavirus vaccine roll-out, with authorities pledging to inoculate 13 million people with their first dose by the end of June.While South Korea was held up as a model in handling the pandemic, the government has faced criticism for an initially sluggish vaccination campaign compared with other developed countries.However, the claims are false. AFP has previously debunked all purported reasons cited in the misleading posts.mRNA technologyMessenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, like the ones developed by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, deliver genetic instructions to produce the viral proteins needed to provoke a safe but robust offensive against the coronavirus.While no mRNA vaccine had ever been approved for humans before the pandemic, the technology has been in the making for years.“mRNA vaccines have been studied before for flu, Zika, rabies, and cytomegalovirus (CMV),” the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on its website on March 4, 2021.“As soon as the necessary information about the virus that causes COVID-19 was available, scientists began designing the mRNA instructions for cells to build the unique spike protein into an mRNA vaccine.”The CDC said mRNA vaccines have been held to the same standards as all other types of vaccines in the United States.Covid-19 vaccine efficacyInternational health experts recommend taking the vaccine to build immunity against SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. “Studies show that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping you from getting COVID-19. Getting a COVID-19 vaccine will also help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said on October 28, 2020.Scientists are still learning how well vaccines prevent the transmission of the virus, although “early data show that vaccines help keep people with no symptoms from spreading COVID-19,” the CDC said.Spike proteinsHealth experts said there is no shedding of the virus’s spike protein -- which the vaccine makes inside the body to elicit an immune response -- when people receive a Covid-19 jab.Dasantila Golemi-Kotra, a microbiologist at Canada’s York University said that “no spike protein gets shed when we get vaccinated.”“Even if the spike protein was shedding, although impossible, this protein cannot infect someone else,” she told AFP in April 2021. Barry Pakes, assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, also explained in April 2021 that “there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever of shedding of spike protein in vaccinated individuals, nor is it even theoretically possible.”Scientists said that mRNA from vaccines was quickly degraded in the body.“There is no doubt that after a very short period of time, after it has created antigens [proteins] which in turn lead to antibodies, the RNA from the vaccine is destroyed,” French geneticist Axel Kahn told AFP in December 2020.Animal testsIn the US, three Covid-19 vaccines have been authorised for emergency use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA): one from Pfizer-BioNtech, another from Moderna and a third from Johnson & Johnson.All three companies disclosed the results of trials on non-human subjects. The vaccines caused an immune response that protected animals against a SARS-CoV-2 infection that causes Covid-19.Vaccine ingredientsIngredients of four major Covid-19 vaccines are available to check on the websites of either manufacturers or health authorities: Oxford–AstraZeneca, Pfizer–BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.Reporting adverse eventsVaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is a tool to report adverse events from vaccination. It is a passive reporting system, meaning it relies on individuals to send in reports of their experiences, according to the system’s official website.“Anyone can submit a report to VAERS, including parents and patients,” it reads. In particular, healthcare providers are required by law to report adverse events; regardless of whether the vaccine is thought to have caused the adverse event.PCR testsA PCR test diagnoses people who are currently infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19.The test, which involves collecting a swab sample from a person’s nose or throat, is considered the most accurate and reliable test for Covid-19, according to Cleveland Clinic,  a nonprofit American academic medical centre based in Cleveland, Ohio.AFP has debunked hundreds of false claims about vaccines and the pandemic, which are available here.",,False ‘reasons’ to refuse Covid-19 vaccines circulate online,,,,,, +39,1,1,5,False,,2021-06-09,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/digital-effects-image-misrepresented-online-actual-photo-himalayas-space,Actual photo of the Himalayas taken from the International Space Station,2021-06-03,factcheck_afp,,"Multiple Facebook and Twitter posts have shared an image that they claim shows an actual photograph of the Himalayas shot from the International Space Station. But the claim is false: the image is not an actual photograph and was in fact created using digital effects software.The image was posted June 3, 2021 by an India-based user here in a public Facebook group called ‘Mysterious Facts’. The misleading post’s caption says: “The Himalayas from the International Space Station”. Screenshot of the misleading post taken on June 4, 2021.The same image and claim have been widely shared online, for example on Facebook here, here and here; on Twitter here and here in English, and here in Spanish; and on 9GAG here since 2020.But the claim is false.The image is actually computer-generated and was created by graphic designer Christoph Hormann using digital effects technology. A Google reverse image search found the same image on Hormann’s website where prints of his work are available for purchase.Hormann’s website states he produces “illustrations of geographic contexts in the best possible quality”.The misleading posts have rotated the original image created by Hormann 90 degrees clockwise and cropped out the credits.  Screenshots comparing the original image and the image in the misleading post. Taken June 4, 2021.Further keyword searches found the image was also shared here with the correct caption by Science Photo Library, a stock photography website.Its caption reads in part: “This image was created by Christoph Hormann using data obtained from satellites such as Landsat and SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission).“The data was processed into computer models using three-dimensional rendering software and then coloured and distorted to mimic the natural curvature of the Earth.”Actual photographs taken from the ISS of the Himalayas and other places on Earth, can be found on NASA’s official website.",,Digital effects image misrepresented online as actual photo of the Himalayas from space,,,,,, +40,5,1,5,False,Multiple persons,2021-07-28,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GJ4QH-3,Passengers protest as ruling PTI ministers cause flight delay in Pakistan,2021-07-23,factcheck_afp,,"A video of angry passengers at an airport has been shared in social media posts that claim they were arguing with ministers from Pakistan's ruling PTI party after their flight was ""delayed for four hours"" to wait for them. The claim is false; the video has circulated online in reports about passengers blaming civil aviation officials for a delayed flight in July 2018, shortly before the PTI came to power.""The PIA flight from Islamabad to Skardu was delayed for four hours while waiting for a few ministers of PTI and their families. Watch and listen to what an American-settled family told the minister when he arrived at the airport,"" reads an Urdu-language Facebook post from July 23.PIA refers to Pakistan International Airlines, while PTI refers to Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the country's ruling party.The video, viewed more than 190,000 times, shows a woman arguing with a group of men in suits at an airport lounge.""You walk over the people who have given you the rank and status, this is shameful,"" she says. ""We have missed our flights due to this delay"". Other passengers chant ""shame, shame"". A screenshot taken on July 26, 2021 of the misleading Facebook post ( AFP)Similar posts were shared here, here and here on Facebook and here, here and here on Twitter.The posts sparked criticism from social media users.""Very disappointed by PTI's governance,"" one person commented.However, the claim is false. This video does not show an altercation between passengers and PTI ministers, but between passengers and the civil aviation officials in 2018.A reverse image search on Google found the same video published on July 19, 2018 here on YouTube, titled: ""PIA Flight delayed from Islamabad to skardu"".Below is a screenshots comparison of the video posted in July 2018 (L) and the video in the recent misleading posts (R): A screenshots comparison of the video posted in July 2018 (L) and the video in the recent misleading posts (R): ( AFP)Pakistani newspaper The Nation also included a similar image in this report on passengers protesting a delayed flight on July 17, 2018 at Skardu airport, alleging that the airline management had sacrificed customers’ rights to favour top Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials with a ""joyride"".Below is a screenshot comparison of the video posted in the misleading posts (L) and the image published on The Nation (R): Screenshot comparison of the video posted in the misleading posts (L) and the image published on The Nation (R):Dawn newspaper reported the same incident here on July 18, 2018.At that time, Pakistan was under a caretaker government awaiting elections on July 25, 2018. PTI came to power in August 2018 and had no federal or provincial ministers when the video in the misleading posts started to circulate in July.The swearing-in of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the founder and the Chairman of PTI, was reported by AFP here on August 18, 2018.",,Old video of passengers protesting delayed flight in Pakistan misleads on social media,,,,,, +41,2,1,5,Misleading,Multiple Sources,2021-07-28,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GM4T3-1,Pakistan opposition party supporters in police van during recent elections,2021-07-25,factcheck_afp,,"Facebook and Twitter posts in Pakistan purport to show a photo of supporters of an opposition party travelling in a police vehicle during recent provincial elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The claim is misleading: the image is from 2018 and shows party supporters in the capital Islamabad during national elections that year.The image was posted here on Facebook on July 25, 2021. “It’s Raja Farooq’s government and the police are fully supporting the N-League. The Election Commission in the Kashmir elections is sleeping with its eyes closed,” reads the post’s Urdu-language caption.Raja Farooq Haider Khan is a member of the opposition Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) party and the Prime Minister of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, known locally as Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) province. The image shows people travelling in a police van while waving a PML-N flag. Screenshot of the image with the misleading caption. Taken on July 27, 2021. ( AFP / ) The province -- which follows a separate electoral process from the rest of Pakistan -- held its polls on July 25, which were won by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) party.Several users appeared to believe the photo was from the recent AJK elections. One wrote in Urdu: “The League supporters will achieve nothing, we’ve visited all of Kashmir. Allah willing, PTI will win” while another wrote in an Urdu transliteration: “In Pakistan, the police supports PTI against the TLP. They supported the N-League here, so what?”The photo was shared with similar claims on Facebook here and here; and on Twitter here, here and here.However, the posts are misleading. The image shows PML-N supporters in the nation’s capital Islamabad during the national elections in 2018.A reverse image search found the same photo posted here in a report by local media outlet Dawn News in 2018. The first paragraph of the report reads: “ISLAMABAD: Taking advantage of police leniency, workers from the PML-N used official police vans to escort former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi during a campaign rally on Thursday.”Below is a screenshot comparing the image in the misleading posts (L) with the one from Dawn News (R). The word ‘Islamabad’ can also be seen on the license plates in both images and has been circled in red by AFP: Screenshot comparing the photo in the misleading post (L) with the one from Dawn News (R). Taken on July 27, 2021. ( AFP / )",,"This is an old image showing Pakistan's national elections in 2018, not the recent poll in Kashmir",,,,,, +42,1,1,5,False,එක රටක්,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GE8QL-1,Union leader slams Sri Lankan government for buying Covid-19 vaccines,2021-07-22,factcheck_afp,,"A photo collage has been shared in multiple Facebook posts that claim it shows a news report where a union leader purportedly criticised the government for procuring Covid-19 vaccines instead of paying teachers' salaries. But the claim is false: the photos in the collage have been doctored to add fabricated remarks into an original report that aired before the wide availability of Covid-19 vaccines in the country.The photo collage was shared more than 300 times here on Facebook on July 22, 2021.It shows screenshots of a purported television news interview with Sri Lankan teachers union leader Joseph Stalin.The image at the top features a Sinhala-language news ticker that states: ""There is money to bring the vaccine"".The image at the bottom states: ""but no money to increase salaries of teachers"".Both images feature the logo of local media organisation Hiru TV.The post's caption translates as: ""Typical petty JVP-er"". Screenshot of the misleading post captured on July 23, 2021 ( Lakna PARANAMANNA)""JVP"" is an acronym for the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna political opposition party in Sri Lanka.The post circulated online the same day teachers staged a protest in the capital Colombo demanding higher wages.An identical photo collage was also shared alongside a similar claim on Facebook here and here. The claim however is false: the photos in the collage had been doctored.Keyword searches found the photos were taken from this video uploaded on Facebook on June 16, 2020.The video's caption states: ""A silent protest was staged with the participation of trade unions, community organizations today (16) at the Colombo Lipton Circus, expressing objection to the inhumane attack by the government on the protest staged by the Front Line Socialist party.""The protestors called upon the government to halt attempts to curtail freedom of speech, assembly and to protest. A large crowd attended this protest.""The purported remarks made by Stalin about Covid-19 vaccines had been digitally inserted onto the screenshots, along with the Hiru TV logo.Below is a screenshot comparison of the doctored photos (L) and the original news report (R):   The video circulated online months before Sri Lanka began its Covid-19 vaccination program on January 29, 2021 as reported here by the state-run Rupavahini Sinhala News.News telecasts aired noon, evening and late night by Hiru TV on July 22 -- the day the misleading posts started being shared online -- also do not show Stalin criticising the government for procuring Covid-19 vaccines.In response to the misleading posts, Stalin told AFP on July 26: ""I have not said such a thing... I have been lobbying for the teachers and other professionals in the education sector to be vaccinated before local school terms start.""",,Doctored collage falsely claims union leader slammed Sri Lanka's government for buying Covid-19 vaccines,,,,,, +43,1,1,5,False,Multiple sources,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GF67H-1,Construction of sea link bridge in Mumbai took place under Modi government,2021-07-16,factcheck_afp,,"Politicians from India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that the country's first ""sea bridge"", the 5.6-kilometre (3.5-mile) Bandra-Worli Sea Link in Mumbai, was built under the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The claim is false: work on the landmark bridge began a decade before Modi took office, and it was inaugurated in 2009, when the Indian National Congress was in power. ""This is not a US-France London bridge, this is Mumbai's Bandra bridge. Under Modi's leadership, my India is moving forward and defining new ways of development through its actions and resolutions,"" reads a Hindi-language Facebook post published on July 16 by BJP worker Pankaj Awasthi.""Today, my India is setting new records of development under the leadership of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There are thousands of such projects and far-reaching policies, there are thousands of such achievements with Bharatiya Janata Party, which have been attained under the leadership of Modi. We will bring these works and achievements to more and more people and so form the BJP government again!""The Bandra-Worli Sea Link is located in India's financial capital Mumbai, a city controlled by opposition parties. Screenshot of the misleading post taken on July 26, 2021  BJP district ministers Munnaram Suthar and Ghanshyam Kumar also shared the claim, which was picked up by Facebook users, including here and here. However, the claim is false.AFP ran a Google keyword search and found various news reports on the opening of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, an eight-lane freeway designed to cut the journey time between the eponymous Mumbai suburbs and ease congestion in the Indian financial capital's notoriously choked roads.The landmark bridge was inaugurated on June 30, 2009 by Sonia Gandhi, party chief of the then-ruling Indian National Congress, the Times of India and Hindustan Times reported. The bridge, also known as the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link, was named after her late husband, who was noted for promoting technology during his time as prime minister. The freeway was first commissioned in 2000 but work was held up until 2004 because of litigation and protests from the local fishing community.In 2000, the BJP's Atal Bihari Vajpayee was prime minister. When work commenced in October 2004, Manmohan Singh from the Indian National Congress (INC) was in power, and still held office when the bridge was officially opened in June 2009.Narendra Modi became prime minister in May 2014.AFP has previously debunked misinformation shared by BJP politicians, including a photo of a garbage-filled river in the Philippines which party members falsely claimed was taken in Mumbai, and misleading posts attributing a string of crises in Delhi to the chief minister.",,BJP politicians falsely claim PM Modi built landmark Mumbai bridge,,,,,, +44,1,1,5,False,Multiple persons,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GF7PU-1,This photo shows a political rally for Asaduddin Owaisi in India,2021-07-18,factcheck_afp,,"A photo has been shared hundreds of times in multiple social media posts that claim it shows a large rally for an Indian Muslim politician during the pandemic. The claim is false: the photo shows an Islamic procession in Bangladesh in 2019.The image was shared in a Hindi-language tweet posted on July 19.The caption translates to English as: ""Huge crowd of a specific community gathered in UP’s Moradabad in Asaduddin Owaisi’s rally and here we are, entangled over BJP, BSP and SP. You people too should stop being in any delusion and think about your future"".""UP"" refers to India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh.Asaduddin Owaisi is leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party and member of parliament for Hyderabad in India's southern Telangana state. A screenshot of the misleading post taken on July 25, 2021The post emerged online after speculation about the AIMIM teaming up with other parties in a bid to defeat the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh's upcoming assembly elections in February 2022. The post also misleadingly suggests India's Muslims are permitted to gather for certain political events, while Hindus have been banned from gathering for religious festivals.The photo was posted with a similar claim here, here, and here on Facebook. However, the claim is false.A reverse image search on Google found the photo was published in this Facebook post on November 26, 2019. It was uploaded by photographer Faisal bin Latif in a post about a religious procession in the Bangladeshi city of Chattogram. A photo of the event shared by Faisal bin Latif on 26 November, 2019He also uploaded an album of photos showing the same event on photo-sharing website Flickr.The album's title reads: ""Jashney Julus, Miladunnabi, November 2019.”AFP found a similar video here on a Bengali-language YouTube channel showing a scene that corresponds with the image in the misleading posts.The video's title states that it shows the Miladun Nabi procession in Chattogram in November 2019.Miladun Nabi is an Islamic festival observed by Muslims as Prophet Mohammed’s birthday according to the Islamic calendar.In 2019, the festival was celebrated on November 10 in Bangladesh. Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and YouTube video's one-minute 17-second mark (R): Comparison of the photo in the misleading post (L) and YouTube videoThe same procession was also reported by Bengali news website Banglanews24.com on November 10, 2019.AFP found a similar structure pictured in the news story (L) with the YouTube video (R): Similarity between the image in the news story (L) with the YouTube video (R) snapshotAFP previously debunked posts sharing the same photo alongside a claim they showed the funeral procession of photojournalist Danish Siddiqui, who was killed while covering fighting between Afghan security forces and the Taliban.",,Bangladesh religious procession image shared in false posts about Indian political rally,,,,,, +45,5,1,5,Altered image,Multiple,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9G82NF-1,Photo shows Aung San Suu Kyi in a prison cell,2021-07-22,factcheck_afp,,"An image purporting to show detained Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a prison cell has been shared tens of thousands of times on Facebook. The claim is false; the image, originally published on online library Wikimedia Commons in 2013, has been doctored to add Suu Kyi’s face.The image was shared here on Facebook on July 22, 2021 which has been shared more than 17,000 times. The post’s caption in Bengali reads: ""No one's power lasts forever.""The image appears to show Myanmar's detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi dressed in orange overalls and looking out from a prison cell.Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party which claimed an overwhelming victory in the second parliamentary election in November 2020, only to be ousted by the Myanmar junta in a coup on February 1, 2021.Suu Kyi, along with senior party leaders, was detained instantly by the military. She is now facing a series of charges against her including corruption and violating the State Secrets Act, AFP reported here.The image was also shared here and here on Facebook.However, the image has been doctored from a photo created in 2013 which does not feature Suu Kyi.A reverse image search found the original photo was published here on Wikimedia Commons, dated back to July 12, 2013 with photo credit to Officer Bimblebury.The photo caption reads: ""A female prisoner living inside her tiny prison cell. The cell provides the inmate with a toilet and a bed, as well as bars to protect her from the outside elements. The cell is designed for the comfort and benefit of the prisoner as well as the public."" Wikimedia Commons is a project of Wikimedia Foundation which provides free-use images, sounds and other media.Below is a screenshot of the image in the misleading Facebook post (L) and the original photo on Wikimedia Commons (R): ( Qadaruddin SHISHIR)Metadata information of the original photo on digital verification tool InVID-WeVerify also shows the image was last modified on July 12, 2013. A screenshot of the metadata information of the original photo on InVID-WeVerify, taken on July 26, 2021.",,Doctored photo does not show Aung San Suu Kyi in a prison cell,,,,,, +46,1,1,5,False,Multiple resources,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GB8VH-5,"Video of demonstration in Cuba, 2021",2021-07-19,factcheck_afp,,"Social media posts from around the world have shared footage of what they claim shows anti-government protests in Cuba. The claim is false: the video actually shows an anti-government protest in Haiti in 2019.""Cuba today,"" reads a traditional Chinese-language tweet posted on July 17. The video has been viewed more than 60,000 times. Screenshot taken on July 26, 2021, of the misleading Twitter post ( AFP)Thousands of Cubans joined rare anti-government protests on July 11, as the country faced its toughest phase yet of the coronavirus epidemic.The footage has been shared in various languages alongside similar claims, including Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian.The claim is false.A reverse image search of keyframes from the footage, using the InVid-WeVerify tool, found the same video posted in this tweet from Russian media outlet Redfish.It states the footage shows protesters in Haiti on October 13, 2019. Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Haiti against the government and the IMF. pic.twitter.com/X7hPiJ6QYc — redfish (@redfishstream) October 14, 2019 An advanced Twitter search found the same video posted on the same day here, here and here in tweets about protests in Haiti.The video was also tweeted by journalist Sandra Lemaire from Voice of America (VOA) on October 13, 2019.She credited the footage to VOA Haiti correspondent Alexandre Joram, VOA correspondent.A search of VOA's Instagram page in Haiti, VOA Kreyòl, found the same sequence published on October 13, 2019.The post says the video shows a ""Haitian artists"" march and credits the footage to Alexandre Joran.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by VOA Creole (@voakreyol) Thousands of Haitians marched on October 13, 2019 to demand the resignation of demonstration then-president Jovenel Moise.Anti-government demonstrations paralysed daily life across much of Haiti from September to December 2019, with anger at Moise -- whose victory in the November 2016 election was rejected by the opposition -- boiling over due to a national fuel shortage.Moise's assassination on July 7, 2021 plunged the impoverished Caribbean nation in crisis. AFP debunked various false reports about the incident here and here.",,This video shows demonstrators in Haiti in 2019 -- not Cuba in 2021,,,,,, +47,1,1,5,False,Hal Turner Radio Show,2021-07-27,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9GJ3LG-1,French president's entire security force resigned,2021-07-24,factcheck_afp,,"A French member of parliament and an American radio host claimed that Emmanuel Macron's entire security detail resigned to protest the French president's initiative imposing health passes to participate in many aspects of public life. This is false; the Republican Guard did not resign, and it is tasked with presidential palace security, not his direct physical safety.""Protective Detail of France President ALL Resign over COVID Restrictions; will no longer protect President Macron,"" reads the headline of a July 24, 2021 article on the website of the Hal Turner Radio Show, a conspiracy-oriented program AFP has fact-checked before. Below the headline, a photo shows members of the Garde Républicaine, or Republican Guard, an elite French army corps tasked with special missions. Screenshot of an online article taken on July 26, 2021""The Republican Guard, a security detail established to protect the President of France, have ALL resigned, and will no longer protect President Macron!"" the article says of the 2,800-strong force.The Covid-19 restrictions mentioned in the headline refer to a decree by Macron that required proof of Covid-19 vaccination or a negative test to be able to attend events or enter places with more than 50 people. The ""health pass"" will be extended to restaurants, cafes and shopping centers in August. This was formalized into law by the country's parliament on July 25, 2021, despite widespread protests against it.However, the Republican Guard did not resign in relation to this law, and is not tasked with the French president's immediate physical safety.The unit responsible for direct personal protection of the French head of state is the Groupe de sécurité de la présidence de la République, whose members hail from both the police and the Gendarmerie.The Republican Guard is a French army unit tasked with ""public safety missions and protocol representation,"" according to its official webpage. Its members are not in charge of the direct safety of the French president like the US Secret Service, but they indirectly play this role by ensuring the security of the Elysee Palace, where the president lives. A spokesperson for the Gendarmerie told AFP on July 26, 2021 that the Republican Guard ""is still"" performing its palace duties. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French army tasked with law enforcement roles, to which the Republican Guard answers. On social media, neither the Garde Républicaine nor the Gendarmerie, nor any French media, mentioned a mass resignation of the force's members.The false claims regarding the Republican Guard began when Martine Wonner, an independent member of parliament in France, claimed in a video that the force no longer wished to protect Macron.Wonner is a Covid-skeptic who was part of the government's party before she was ousted due to her controversial stances.She also faced calls from her opposition party to quit that group after she urged people to lay siege to MPs who approved the health pass.Before the vaccine passport law can be applied, it must be approved by France's highest administrative authority, the Constitutional Council, which will vote on it on August 5.",,French president's security detail did not resign over Covid-19 bill,,,,,, +48,1,1,5,False,Various sources,2021-07-26,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FP6FY-3,Chinese President Xi Jinping asks for Indonesian's Kalimantan island as 'debt collateral',2021-07-15,factcheck_afp,,"A video of Chinese President Xi Jinping giving a speech has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, with a claim that it shows Xi is demanding Indonesia's Kalimantan region as a ""debt collateral"". The claim is false: the Indonesian subtitles in the video do not match Xi’s actual speech. The video in fact shows Xi speaking at the Indonesian parliament in 2013; the Chinese leader did not mention about Kalimantan nor any debt collateral in his speech. The video was posted on TikTok here on July 15, 2021, and has been viewed more than 8,000 times.The video shows Chinese President Xi Jinping giving a speech in Mandarin, with Indonesian-language subtitles that read: ""In this visit, I want to ask President Jokowi Dodo to pay his country's debt to China"",  referring to Indonesian President Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi.The subtitles then read: ""In an agreed timeline in the memorandum of agreement that we have made together in the investment contract ""China to Indonesia in Jokowi Dodo's victory in the last election and infrastructure building capital. If not, then we in the name of the Chinese government's authority will seize Kalimantan island as the debt collateral to the Chinese government. We will not hesitate to use force in this matter!!!""The post's caption and the superimposed text on the clip read: ""Hoax or fact??? China wants to take over Kalimantan island as Indonesia's debt collateral.""  Screenshot of the misleading post, taken on July 19, 2021Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian-controlled parts of Borneo island; the rest of the island belong to Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam. China is the second biggest foreign investor in Indonesia. Indonesia's debt to China stands at around $21.47 billion, according to the latest data published by Bank Indonesia, the Indonesian central bank, and the Indonesian Ministry of Finance, making China the fourth largest holder of Indonesia's foreign debts. The clip has been viewed more than 208,000 times after it appeared with a similar claim on YouTube here, here and here; and on Facebook here, here and here.However, the claim is false.A keyword search on Google found the original video of Xi's speech was posted here on the YouTube channel of China's state broadcaster CGTN on October 3, 2013, titled ""President Xi Jinping delivers speech at Indonesia parliament."" The news anchor in the video said in the first few seconds of the broadcast: ""This, of course, is a historic moment for diplomacy between Jakarta and Beijing because Xi Jinping becomes the first-ever foreign leader — not just the first Chinese leader, but the first-ever foreign leader to address politicians inside the Indonesian parliament"".The misleading video corresponds to the CGTN video from the 21:44 mark, where Xi says: ""President Susilo and I have jointly announced our decision to upgrade our bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership, with a view to building on past achievements and bringing about all-round and in-depth growth of our relationship.""President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was in office from 2004 to 2014. He was succeeded by Jokowi, who was sworn in on October 20, 2014. The subtitles in the misleading video do not match Xi's actual speech.The full transcript of Xi's speech, published by China Daily, the state-owned English newspaper, here, shows he did not mention any debt collateral nor Kalimantan.Below are screenshot comparisons between the misleading clip (L) and the CGTN video (R): Screenshot comparisons of the clip in the misleading post (L) and the CGTN video (R)Xi's speech to the Indonesian's parliament in 2013 was also reported by Indonesian media outlets, such as Kompas and Detik.com.",,This video does not show Chinese president demanding Indonesia's island as 'debt collateral',,,,,, +49,1,1,5,False,juanli324,2021-07-26,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FH4XQ-1,"Cuban President announced his resignation on July 17, 2021.",2021-07-18,factcheck_afp,,"After thousands of Cubans marched in anti-government protests, Chinese-language social media posts claimed that President Miguel Diaz-Canel announced he would resign in a televised broadcast on July 17. The claim is false: Diaz-Canel criticised what he said was a ""false narrative"" of the unrest, but did not say he would step down. As of July 26, 2021, he was still serving as Cuba's president. ""This morning (July 17) Havana Time, the Community Party of Cuban's president and first secretary Miguel Diaz-Canel announced in a televised broadcast: Resigned from public office and party leadership,"" reads a traditional Chinese-language tweet posted on July 18.""Full launch of political deepening and economic reforms, new foreign relations policy, free elections in the country, and participation of the Cuban Communist Party in the election of congressmen as a political party. This means Cuba has been released from its one-party dictatorship."" A screenshot, taken on July 21, 2021, of the misleading post. ( AFP)In mid-July 2021, thousands of Cubans joined anti-government protests in 40 cities. AFP reported on the unrest here.A similar claim was shared on Facebook here and here and on Twitter here and here.The claim is, however, false. A keyword search on Google found a transcript of Diaz-Canel's speech on July 17.It was published here on the president's official site.  A screenshot, taken on July 26, 2021, of the Cuba President's speech transcript. ( AFP)At the rally, he decried what he said was the dissemination of ""false images"" on social networks that ""glorify the outrage and destruction of property."" ""What the world is seeing of Cuba is a lie,"" he saidDiaz-Canel did not announce he would resign from office. As of July 26, he remained in power. AFP found no credible news reports about his purported resignation.",,Cuban president did not 'announce resignation' immediately after anti-government protests,,,,,, +50,1,1,5,Altered Image,Multiple sources,2021-07-26,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FP4T6-1,Aam Admi Party billboard says,2021-07-12,factcheck_afp,,"An image of a billboard advert from an Indian opposition party that purports to include a pro-Muslim message has been shared repeatedly in multiple Facebook posts. The image, however, has been doctored from a photo of a billboard that displayed a different message. The misleading image was shared here in a Facebook group with more than 250,000 followers.It purports to show a billboard advertisement from India's opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).The advert appears to read: ""Gujarat will read Namaz. Quit useless traditions like Bhagwat Gita week and Satyanarayan Katha."" Screenshot of post with morphed image taken on July 23, 2021.Namaz is a form of prayer performed by the Muslim community.The Bhagavad Gita and the Satyanarayan Katha are Hindu religious texts. The post's Hindi-language caption translates to English as: ""Watch the disgusting election campaign of the Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat... The board reads in Gujarati, - 'Gujarat will read Namaz. Quit unnecessary tendencies like Bhagavad Gita Week and Satyanarayan Katha.' ""The post circulated online as the AAP prepared for the 2022 state legislative assembly elections in Gujarat. The build-up to the elections was reported by Indian newspaper The Hindu here.India's ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has maintained a stronghold over the state since 1995.The post was also shared on Facebook by several other accounts, for example here, here, here and here. However, the image of the billboard has been manipulated.The original image was published here and here on the official Twitter accounts of the AAP in Gujarat. Below is a comparison of the manipulated image in the Facebook posts (L) and the image of the billboard posted by the AAP (R):  On the original billboard, the text reads: ""Now Gujarat will change"".In the manipulated image, this was replaced with: ""Gujarat will read Namaz.""Text was added to the manipulated billboard's middle section.In the original image, Gujarat AAP president Gopal Italia appears on the left. He does not have a beard and can be seen wearing a different cap to the man pictured in the doctored image.The AAP debunked the manipulated billboard image in a Facebook post here. Screenshot of the post made by AAP on July 12, 2021. The post's caption reads: ""Another Fake News BustedRise of AAP in Gujarat is giving sleepless nights to BJP.""",,Image of Indian political party's billboard doctored to include pro-Muslim message,,,,,, +51,3,1,5,Misleading,Multiple sources,2021-07-26,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FL9QQ-1,Boxer-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao took only three months to finish his bachelor’s degree,2021-06-24,factcheck_afp,,"Social media posts in the Philippines claim boxer-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao earned his university diploma in only three months, suggesting his degree was fraudulently conferred. The posts are misleading: an official from the University of Makati, where Pacquiao obtained a political science degree, said he finished the diploma in 16 months and that his government experience counted as academic credit. The misleading posts also misrepresent images related to Pacquiao's university attendance.""If only it was like this for everyone,"" reads a Tagalog-language tweet posted on June 24, 2021.The tweet features an illustration which claims Pacquiao enrolled at the University of Makati in September 2019 and then graduated three months later in December 2019.  Screenshot of misleading post taken on July 21, 2021Similar posts were shared on Facebook here, here and here.The posts prompted accusations from social media users that Pacquiao's degree was fraudulently conferred.""Bachelor of Science in most courses is 4 to 5 years schooling. . . . seems Pacquiao earned his degree by magic or in a diploma mill,"" one person commented.The post emerged following a public skirmish between Pacquiao and President Rodrigo Duterte over the latter's handling of the South China Sea dispute with Beijing.Until recently, Pacquiao was a high-profile backer of Duterte and his controversial drug war, which International Criminal Court prosecutors want to investigate for the alleged unlawful killing of possibly tens of thousands of people.However, the posts claiming Pacquiao earned his degree in three months are misleading.University degreeA spokesman for the University of Makati said that Pacquiao took a 16-month degree in political studies.""Per the certificate of registration from our registrar's office, [he enrolled in] July 2018,"" Elyxzur Ramos, vice president for academic affairs at the University of Makati, told AFP.""He took the modular program for 16 months, until November 2019. He graduated from this university in December [2019], which was our mid-year graduation.""The senator enrolled in the university’s College of Continuing, Advanced and Professional Studies, where degrees count certain professional experience as academic credit, Ramos said.The political science degree that Pacquiao earned was designed for qualified Philippine government officials and can be completed in between six and 22 months, he added.The degree programme's launch in 2011 was reported by local media here and here; and announced on this local government website.Misrepresented imagesFurthermore, the images shared in the social media posts have been taken out of context.Reverse image searches and keyword searches found the first image was posted on Pacquiao’s official Facebook account on September 6, 2019.However, it does not indicate that the senator had only just enrolled, as the posts claim.""Never stop learning because life never stops teaching,"" the Facebook post reads. The second image, which shows Pacquiao's graduation, was taken from this report by broadcaster ABS-CBN on December 11, 2019.""Senator Manny Pacquiao with his family during his graduation from the course Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Makati this Wednesday,” the image's Tagalog-language caption reads.",,Social media posts mislead on boxer-turned-senator Manny Pacquiao's university degree,,,,,, +52,1,1,5,False,Joe Biden,2021-07-23,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FR7KY-1,Vaccinated people won't get Covid-19,2021-07-21,factcheck_afp,,"US President Joe Biden claimed during a CNN town hall that vaccinated people will not get Covid-19. This is false; despite the high efficacy of the shots, infections still occur among the fully vaccinated population, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.""You're not gonna get Covid if you have these vaccinations,"" Biden said during the July 21, 2021 event, which came as the Covid-19 pandemic is again surging in the United States, propelled by the highly contagious Delta variant. US President Joe Biden (L) participates in a CNN Town Hall meeting hosted by Don Lemon (R) at Mount St. Joseph University in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 21, 2021 ( AFP / Saul Loeb)But Biden's claim is inaccurate: the vaccines are very effective, but cases among vaccinated people are possible.The CDC said that as of July 12, it had received reports of 5,492 patients with Covid-19 ""breakthrough"" infections being hospitalized or dying, out of a total of more than 159 million fully vaccinated people in the United States.""Covid vaccines are highly effective in preventing infection and even more effective in preventing the serious illness that results in hospitalization and death,"" but no vaccine is 100 percent effective, Tom Skinner, senior public affairs officer at the CDC, told AFP on July 23. During a briefing at the White House on July 22, Press Secretary Jen Psaki addressed a reporter's question regarding the president's remarks on vaccination, saying that vaccinated people were ""largely protected.""""That was the point he was trying to make last night,"" she said.During the town hall, Biden urged Americans to get vaccinated. ""It's really kind of basic,"" he said, at a time when the US vaccination rate has significantly slowed.AFP Fact Check has debunked numerous other inaccurate claims related to Covid-19 and vaccines.July 26, 2021 This story was updated to correct the spelling of exaggerated in the headline.",,Joe Biden exaggerated Covid-19 vaccine efficacy,,,,,, +53,1,1,5,False,Multiple people,2021-07-23,,factcheck_afp,,https://factcheck.afp.com/http%253A%252F%252Fdoc.afp.com%252F9FR69F-1,Publix supermarket chain will stop carrying Ben & Jerry's,2021-07-21,factcheck_afp,,"Facebook posts feature an image of an announcement from US supermarket chain Publix saying it will no longer carry Ben & Jerry's because of the ice cream company's decision to stop sales in occupied Palestinian territories. This is false; Publix says it has not dropped Ben & Jerry's products, and made no such statement on its website or social media accounts. ""Due to the recent statement by Ben & Jerry's We will no longer be carrying their products, effective immediately! We stand with Israel!"" reads the text of an image in a July 20, 2021 Facebook post that appears to show a Publix announcement. Screenshot of a Facebook post taken on July 23, 2021The post, which was apparently first published on a private account, was shared as a screenshot in several Facebook groups, and by a UK page supporting Israel's Likud party. Others shared the image on Twitter.The purported announcement circulated on social media following Ben & Jerry's July 19 statement saying it would stop selling its products in the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories, namely the West Bank and East Jerusalem, because doing so is ""inconsistent with our values."" The move prompted a backlash in Israel and parts of the US.However, Publix -- which did not respond to AFP's requests for comment by the time of publication -- says it does not plan to remove Ben & Jerry's products.""While we currently don't plan to remove Ben & Jerry's from our stores, we'll continue evaluating products based on sales,""  the company's customer service Twitter account @PublixHelps wrote in response to questions over the authenticity of the claim. Screenshot of a tweet taken on July 23, 2021Publix has also not announced on Twitter or on Facebook that it is ceasing sales of the company's ice cream, and its webpage dedicated to news releases makes no mention of Ben & Jerry's.Various Ben & Jerry's products are also still available on Publix's website.Public pressureThe fake announcement was shared as the company faces public pressure on Publix to ban Ben & Jerry's products from its stores. A petition on change.org asking Publix and Winn Dixie, another supermarket chain, to stop selling the ice cream, was signed by more than 450 people at the time of publication.A search for the words ""Publix Israel"" on social media monitoring tool CrowdTangle also shows that a Facebook account shared a message encouraging people to email Publix CEO Todd Jones about Ben & Jerry's in at least 10 different groups related to Florida, where the supermarket chain is headquartered. Screenshot of a CrowdTangle search for ""Publix Israel"" taken on July 23, 2021On July 20, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned consumer goods giant Unilever, of which Ben & Jerry's is a subsidiary, that the decision would have ""severe consequences."" The Israeli government has for years been fighting a BDS movement, which calls for boycott, divestment and sanction of the Jewish state over its policies toward Palestinians.",,Fake announcement says US supermarket chain dropping Ben & Jerry's products,,,,,, diff --git a/samples/output_sample_africacheck.csv b/samples/output_sample_africacheck.csv new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d9b1b40 --- /dev/null +++ b/samples/output_sample_africacheck.csv @@ -0,0 +1,28 @@ +,rating_ratingValue,rating_worstRating,rating_bestRating,rating_alternateName,creativeWork_author_name,creativeWork_datePublished,creativeWork_author_sameAs,claimReview_author_name,claimReview_author_url,claimReview_url,claimReview_claimReviewed,claimReview_datePublished,claimReview_source,claimReview_author,extra_body,extra_refered_links,extra_title,extra_tags,extra_entities_claimReview_claimReviewed,extra_entities_body,extra_entities_keywords,extra_entities_author,related_links +0,,,,False,Grace Gichuhi,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/grace-gichuhi,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/nairobi-demonstration-solidarity-nigerias-2021-democracy-day-protests-no-photo,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A photo of a group of people waving the flag of Nigeria has been posted on Facebook with the claim that it shows Kenyans in Nairobi “standing in solidarity” with the people of Nigeria.“June 12 Protest: Kenyans stand with Nigerians in solidarity,” the caption reads. “Location: Nairobi. THANK YOU.” The 12 June 2021 post is on a Facebook page with some 14,000 followers. The photo and claim has also been widely shared on Twitter. In 2019, Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari signed into law that 12 June would be the national holiday of Democracy Day. The holiday is controversial. In 2021, Democracy Day saw protests in several Nigerian cities. The protests were against poor governance and “terrorism, criminal abductions and separatist movements”, according to one report.But what does the photo really show?#EndSARS ProtestsA Google reverse image search reveals that the photo has been online since at least 18 October 2020 – almost eight months before 12 June 2021. It appears in a 2020 article on the website of Premium Times, a credible Nigerian newspaper. The article’s headline is: “ANALYSIS: Will deployment of troops quell or escalate #EndSARS protests?” The photo is watermarked “Premium Times -- Kabiru Yusuf”.The photo is of #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, in October 2020. The protests demanded that the county’s police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars) be disbanded because of the unit’s alleged extrajudicial killings, brutality and human rights abuses.Abuja, not NairobiWe searched the Premium Times news website and found articles by Kabiru Yusuf. Our fact-checking colleagues at Dubawa contacted Yusuf, who said the photo was taken in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. So, no, the photo was not taken in Nairobi, Kenya, on 12 June 2021. It was taken in Abuja, Nigeria, in October 2020 during the county’s #EndSars protests.","https://web.facebook.com/genevievemmiliaku/posts/171519914983217,https://web.facebook.com/genevievemmiliaku/posts/171519914983217,https://twitter.com/_iAlen/status/1403697588935827459,https://twitter.com/chiefagbabiaka1/status/1403833196190605315,https://thenationonlineng.net/buhari-signs-june-12-democracy-day-bill-into-law/,https://theconversation.com/june-12-is-now-democracy-day-in-nigeria-why-it-matters-118572,https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-57418137,https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nation-is-fire-nigerian-lawmakers-demand-action-security-crisis-2021-04-27/,https://www.voanews.com/africa/nigerians-mark-annual-democracy-day-protests,https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2021-07/Google%20Search-Nigeria%20Photo.pdf,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/421617-analysis-will-deployment-of-troops-quell-or-escalate-endsars-protests.html,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/421617-analysis-will-deployment-of-troops-quell-or-escalate-endsars-protests.html,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/421617-analysis-will-deployment-of-troops-quell-or-escalate-endsars-protests.html,https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2021/02/nigeria-end-impunity-for-police-violence-by-sars-endsars/,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/author/kabiruyusuf,https://dubawa.org/endsars-photo-used-to-paint-narrative-kenyans-protest-in-solidarity-with-nigerians/","Nairobi demonstration in solidarity with Nigeria’s 2021 Democracy Day protests? No, photo of 2020 #EndSARS protests in Abuja",,,,,, +1,,,,False,Naledi Mashishi,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/naledi-mashishi,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-asymptomatic-covid-patients-can-transmit-virus-and-masks-work,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A Facebook video posted on 5 July 2021 claims that studies show asymptomatic Covid-19 patients – people who don’t get sick – can’t transmit the new coronavirus. It also says the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a review of studies and found wearing a mask doesn’t stop the spread of Covid.In the video, a woman appears to be standing at a podium, talking to an audience off camera. She says: “Nearly 500 people were recently exposed to a Covid positive asymptomatic carrier. Zero got sick. Asymptomatic carriers of Covid do not spread disease.”She goes on to claim: “The CDC a couple weeks ago did a study where they looked at every single other study in the entire world on face mask wearing and this is what they found. The CDC found, quote, ‘no reduction in viral transmission with the use of face masks’.”The words “the information is there dont say u wernt warned” are printed on the video. It’s been shared more than 1,200 times so far, including in South Africa. Since Covid-19 was declared a pandemic in early 2020, the World Health Organization has warned that Covid patients who don’t show any symptoms of the disease can still spread it to others. It also says masks are a “key measure to suppress transmission and save lives”.Do studies prove that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients can’t spread the disease? And has a CDC analysis found that masks don’t reduce transmission?Video of US attorney Leigh DundasThe video does not identify the woman, where she is, or when the video was taken. It’s poor quality, taken from an original that doesn’t appear to be online anymore.But we did find a short video on Vimeo of a woman named Leigh Dundas, speaking on 13 April. Based on her voice, hairstyle, clothing and the background, it’s likely that the video on Facebook shows this woman, at the same event.In the Vimeo video she identifies herself as a human rights attorney. The video is captioned “Leigh Dundas, Board of Supervisors, April 13 2021”. Dundas, a US attorney, publicly supports that country’s anti-vaccination movement. Voice of OC reports that, in May, she helped organise residents in California’s Orange county to go to local Board of Education meetings to petition against mandatory vaccinations and “vaccine passports”.As Africa Check has found, there is no such thing as mandatory or “universal” vaccination in the US. And vaccine passports don’t exist there.Asymptomatic patients can transmit the virusIn the Facebook video, Dundas refers to a May 2020 study in Wuhan, China. It’s titled A study on infectivity of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers. The Covid-19 pandemic is thought to have started in Wuhan.The researchers studied 455 people who had been in contact with asymptomatic Covid-positive patients. None of the 455 tested positive for Covid-19. But the study didn’t find that people with asymptomatic Covid-19 can’t transmit the virus. Instead, it concluded that “the infectivity of some asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers might be weak”. SARS-CoV-2 is the formal name of the new coronavirus that causes Covid-19.Other studies of asymptomatic carriers have found that they can transmit the virus.A January 2021 study looked at 2,250 people in a “confined” community of university staff in the Canadian province of Quebec. Confinement, the study says, is “used to reflect social restrictions instructed by Quebec's government”.It found that 1.82% of the staff were asymptomatic carriers. None had contact with any known Covid patients. The researchers concluded: “Our results raise concerns about the possibility of viral spread through asymptomatic transmission.” But they added that the rate of asymptomatic transmission was unknown.In February 2021, a study based on daily mass screenings of some 20,000 residents of Luxembourg, a small country in Europe, was published. It found that, on average, asymptomatic patients infected the same number of people as patients with Covid-19 symptoms. The researchers concluded: “Asymptomatic carriers represent a significant risk for transmission.”CDC: Masks reduce Covid spreadAnd what about Dundas’s claim that a CDC analysis had found that masks didn’t reduce the amount of coronavirus transmitted between people?This is not what the CDC website says. A science brief on the site, updated on 7 May 2021, quotes several studies that found face masks reduced the risk of Covid-19 infection by as much as 79%, and had led to declines in daily new cases.The CDC concludes: “Experimental and epidemiological data support community masking to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2.” The CDC also says that making people wear masks can help prevent possible lockdowns in the future. The benefits increase when people are also required to use other measures against Covid: social distancing, hand washing and good ventilation. Conclusion: Video’s claims are falseIn a video posted on Facebook, US anti-vaccination advocate and lawyer Leigh Dundas claims that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients can’t transmit the virus. She also says a study by the US Centers for Disease Control found that masks don’t reduce the spread of the disease.But the CDC study doesn’t conclude that asymptomatic patients can’t transmit the virus. And  other studies have found that asymptomatic patients do transmit the virus. The CDC has published studies supporting the benefits of masks, and says wearing masks can reduce the spread of Covid-19.","https://www.facebook.com/zaayiin.yellodd/videos/vb.100066665882510/247084380557206/?type=2&theater,https://www.cdc.gov/,https://www.facebook.com/zaayiin.yellodd/videos/vb.100066665882510/247084380557206/?type=2&theater,https://www.facebook.com/zaayiin.yellodd/videos/vb.100066665882510/247084380557206/?type=2&theater,https://www.facebook.com/zaayiin.yellodd/videos/vb.100066665882510/247084380557206/?type=2&theater,https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-how-is-it-transmitted,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-masks,https://vimeo.com/537203201,https://vimeo.com/537203201,https://vimeo.com/537203201,https://www.rawstory.com/leigh-dundas/,https://voiceofoc.org/2021/05/oc-supervisors-debate-cancelling-digital-coronavirus-vaccine-records-hundreds-of-people-rail-against-vaccine-passports/,https://voiceofoc.org/2021/05/oc-supervisors-debate-cancelling-digital-coronavirus-vaccine-records-hundreds-of-people-rail-against-vaccine-passports/,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Orange+County,+CA,+USA/@33.6394877,-118.3298942,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x80dc925c54d5f7cf:0xdea6c3618ff0d607!8m2!3d33.7174708!4d-117.8311428,https://voiceofoc.org/2021/05/oc-supervisors-debate-cancelling-digital-coronavirus-vaccine-records-hundreds-of-people-rail-against-vaccine-passports/,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-us-supreme-court-hasnt-ruled-against-universal-vaccination-theres-no-such,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:10051817171,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wuhan,+Hubei,+China/@30.5684073,114.0201922,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x342eaef8dd85f26f:0x39c2c9ac6c582210!8m2!3d30.592849!4d114.305539,https://www.google.com/maps/place/China/@34.4504157,86.0458274,4z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x31508e64e5c642c1:0x951daa7c349f366f!8m2!3d35.86166!4d104.195397,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00502-4,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196655320307811,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Canada/@56,-96,3z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x4b0d03d337cc6ad9:0x9968b72aa2438fa5!8m2!3d56.130366!4d-106.346771,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Quebec,+Canada/@53.4733017,-77.4028603,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x4c58b5349fd1a8a1:0x1040cadae4d0020!8m2!3d52.9399159!4d-73.5491361,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196655320307811,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196655320307811,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(21)00033-8/fulltext,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Luxembourg/@49.8423357,1.6489564,6z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x479545b9ca212147:0x64db60f602d392ef!8m2!3d49.815273!4d6.129583,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(21)00033-8/fulltext,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(21)00033-8/fulltext,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html","No, asymptomatic Covid patients can transmit the virus, and masks work",,,,,, +2,,,,Partlyfalse,Mary Alexander,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/mary-alexander,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/photo-2018-fuel-tax-protest-france-not-demonstrators-unleashing-truth-variant,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"“Greece and France... Yep its happening, time to unlesh the new TRUTH variant,” reads the caption of two photos of what seem to be mass protests, posted on Facebook in July 2021 and shared in South Africa.The first photo shows a huge crowd of people on an avenue in Paris, France’s capital city. The city’s famous Arc de Triomphe can be seen in the background. Many in the crowd are wearing yellow reflective vests.The second photo is of another crowd, flanked by police, in a city square. The flag of Greece can be seen waving in the crowd.The photos were also posted on an Australia-based Facebook page, with a similar caption: “Greece & France! Thousands rally against COVID-19 vaccinations and government restrictions.”But do the photos really show people “unleashing the TRUTH variant” in protests against Covid-19 measures in Greece and France?Protest against vaccinations in Greece, against fuel tax in FranceA Google reverse image search of the second photo reveals that it does indeed show a rally against Covid-19 vaccinations, in the Greek capital of Athens on 14 July.The photo appears in an article on M3 News, an international online news magazine.“More than 5,000 anti-vaccine protesters, some of them waving Greek flags and wooden crosses, rallied in Athens on Wednesday to oppose Greece’s coronavirus vaccinations program,” the article reads.It adds: “Protests are fairly common in Greece and there have been several in recent months on issues ranging from new labour law to the most recent Israeli military campaign on Gaza.”But a TinEye reverse image search of the first photo, filtered for the oldest version, reveals that it has been online since at least 4 December 2018 – over a year before the coronavirus was first identified in late December 2019.The photo can be found on the French-language stock photo website Divergence Images. A machine translation of its caption reads: “Demonstration of the Yellow Vests on the Champs-Elysees, Paris on November 24, 2018.” It was taken by Olivier Coret.According to the US National Public Radio website, the 2018 yellow vests protests in France were sparked by the announcement of a new environmental tax on fuel.“Nicknamed for the safety vests worn by protesters, known as gilets jaunes, the yellow vest movement has sparked a political crisis for the French government,” the NPR says.“The protests started in the French provinces but spread to Paris, where demonstrations turned into riots over the weekend and scenes of violent civil unrest played out along the city's famous Avenue des Champs Élysées.”The second photo does show a protest against Covid-19 vaccinations, in Greece, but the first photo is of a demonstration against a fuel tax in France, more than two and a half years ago.","https://www.facebook.com/sonia.bonacci/posts/10161008588853976,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008566563976&set=pcb.10161008588853976,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Paris,+France/@48.8589507,2.2770201,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e66e1f06e2b70f:0x40b82c3688c9460!8m2!3d48.856614!4d2.3522219,https://www.google.com/maps/place/France/@46.1389696,-2.4368094,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0xd54a02933785731:0x6bfd3f96c747d9f7!8m2!3d46.227638!4d2.213749,https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8741019,2.293728,3a,75y,111.88h,85.69t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssbfllIbdqW_ylzUNmOcYbg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008571833976&set=pcb.10161008588853976,https://www.greeka.com/greece-history/flags/,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Greece/@38.0602976,19.99122,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x135b4ac711716c63:0x363a1775dc9a2d1d!8m2!3d39.074208!4d21.824312,https://www.facebook.com/hraaustralia/posts/290279962890655,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008571833976&set=pcb.10161008588853976,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Athens,+Greece/@37.9908997,23.7033198,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x14a1bd1f067043f1:0x2736354576668ddd!8m2!3d37.9838096!4d23.7275388,https://mw3.news/in-greece-thousands-rally-against-covid-19-vaccinations/,https://mw3.news/contact/staff-directory/,https://mw3.news/in-greece-thousands-rally-against-covid-19-vaccinations/,https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-07/TinEye-Greece-protests.jpg,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008566563976&set=pcb.10161008588853976,http://www.divergence-images.com/olivier-coret/reportages/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-OCO1193/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-ref-OCO1193001.html,https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.divergence-images.com/olivier-coret/reportages/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-OCO1193/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-ref-OCO1193001.html,https://www.npr.org/2018/12/03/672862353/who-are-frances-yellow-vest-protesters-and-what-do-they-want,https://www.npr.org/2018/12/03/672862353/who-are-frances-yellow-vest-protesters-and-what-do-they-want,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008566563976&set=pcb.10161008588853976",Photo of 2018 fuel tax protest in France – not demonstrators ‘unleashing truth variant’ against Covid measures,"fuel tax, protest, covid, Covid-19",,,,, +3,,,,False,Oluseyi Awojulugbe,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/oluseyi-awojulugbe,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-dont-use-garlic-lower-blood-pressure,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A post shared on Facebook in Nigeria claims that garlic can be used to lower high blood pressure.It also credits the World Health Organization (WHO) with saying garlic helps to reduce blood pressure in patients with moderate hypertension.“Garlic works in a way to increase the size of the arteries, which makes it easier for blood to pass. In addition, due to its diuretic properties, it reduces the volume of water in the body and therefore blood pressure,” reads part of the post.The post does include an unusual warning: “Be careful, even regular consumption of garlic does not exempt from appropriate treatment, especially in people with severe hypertension.” But is there any scientific evidence that the bulbous flowering plant can be used to manage high blood pressure? We checked.High blood pressure leads to 9.4 mn deaths annuallyAccording to the WHO, high blood pressure, also called hypertension, is when the force exerted by blood pushing against the walls of the arteries is higher than what is considered normal.“Hypertension is diagnosed if, when it is measured on two different days, the systolic blood pressure readings on both days are greater than 140 mmHg and/or the diastolic blood pressure readings on both days are greater than 90 mmHg,” says a WHO fact sheet on hypertension.Blood pressure is measured in units of millimeters of mercury, or mmHg. It is recorded as two numbers, the systolic or upper value first, followed by the diastolic or lower value. About 1.13 billion people around the world have high blood pressure, with the majority living in low- and middle-income countries. This leads to about 9.4 million deaths annually, says the WHO.‘Not approved by health authorities’ – expertSome studies have documented the potential of garlic in lowering high blood pressure in a similar way to standard medication. A review of trials involving garlic concludes that the vitamin B status of an individual is “an important factor for the responsiveness of high blood pressure to garlic”.But Basden Onwubere, a professor of medicine at the University of Nigeria in southeastern Nigeria, was sceptical. He told Africa Check: “Such prescriptions cannot be made by doctors.” “There are studies that have been published about the use of garlic in managing some health conditions but I am not aware of any traditional medicine that has been approved officially by Nafdac for use in managing high blood pressure,” he said.Nafdac is Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, responsible for regulating and controlling drugs, among other substances.Onwubere said: “Until that [approval] becomes available, what we are using now is the orthodox way of managing hypertension. This is medication and advice on managing the patient’s diet.”Africa Check has also checked claims on Facebook that ginger or ginger tea can prevent heart attack and stroke, and that mixing lemon, ginger and garlic cures high blood pressure. Like this claim, we found no conclusive evidence to support these. Experts advise those with high or elevated blood pressure to ignore miracle cures promoted on social media and seek proper medical care.","https://www.facebook.com/Aduramigbaherbalremedy/posts/293950485769162?_rdc=2&_rdr,https://www.facebook.com/Aduramigbaherbalremedy/posts/293950485769162?_rdc=2&_rdr,https://web.facebook.com/Aduramigbaherbalremedy/posts/293950485769162?_rdc=3&_rdr,https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-300/garlic,https://www.who.int/,https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/noncommunicable-diseases-hypertension,https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279251/,https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/understanding-blood-pressure-readings,https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension,https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/noncommunicable-diseases-hypertension,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4266250/,https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/146/2/389S/4584698,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6966103/,https://www.unn.edu.ng/,https://www.nafdac.gov.ng/,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/ginger-or-ginger-tea-wont-prevent-heart-attack-and-stroke,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-lemon-ginger-and-garlic-wont-cure-high-blood-pressure","No, don’t use garlic to lower blood pressure","Garlic, high blood pressure",,,,, +4,,,,False,Motunrayo Joel,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/motunrayo-joel,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-martine-moise-first-lady-haiti-not-dead,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"Martine Moïse, the wife of Haiti’s assassinated president, is dead, claims a post shared on Facebook in Nigeria in July 2021.On 7 July, Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his private residence in the capital, Port-au-Prince. His wife, Martine Moïse, was also shot in the attack. Haiti is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea.The post claims that the “First Lady died from her injuries”, after being “rushed to hospital” and “despite the doctors’ best efforts”. The post includes photos of the couple. But is Martine Moïse dead?Alive and well Moïse was seriously injured during the assassination and was flown to Florida in the US for medical treatment.But on 17 July she spoke to the media from her hospital bed, confirming she was alive and well.In an article updated 17 July, she was pictured wearing a bulletproof vest as she returned to Port-au-Prince.Moïse also spoke at her late husband’s funeral on 22 July.","https://web.facebook.com/NGBREAKINGNEWS/posts/1999091423587583?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/assassination-haitian-president-jovenel-moise-what-know,https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/assassination-haitian-president-jovenel-moise-what-know,https://twitter.com/martinejmoise?lang=en,https://www.britannica.com/place/Haiti,https://web.facebook.com/NGBREAKINGNEWS/posts/1999091423587583?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/NGBREAKINGNEWS/posts/1999091423587583?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://news.sky.com/story/wife-of-assassinated-haiti-president-jovenel-moise-speaks-from-hospital-bed-12353342,https://www.wsj.com/articles/martine-moise-wife-of-assassinated-president-makes-surprise-return-to-haiti-11626564491,https://www.npr.org/2021/07/17/1017398219/martine-moise-wife-of-slain-president-returns-to-haiti,https://www.voanews.com/americas/gunfire-protests-disrupt-funeral-haitis-assassinated-president","No, Martine Moïse, first lady of Haiti, not dead",,,,,, +5,,,,False,Motunrayo Joel,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/motunrayo-joel,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/biafran-independence-movement-leader-nnamdi-kanu-arrested-not-fake-news,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A post shared on Facebook in Nigeria claims that Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), was not arrested, despite news reports saying he was.It reads: “Nnamdi Kanu Arrest. Nigerians and there fake news flying upandan [up and down].” Biafra was a region that roughly correlates with Nigeria’s South East geopolitical zone today.  In May 1967, Biafra declared its independence from the rest of the country. A civil war followed, ending in January 1970 with Biafra’s defeat.  There are continued calls for Biafran independence, most notably by Ipob. But has Kanu, who has been living in London in the UK, been arrested?Kanu arrested and arraigned in courtThere have been multiple reports in the mainstream media of Kanu’s arrest, both in Nigeria and internationally.He was arrested on 27 June 2021 through joint efforts by Nigerian security agents and the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol. But officials have not disclosed where and how.According to Nigeria's justice minister, Abubakar Malami, Kanu was brought back to Nigeria to face trial, after jumping bail in 2019.‘11-count charge’Kanu was previously arrested on 14 October 2015 on 11 charges, including terrorism, treasonable felony and managing an unlawful society. He was granted bail in 2017.He is also accused of inciting violence against the Nigerian state and institutions through TV, radio and online broadcasts, and of instigating violence, particularly in southeastern Nigeria.Kanu appeared before a federal high court in Abuja on 29 June 2021, two days after his arrest. While all the details are still to emerge at the time of writing, claims that he was not arrested are false.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=158238561912186&set=pcb.158238601912182&type=3&theater,https://web.facebook.com/groups/388050959313043/posts/466523654799106/?__cft__[0]=AZVbT-nA-yAjwpgsAhc1l4NBvq1ngxoQLVYc2lZNP4J9vZmrzX00uNUbEzMHp7Hn7b7MIcQCW7AdYYkwpsAkwqSPPAadikibVN_pfYbZa1WcKcJCrNNgPGqs9r42hcrlq-A&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R,https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/11/nigeria-biafra-kanu-reconciliation-independence/,https://web.facebook.com/groups/388050959313043/posts/466523654799106/?__cft__[0]=AZVbT-nA-yAjwpgsAhc1l4NBvq1ngxoQLVYc2lZNP4J9vZmrzX00uNUbEzMHp7Hn7b7MIcQCW7AdYYkwpsAkwqSPPAadikibVN_pfYbZa1WcKcJCrNNgPGqs9r42hcrlq-A&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R,https://www.britannica.com/place/Biafra,https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-Nigeria-and-its-geopolitical-zones-North-Central-Benue-FCT-Kogi-Kwara_fig1_256614605,https://www.britannica.com/place/Biafra,https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/11/nigeria-biafra-kanu-reconciliation-independence/,https://punchng.com/breaking-nnamdi-kanu-arrested-says-malami/,https://ugobestiky.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FB_IMG_15681388255829898-750x430.jpg,https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/29/biafra-separatist-leader-arrested-and-extradited-to-nigeria,https://punchng.com/breaking-nnamdi-kanu-arrested-says-malami/,https://www.interpol.int/en,https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/29/africa/nnamdi-kanu-arrested-nigeria-intl/index.html,https://punchng.com/breaking-nnamdi-kanu-arrested-says-malami/,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/470566-updated-nnamdi-kanu-re-arrested-returned-to-nigeria-malami.html,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/470566-updated-nnamdi-kanu-re-arrested-returned-to-nigeria-malami.html,https://guardian.ng/news/nnamdi-kanu-appears-in-court-after-re-arrest/",Biafran independence movement leader Nnamdi Kanu arrested – not ‘fake news’,,,,,, +6,,,,False,Motunrayo Joel,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/motunrayo-joel,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-nigerias-yoruba-separatist-sunday-adeyemo-still-custody-benin-wife-ropo,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A post shared on Facebook in Nigeria on 20 July 2021 claims that Sunday Adeyemo and his wife Ropo Adeyemo have been released from custody in Benin and allowed to board a plane to Germany.Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has been campaigning for the self-determination of the Yoruba people in southwestern Nigeria.The Facebook post reads: “Breaking news!!!! Sunday Adeyemo (AKA) Igboho and his wife German citizen has been released and allows to board plane on their way to Germany #BeninRepublicNoBeKenya.”The post has been shared several times and some commenters were happy.One Facebook user said: “Just can't express my joy for the great news!!!”Another said: “Good to hear this, shame to the haters.”However, others said the claim was not true.Were Sunday and Ropo Adeyemo jailed and have they been released from custody in Benin?Igboho still held but wife releasedThe Adeyemos fled Nigeria for the neighbouring Republic of Benin in early July after their Ibadan home was raided by the the Department of State Services.Ammunition and weapons were found on the premises during the raid.The Nigerian government then issued a warrant for Sunday Adeyemo’s arrest.On 19 July, the couple were arrested in the port city of Cotonou by Beninoise authorities while trying to travel to Germany. Ropo Adeyemo lives in Germany.The charges brought by the Beninoise court were for immigration-related offences. It ordered Ropo’s release while Sunday remained in custody. His trial continued on 26 July. The claims on Facebook are false.","https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55934275,https://www.ngnews247.com/sunday-igboho-biography-wfe-age-house-sons-family-net-worth-cars/,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/471288-lagos-rally-sunday-igboho-yoruba-nation-campaigners-set-for-showdown-with-police.html,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://www.britannica.com/place/Benin,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55934275,https://www.dss.gov.ng/,https://guardian.ng/news/dss-declares-sunday-igboho-wanted-confirms-raid-on-his-residence/,https://guardian.ng/news/dss-declares-sunday-igboho-wanted-confirms-raid-on-his-residence/,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/474749-how-sunday-igboho-was-arrested-in-benin-republic.html,http://saharareporters.com/2021/07/22/breaking-beninese-court-releases-sunday-igboho%E2%80%99s-wife-orders-igboho-remain-custody,https://punchng.com/beninoise-courts-not-used-to-large-crowds-igbohos-lawyers-caution-supporters/","No, Nigeria's Yoruba separatist Sunday Adeyemo still in custody in Benin, but wife Ropo Adeyemo released",,,,,, +7,,,,Misleading,Keegan Leech,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/keegan-leech,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/reports/no-south-africa-does-not-account-50-global-mining-deaths,About 50% of global mining deaths occur in South Africa.,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"Messages posted on Twitter and Facebook claim that 50% of global mining deaths occur in South Africa.But the figure is taken from a 2020 report by the International Council on Mining and Minerals, which only records the deaths reported by its 28 member companies. This is not all the mining deaths in the world.There is a lack of reliable global statistics on mining fatalities. Deaths from mining diseases, and the deaths of contractors and small-scale miners, tend to be under-reported.“About 50% of global mining deaths occur in South Africa. Yet no single mining executive has been held accountable,” reads a tweet with more than 850 likes, which has been shared over 500 times on Twitter. The claim has also been posted on Facebook and other social media.When another user asked for “receipts” supporting the claim, the person who posted it said the data came from the International Council on Mining and Metals. Is the claim backed by data? We checked. Only 28 members included in rankingThe source of this claim is a 2020 report published by the International Council on Mining and Minerals (ICMM). The mining association collates the number of workplace accidents and fatalities recorded by its members.But the ICMM told Africa Check that its 28 member companies represent only about a third of the global mining industry. Not all mining companies are members and not all countries are represented. According to the report, South Africa recorded 22 out of 44 fatalities in 2020. This is 50% of deaths reported by its members – not 50% of global deaths. South Africa also accounted for more total working hours than any other individual country: 17.7% of all recorded hours in 2020.Government records more mining deathsSouth Africa has regularly fared worst in the ICMM’s safety reports. It has contributed the most deaths every year since 2015, the first year the council recorded location data. The one exception was 2019, when the Brumadinho dam disaster in Brazil claimed more than 250 lives.But the ICMM’s records likely don’t even represent all mining deaths in South Africa. The last year the country’s department of mineral resources and energy released a tally of mining fatalities was 2018. In that year, the department recorded 81 fatalities, while South African ICMM members recorded just 14.Data on global mining deaths is limited According to the Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA), another mining industry employers’ organisation, the ICMM’s 28 members “exclude huge numbers of mining businesses in many parts of the world, including some major mining jurisdictions, most notably China”.But determining the total number of mining fatalities around the world is not easy.“There is no one record of all industry fatalities,” the ICMM told Africa Check. “Individual companies will release their fatality numbers in their own sustainability and annual reports.”In 2019 the Wall Street Journal reported that many of the world’s mining fatalities may not even be counted. Its analysis of mining companies’ safety reports found that many did not record the deaths of contractors, workers transporting extracted minerals or deaths at joint mining ventures, which are managed by more than one company.The journal even found that more than half of the people who died in the 2019 Brumadinho dam disaster may not have been included in the official mining death toll. Deaths from mining diseases are even more likely to go unrecorded.Artisanal mining deaths may not be recordedAnother category of fatalities which may go overlooked is artisanal mining. In 2013, the World Bank estimated that there were “approximately 100 million artisanal miners globally”. This form of small-scale mining is often, but not always, conducted illegally. Deaths in this sector are more likely to go unrecorded. In June 2021 the bodies of 20 people believed to be illegal miners or “zama-zamas” were found near abandoned mine shafts in Johannesburg. In a 2016 report, human rights organisation Amnesty International said that in artisanal cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, “many accidents go unrecorded and bodies are left buried in the rubble”.And a 2004 publication by philanthropy organisation Oxfam, in collaboration with environmental non-profit Earthworks, found that “health and safety data for ASM [artisanal and small-scale mining] are sketchy, but the sector appears to experience a significantly higher accident rate than the industry as a whole”.Conclusion: South Africa accounts for 50% of mining deaths recorded by 28 companies in a single report – not 50% of global deaths. A widely shared social media post claims that South Africa accounted for “about 50% of global mining deaths”. But the report cited as evidence gives mining fatalities for 28 companies in 2020. That year South Africa accounted for half of the 44 recorded fatalities. The report likely doesn't even represent all mining deaths in South Africa. It also excludes major miners and mining countries such as China. We therefore rate the claim misleading. But data on global mining fatalities is fraught with problems. Beyond the lack of reliable global statistics, deaths from disease, and the deaths of contractors and small-scale miners, are regularly under-reported across the world. More and better data is needed to accurately determine how many deaths are due to mining, both globally and in South Africa.","https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-07/Screenshot_2021-06-21_at_16-00-47_T_on_Twitter.png,https://twitter.com/mokhathi/status/1406134773232418817,https://www.facebook.com/MduZondo/posts/4085206891534393,https://twitter.com/manhlamza/status/1406491787544432643,https://twitter.com/mokhathi/status/1406134773232418817,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2020-safety-data,https://www.icmm.com/,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/about-us,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/about-us/our-members/member-companies,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2019-safety-data,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2018-safety-data,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2015-safety-data,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303243420300192,https://www.dmr.gov.za/,https://www.dmr.gov.za/Portals/0/Resources/Annual%20Reports/DMR_annual_report_2019_low%20res.pdf?ver=2019-11-05-161412-883#page=11,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2018-safety-data,https://www.mineralscouncil.org.za/,https://www.wsj.com/,https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hidden-deaths-of-mining-11577825555,https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hidden-deaths-of-mining-11577825555,https://www.eiti.org/ASM,https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/artisanal-and-small-scale-mining,https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-06-15-twenty-bodies-of-alleged-zama-zamas-found-outside-klerksdorp/,https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/this-is-what-we-die-for-human-rights-abuses-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-power-the-global-trade-in-cobalt/,https://www.amnestyusa.org/,https://www.earthworks.org/publications/dirty_metals/,https://www.oxfam.org/en,https://www.earthworks.org/,https://www.earthworks.org/cms/assets/uploads/archive/files/publications/DirtyMetals_Workers.pdf#page=2","No, South Africa does not account for ‘50% of global mining deaths’","mining, global, deaths",,,,, +8,,,,Incorrect,Fatima Abubakar,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/fatima-abubakar,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/lemon-zobo-baya-maganin-zazzabi-aje-asibiti,,2021-07-27,africacheck,,"Wani rubutu da aka buga a Facebook yayi iƙirarin cewa lemon zoɓo “na maganin zazzaɓi.”“ Yadda ake lemon zoɓo na magani,” rubutun ya fara. Ya bayyana yadda za ayi  lemon da a fara  jiƙa ganyen zoɓo, abarba, ganyen lemongiras, citta, biturut, lemon zaƙi, kankana da ruwa.Zoɓo dai wani lemo ne da ya shahara a Najeriya, wanda ake yi da busasshiyar filawar itacen rosilli. Itacen rosilli, wanda ake kira da habiscus sabdariffa a kimiyance ya fito ne daga ayarin itatuwan Malvaceae. Yana fitowa a wurare masu zafi, yana kuma da launin kore mai duhu ko jajayen kara da ganye.Shin lemon da aka bayyana a rubutun yana maganin zazzaɓi?  Abubuwa da dama na jawo zazzaɓiZazzaɓi shine ƙaruwar zafin jiki sama da maki 37 a ma’aunin selshiyos. Wanda ke nuna alamun shigar cuta, kamar yadda Mayo Clinic suka bayyana. Wasu daga cikin alamun zazzaɓi sun haɗa da ciwon kai, rawar jiki, rashin ɗanɗano, rashin ruwa a jiki da kuma kasala. Hukumar lafiya ta Britaniyya(NHS) tace abubuwa da cututtaka da dama na iya jawo zazzaɓi. Yana kuma daga cikin alamun cutar Covid-19.Mutane- manya da yara- idan zazzaɓi ya kama su tare da ciwon kai mai zafi, jijjiga, rikicewar tunani, yawan amai, ciwon ciki da wahala wajen numfashi, ana basu shawarar zuwa asibiti cikin gaggawa.Kada a ɗauki zazzaɓi akan abu mai sauƙi“ Wannan haɗin gargajiya ne, ayi watsi da shi,” Cewar Marycelin Baba, Farfesa a fannin ƙwayoyin cuta ta jami’ar Maiduguri, kamar yadda ta shaidawa Africa Check.Baba wadda suka wallafa wata takarda akan gaza gane cutar zazzaɓin cizon sauro da zazzaɓin taifot. “ Babu wata hujja a kimiyance da ta goyi da bayan wannan da’awar,”  cewar Farfesar. “ Wannan haɗi baya magani ko hana zazzaɓi. Ƴaƴan itatuwan da aka lissafa na da muhimmanci  a jiki amma ba maganin zazzaɓi ba ne”.Baba ta ƙara da cewa: Idan an kamu da zazzaɓi, a hanzarta zuwa asibiti. Kada a dogara da haɗe-haɗe. Kada a ɗauki zazzaɓi da wasa.”","https://web.facebook.com/groups/353470598374000/permalink/1629649860756061/?__cft__%5b0%5d=AZXew-FyosdUNvmFiQHu2WmjBTbE0I-jl6fFvTmV0nZLllEaKq82pDD0kJl1kshMkyhXxKF0T8YLX_s3bUyzEtZRaH-bDeDuN0n0sc1Hbgp3l2kAaIKLJUpzf2F-2u7tfoQU6o5e4rM3jIMNjN2hZKW9&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R,https://thenationonlineng.net/interesting-facts-zobo-roselle-drinks/,https://www.britannica.com/plant/roselle-plant,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759,https://www.nhs.uk/search/results?q=Fever&page=0,https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-basics,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759,https://www.unimaid.edu.ng/,https://www.longdom.org/proceedings/arbovirus-coinfections-in-suspected-febrile-malaria-and-typhoid-patients-a-worrisome-situation-in-nigeria-85.html",Lemon Zoɓo baya maganin zazzaɓi- aje asibiti,"zobo, Incorrect",,,,, +9,,,,False,Grace Gichuhi,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/grace-gichuhi,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/nairobi-demonstration-solidarity-nigerias-2021-democracy-day-protests-no-photo,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A photo of a group of people waving the flag of Nigeria has been posted on Facebook with the claim that it shows Kenyans in Nairobi “standing in solidarity” with the people of Nigeria.“June 12 Protest: Kenyans stand with Nigerians in solidarity,” the caption reads. “Location: Nairobi. THANK YOU.” The 12 June 2021 post is on a Facebook page with some 14,000 followers. The photo and claim has also been widely shared on Twitter. In 2019, Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari signed into law that 12 June would be the national holiday of Democracy Day. The holiday is controversial. In 2021, Democracy Day saw protests in several Nigerian cities. The protests were against poor governance and “terrorism, criminal abductions and separatist movements”, according to one report.But what does the photo really show?#EndSARS ProtestsA Google reverse image search reveals that the photo has been online since at least 18 October 2020 – almost eight months before 12 June 2021. It appears in a 2020 article on the website of Premium Times, a credible Nigerian newspaper. The article’s headline is: “ANALYSIS: Will deployment of troops quell or escalate #EndSARS protests?” The photo is watermarked “Premium Times -- Kabiru Yusuf”.The photo is of #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, in October 2020. The protests demanded that the county’s police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars) be disbanded because of the unit’s alleged extrajudicial killings, brutality and human rights abuses.Abuja, not NairobiWe searched the Premium Times news website and found articles by Kabiru Yusuf. Our fact-checking colleagues at Dubawa contacted Yusuf, who said the photo was taken in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. So, no, the photo was not taken in Nairobi, Kenya, on 12 June 2021. It was taken in Abuja, Nigeria, in October 2020 during the county’s #EndSars protests.","https://web.facebook.com/genevievemmiliaku/posts/171519914983217,https://web.facebook.com/genevievemmiliaku/posts/171519914983217,https://twitter.com/_iAlen/status/1403697588935827459,https://twitter.com/chiefagbabiaka1/status/1403833196190605315,https://thenationonlineng.net/buhari-signs-june-12-democracy-day-bill-into-law/,https://theconversation.com/june-12-is-now-democracy-day-in-nigeria-why-it-matters-118572,https://www.bbc.com/pidgin/tori-57418137,https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nation-is-fire-nigerian-lawmakers-demand-action-security-crisis-2021-04-27/,https://www.voanews.com/africa/nigerians-mark-annual-democracy-day-protests,https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2021-07/Google%20Search-Nigeria%20Photo.pdf,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/421617-analysis-will-deployment-of-troops-quell-or-escalate-endsars-protests.html,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/421617-analysis-will-deployment-of-troops-quell-or-escalate-endsars-protests.html,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/421617-analysis-will-deployment-of-troops-quell-or-escalate-endsars-protests.html,https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2021/02/nigeria-end-impunity-for-police-violence-by-sars-endsars/,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/author/kabiruyusuf,https://dubawa.org/endsars-photo-used-to-paint-narrative-kenyans-protest-in-solidarity-with-nigerians/","Nairobi demonstration in solidarity with Nigeria’s 2021 Democracy Day protests? No, photo of 2020 #EndSARS protests in Abuja",,,,,, +10,,,,False,Naledi Mashishi,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/naledi-mashishi,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-asymptomatic-covid-patients-can-transmit-virus-and-masks-work,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A Facebook video posted on 5 July 2021 claims that studies show asymptomatic Covid-19 patients – people who don’t get sick – can’t transmit the new coronavirus. It also says the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) published a review of studies and found wearing a mask doesn’t stop the spread of Covid.In the video, a woman appears to be standing at a podium, talking to an audience off camera. She says: “Nearly 500 people were recently exposed to a Covid positive asymptomatic carrier. Zero got sick. Asymptomatic carriers of Covid do not spread disease.”She goes on to claim: “The CDC a couple weeks ago did a study where they looked at every single other study in the entire world on face mask wearing and this is what they found. The CDC found, quote, ‘no reduction in viral transmission with the use of face masks’.”The words “the information is there dont say u wernt warned” are printed on the video. It’s been shared more than 1,200 times so far, including in South Africa. Since Covid-19 was declared a pandemic in early 2020, the World Health Organization has warned that Covid patients who don’t show any symptoms of the disease can still spread it to others. It also says masks are a “key measure to suppress transmission and save lives”.Do studies prove that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients can’t spread the disease? And has a CDC analysis found that masks don’t reduce transmission?Video of US attorney Leigh DundasThe video does not identify the woman, where she is, or when the video was taken. It’s poor quality, taken from an original that doesn’t appear to be online anymore.But we did find a short video on Vimeo of a woman named Leigh Dundas, speaking on 13 April. Based on her voice, hairstyle, clothing and the background, it’s likely that the video on Facebook shows this woman, at the same event.In the Vimeo video she identifies herself as a human rights attorney. The video is captioned “Leigh Dundas, Board of Supervisors, April 13 2021”. Dundas, a US attorney, publicly supports that country’s anti-vaccination movement. Voice of OC reports that, in May, she helped organise residents in California’s Orange county to go to local Board of Education meetings to petition against mandatory vaccinations and “vaccine passports”.As Africa Check has found, there is no such thing as mandatory or “universal” vaccination in the US. And vaccine passports don’t exist there.Asymptomatic patients can transmit the virusIn the Facebook video, Dundas refers to a May 2020 study in Wuhan, China. It’s titled A study on infectivity of asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers. The Covid-19 pandemic is thought to have started in Wuhan.The researchers studied 455 people who had been in contact with asymptomatic Covid-positive patients. None of the 455 tested positive for Covid-19. But the study didn’t find that people with asymptomatic Covid-19 can’t transmit the virus. Instead, it concluded that “the infectivity of some asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 carriers might be weak”. SARS-CoV-2 is the formal name of the new coronavirus that causes Covid-19.Other studies of asymptomatic carriers have found that they can transmit the virus.A January 2021 study looked at 2,250 people in a “confined” community of university staff in the Canadian province of Quebec. Confinement, the study says, is “used to reflect social restrictions instructed by Quebec's government”.It found that 1.82% of the staff were asymptomatic carriers. None had contact with any known Covid patients. The researchers concluded: “Our results raise concerns about the possibility of viral spread through asymptomatic transmission.” But they added that the rate of asymptomatic transmission was unknown.In February 2021, a study based on daily mass screenings of some 20,000 residents of Luxembourg, a small country in Europe, was published. It found that, on average, asymptomatic patients infected the same number of people as patients with Covid-19 symptoms. The researchers concluded: “Asymptomatic carriers represent a significant risk for transmission.”CDC: Masks reduce Covid spreadAnd what about Dundas’s claim that a CDC analysis had found that masks didn’t reduce the amount of coronavirus transmitted between people?This is not what the CDC website says. A science brief on the site, updated on 7 May 2021, quotes several studies that found face masks reduced the risk of Covid-19 infection by as much as 79%, and had led to declines in daily new cases.The CDC concludes: “Experimental and epidemiological data support community masking to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2.” The CDC also says that making people wear masks can help prevent possible lockdowns in the future. The benefits increase when people are also required to use other measures against Covid: social distancing, hand washing and good ventilation. Conclusion: Video’s claims are falseIn a video posted on Facebook, US anti-vaccination advocate and lawyer Leigh Dundas claims that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients can’t transmit the virus. She also says a study by the US Centers for Disease Control found that masks don’t reduce the spread of the disease.But the CDC study doesn’t conclude that asymptomatic patients can’t transmit the virus. And  other studies have found that asymptomatic patients do transmit the virus. The CDC has published studies supporting the benefits of masks, and says wearing masks can reduce the spread of Covid-19.","https://www.facebook.com/zaayiin.yellodd/videos/vb.100066665882510/247084380557206/?type=2&theater,https://www.cdc.gov/,https://www.facebook.com/zaayiin.yellodd/videos/vb.100066665882510/247084380557206/?type=2&theater,https://www.facebook.com/zaayiin.yellodd/videos/vb.100066665882510/247084380557206/?type=2&theater,https://www.facebook.com/zaayiin.yellodd/videos/vb.100066665882510/247084380557206/?type=2&theater,https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-how-is-it-transmitted,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-masks,https://vimeo.com/537203201,https://vimeo.com/537203201,https://vimeo.com/537203201,https://www.rawstory.com/leigh-dundas/,https://voiceofoc.org/2021/05/oc-supervisors-debate-cancelling-digital-coronavirus-vaccine-records-hundreds-of-people-rail-against-vaccine-passports/,https://voiceofoc.org/2021/05/oc-supervisors-debate-cancelling-digital-coronavirus-vaccine-records-hundreds-of-people-rail-against-vaccine-passports/,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Orange+County,+CA,+USA/@33.6394877,-118.3298942,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x80dc925c54d5f7cf:0xdea6c3618ff0d607!8m2!3d33.7174708!4d-117.8311428,https://voiceofoc.org/2021/05/oc-supervisors-debate-cancelling-digital-coronavirus-vaccine-records-hundreds-of-people-rail-against-vaccine-passports/,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-us-supreme-court-hasnt-ruled-against-universal-vaccination-theres-no-such,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-afs:Content:10051817171,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Wuhan,+Hubei,+China/@30.5684073,114.0201922,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x342eaef8dd85f26f:0x39c2c9ac6c582210!8m2!3d30.592849!4d114.305539,https://www.google.com/maps/place/China/@34.4504157,86.0458274,4z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x31508e64e5c642c1:0x951daa7c349f366f!8m2!3d35.86166!4d104.195397,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00502-4,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7219423/,https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/technical-guidance/naming-the-coronavirus-disease-(covid-2019)-and-the-virus-that-causes-it,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196655320307811,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Canada/@56,-96,3z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x4b0d03d337cc6ad9:0x9968b72aa2438fa5!8m2!3d56.130366!4d-106.346771,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Quebec,+Canada/@53.4733017,-77.4028603,5z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x4c58b5349fd1a8a1:0x1040cadae4d0020!8m2!3d52.9399159!4d-73.5491361,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196655320307811,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196655320307811,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(21)00033-8/fulltext,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Luxembourg/@49.8423357,1.6489564,6z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x479545b9ca212147:0x64db60f602d392ef!8m2!3d49.815273!4d6.129583,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(21)00033-8/fulltext,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(21)00033-8/fulltext,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/science-briefs/masking-science-sars-cov2.html","No, asymptomatic Covid patients can transmit the virus, and masks work",,,,,, +11,,,,Partlyfalse,Mary Alexander,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/mary-alexander,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/photo-2018-fuel-tax-protest-france-not-demonstrators-unleashing-truth-variant,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"“Greece and France... Yep its happening, time to unlesh the new TRUTH variant,” reads the caption of two photos of what seem to be mass protests, posted on Facebook in July 2021 and shared in South Africa.The first photo shows a huge crowd of people on an avenue in Paris, France’s capital city. The city’s famous Arc de Triomphe can be seen in the background. Many in the crowd are wearing yellow reflective vests.The second photo is of another crowd, flanked by police, in a city square. The flag of Greece can be seen waving in the crowd.The photos were also posted on an Australia-based Facebook page, with a similar caption: “Greece & France! Thousands rally against COVID-19 vaccinations and government restrictions.”But do the photos really show people “unleashing the TRUTH variant” in protests against Covid-19 measures in Greece and France?Protest against vaccinations in Greece, against fuel tax in FranceA Google reverse image search of the second photo reveals that it does indeed show a rally against Covid-19 vaccinations, in the Greek capital of Athens on 14 July.The photo appears in an article on M3 News, an international online news magazine.“More than 5,000 anti-vaccine protesters, some of them waving Greek flags and wooden crosses, rallied in Athens on Wednesday to oppose Greece’s coronavirus vaccinations program,” the article reads.It adds: “Protests are fairly common in Greece and there have been several in recent months on issues ranging from new labour law to the most recent Israeli military campaign on Gaza.”But a TinEye reverse image search of the first photo, filtered for the oldest version, reveals that it has been online since at least 4 December 2018 – over a year before the coronavirus was first identified in late December 2019.The photo can be found on the French-language stock photo website Divergence Images. A machine translation of its caption reads: “Demonstration of the Yellow Vests on the Champs-Elysees, Paris on November 24, 2018.” It was taken by Olivier Coret.According to the US National Public Radio website, the 2018 yellow vests protests in France were sparked by the announcement of a new environmental tax on fuel.“Nicknamed for the safety vests worn by protesters, known as gilets jaunes, the yellow vest movement has sparked a political crisis for the French government,” the NPR says.“The protests started in the French provinces but spread to Paris, where demonstrations turned into riots over the weekend and scenes of violent civil unrest played out along the city's famous Avenue des Champs Élysées.”The second photo does show a protest against Covid-19 vaccinations, in Greece, but the first photo is of a demonstration against a fuel tax in France, more than two and a half years ago.","https://www.facebook.com/sonia.bonacci/posts/10161008588853976,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008566563976&set=pcb.10161008588853976,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Paris,+France/@48.8589507,2.2770201,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47e66e1f06e2b70f:0x40b82c3688c9460!8m2!3d48.856614!4d2.3522219,https://www.google.com/maps/place/France/@46.1389696,-2.4368094,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0xd54a02933785731:0x6bfd3f96c747d9f7!8m2!3d46.227638!4d2.213749,https://www.google.com/maps/@48.8741019,2.293728,3a,75y,111.88h,85.69t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1ssbfllIbdqW_ylzUNmOcYbg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008571833976&set=pcb.10161008588853976,https://www.greeka.com/greece-history/flags/,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Greece/@38.0602976,19.99122,6z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x135b4ac711716c63:0x363a1775dc9a2d1d!8m2!3d39.074208!4d21.824312,https://www.facebook.com/hraaustralia/posts/290279962890655,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008571833976&set=pcb.10161008588853976,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Athens,+Greece/@37.9908997,23.7033198,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x14a1bd1f067043f1:0x2736354576668ddd!8m2!3d37.9838096!4d23.7275388,https://mw3.news/in-greece-thousands-rally-against-covid-19-vaccinations/,https://mw3.news/contact/staff-directory/,https://mw3.news/in-greece-thousands-rally-against-covid-19-vaccinations/,https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-07/TinEye-Greece-protests.jpg,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008566563976&set=pcb.10161008588853976,http://www.divergence-images.com/olivier-coret/reportages/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-OCO1193/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-ref-OCO1193001.html,https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.divergence-images.com/olivier-coret/reportages/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-OCO1193/gilets-jaunes-champs-elysees-ref-OCO1193001.html,https://www.npr.org/2018/12/03/672862353/who-are-frances-yellow-vest-protesters-and-what-do-they-want,https://www.npr.org/2018/12/03/672862353/who-are-frances-yellow-vest-protesters-and-what-do-they-want,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10161008566563976&set=pcb.10161008588853976",Photo of 2018 fuel tax protest in France – not demonstrators ‘unleashing truth variant’ against Covid measures,"fuel tax, protest, covid, Covid-19",,,,, +12,,,,False,Oluseyi Awojulugbe,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/oluseyi-awojulugbe,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-dont-use-garlic-lower-blood-pressure,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A post shared on Facebook in Nigeria claims that garlic can be used to lower high blood pressure.It also credits the World Health Organization (WHO) with saying garlic helps to reduce blood pressure in patients with moderate hypertension.“Garlic works in a way to increase the size of the arteries, which makes it easier for blood to pass. In addition, due to its diuretic properties, it reduces the volume of water in the body and therefore blood pressure,” reads part of the post.The post does include an unusual warning: “Be careful, even regular consumption of garlic does not exempt from appropriate treatment, especially in people with severe hypertension.” But is there any scientific evidence that the bulbous flowering plant can be used to manage high blood pressure? We checked.High blood pressure leads to 9.4 mn deaths annuallyAccording to the WHO, high blood pressure, also called hypertension, is when the force exerted by blood pushing against the walls of the arteries is higher than what is considered normal.“Hypertension is diagnosed if, when it is measured on two different days, the systolic blood pressure readings on both days are greater than 140 mmHg and/or the diastolic blood pressure readings on both days are greater than 90 mmHg,” says a WHO fact sheet on hypertension.Blood pressure is measured in units of millimeters of mercury, or mmHg. It is recorded as two numbers, the systolic or upper value first, followed by the diastolic or lower value. About 1.13 billion people around the world have high blood pressure, with the majority living in low- and middle-income countries. This leads to about 9.4 million deaths annually, says the WHO.‘Not approved by health authorities’ – expertSome studies have documented the potential of garlic in lowering high blood pressure in a similar way to standard medication. A review of trials involving garlic concludes that the vitamin B status of an individual is “an important factor for the responsiveness of high blood pressure to garlic”.But Basden Onwubere, a professor of medicine at the University of Nigeria in southeastern Nigeria, was sceptical. He told Africa Check: “Such prescriptions cannot be made by doctors.” “There are studies that have been published about the use of garlic in managing some health conditions but I am not aware of any traditional medicine that has been approved officially by Nafdac for use in managing high blood pressure,” he said.Nafdac is Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, responsible for regulating and controlling drugs, among other substances.Onwubere said: “Until that [approval] becomes available, what we are using now is the orthodox way of managing hypertension. This is medication and advice on managing the patient’s diet.”Africa Check has also checked claims on Facebook that ginger or ginger tea can prevent heart attack and stroke, and that mixing lemon, ginger and garlic cures high blood pressure. Like this claim, we found no conclusive evidence to support these. Experts advise those with high or elevated blood pressure to ignore miracle cures promoted on social media and seek proper medical care.","https://www.facebook.com/Aduramigbaherbalremedy/posts/293950485769162?_rdc=2&_rdr,https://www.facebook.com/Aduramigbaherbalremedy/posts/293950485769162?_rdc=2&_rdr,https://web.facebook.com/Aduramigbaherbalremedy/posts/293950485769162?_rdc=3&_rdr,https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-300/garlic,https://www.who.int/,https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/noncommunicable-diseases-hypertension,https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279251/,https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/understanding-blood-pressure-readings,https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/hypertension,https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/noncommunicable-diseases-hypertension,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4266250/,https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/146/2/389S/4584698,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6966103/,https://www.unn.edu.ng/,https://www.nafdac.gov.ng/,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/ginger-or-ginger-tea-wont-prevent-heart-attack-and-stroke,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-lemon-ginger-and-garlic-wont-cure-high-blood-pressure","No, don’t use garlic to lower blood pressure","Garlic, high blood pressure",,,,, +13,,,,False,Motunrayo Joel,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/motunrayo-joel,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-martine-moise-first-lady-haiti-not-dead,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"Martine Moïse, the wife of Haiti’s assassinated president, is dead, claims a post shared on Facebook in Nigeria in July 2021.On 7 July, Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his private residence in the capital, Port-au-Prince. His wife, Martine Moïse, was also shot in the attack. Haiti is an island nation in the Caribbean Sea.The post claims that the “First Lady died from her injuries”, after being “rushed to hospital” and “despite the doctors’ best efforts”. The post includes photos of the couple. But is Martine Moïse dead?Alive and well Moïse was seriously injured during the assassination and was flown to Florida in the US for medical treatment.But on 17 July she spoke to the media from her hospital bed, confirming she was alive and well.In an article updated 17 July, she was pictured wearing a bulletproof vest as she returned to Port-au-Prince.Moïse also spoke at her late husband’s funeral on 22 July.","https://web.facebook.com/NGBREAKINGNEWS/posts/1999091423587583?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/assassination-haitian-president-jovenel-moise-what-know,https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/assassination-haitian-president-jovenel-moise-what-know,https://twitter.com/martinejmoise?lang=en,https://www.britannica.com/place/Haiti,https://web.facebook.com/NGBREAKINGNEWS/posts/1999091423587583?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/NGBREAKINGNEWS/posts/1999091423587583?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://news.sky.com/story/wife-of-assassinated-haiti-president-jovenel-moise-speaks-from-hospital-bed-12353342,https://www.wsj.com/articles/martine-moise-wife-of-assassinated-president-makes-surprise-return-to-haiti-11626564491,https://www.npr.org/2021/07/17/1017398219/martine-moise-wife-of-slain-president-returns-to-haiti,https://www.voanews.com/americas/gunfire-protests-disrupt-funeral-haitis-assassinated-president","No, Martine Moïse, first lady of Haiti, not dead",,,,,, +14,,,,False,Motunrayo Joel,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/motunrayo-joel,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/biafran-independence-movement-leader-nnamdi-kanu-arrested-not-fake-news,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A post shared on Facebook in Nigeria claims that Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (Ipob), was not arrested, despite news reports saying he was.It reads: “Nnamdi Kanu Arrest. Nigerians and there fake news flying upandan [up and down].” Biafra was a region that roughly correlates with Nigeria’s South East geopolitical zone today.  In May 1967, Biafra declared its independence from the rest of the country. A civil war followed, ending in January 1970 with Biafra’s defeat.  There are continued calls for Biafran independence, most notably by Ipob. But has Kanu, who has been living in London in the UK, been arrested?Kanu arrested and arraigned in courtThere have been multiple reports in the mainstream media of Kanu’s arrest, both in Nigeria and internationally.He was arrested on 27 June 2021 through joint efforts by Nigerian security agents and the International Criminal Police Organization, or Interpol. But officials have not disclosed where and how.According to Nigeria's justice minister, Abubakar Malami, Kanu was brought back to Nigeria to face trial, after jumping bail in 2019.‘11-count charge’Kanu was previously arrested on 14 October 2015 on 11 charges, including terrorism, treasonable felony and managing an unlawful society. He was granted bail in 2017.He is also accused of inciting violence against the Nigerian state and institutions through TV, radio and online broadcasts, and of instigating violence, particularly in southeastern Nigeria.Kanu appeared before a federal high court in Abuja on 29 June 2021, two days after his arrest. While all the details are still to emerge at the time of writing, claims that he was not arrested are false.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=158238561912186&set=pcb.158238601912182&type=3&theater,https://web.facebook.com/groups/388050959313043/posts/466523654799106/?__cft__[0]=AZVbT-nA-yAjwpgsAhc1l4NBvq1ngxoQLVYc2lZNP4J9vZmrzX00uNUbEzMHp7Hn7b7MIcQCW7AdYYkwpsAkwqSPPAadikibVN_pfYbZa1WcKcJCrNNgPGqs9r42hcrlq-A&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R,https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/11/nigeria-biafra-kanu-reconciliation-independence/,https://web.facebook.com/groups/388050959313043/posts/466523654799106/?__cft__[0]=AZVbT-nA-yAjwpgsAhc1l4NBvq1ngxoQLVYc2lZNP4J9vZmrzX00uNUbEzMHp7Hn7b7MIcQCW7AdYYkwpsAkwqSPPAadikibVN_pfYbZa1WcKcJCrNNgPGqs9r42hcrlq-A&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R,https://www.britannica.com/place/Biafra,https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-Nigeria-and-its-geopolitical-zones-North-Central-Benue-FCT-Kogi-Kwara_fig1_256614605,https://www.britannica.com/place/Biafra,https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/11/nigeria-biafra-kanu-reconciliation-independence/,https://punchng.com/breaking-nnamdi-kanu-arrested-says-malami/,https://ugobestiky.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FB_IMG_15681388255829898-750x430.jpg,https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/29/biafra-separatist-leader-arrested-and-extradited-to-nigeria,https://punchng.com/breaking-nnamdi-kanu-arrested-says-malami/,https://www.interpol.int/en,https://edition.cnn.com/2021/06/29/africa/nnamdi-kanu-arrested-nigeria-intl/index.html,https://punchng.com/breaking-nnamdi-kanu-arrested-says-malami/,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/470566-updated-nnamdi-kanu-re-arrested-returned-to-nigeria-malami.html,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/470566-updated-nnamdi-kanu-re-arrested-returned-to-nigeria-malami.html,https://guardian.ng/news/nnamdi-kanu-appears-in-court-after-re-arrest/",Biafran independence movement leader Nnamdi Kanu arrested – not ‘fake news’,,,,,, +15,,,,False,Motunrayo Joel,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/motunrayo-joel,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-nigerias-yoruba-separatist-sunday-adeyemo-still-custody-benin-wife-ropo,,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"A post shared on Facebook in Nigeria on 20 July 2021 claims that Sunday Adeyemo and his wife Ropo Adeyemo have been released from custody in Benin and allowed to board a plane to Germany.Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has been campaigning for the self-determination of the Yoruba people in southwestern Nigeria.The Facebook post reads: “Breaking news!!!! Sunday Adeyemo (AKA) Igboho and his wife German citizen has been released and allows to board plane on their way to Germany #BeninRepublicNoBeKenya.”The post has been shared several times and some commenters were happy.One Facebook user said: “Just can't express my joy for the great news!!!”Another said: “Good to hear this, shame to the haters.”However, others said the claim was not true.Were Sunday and Ropo Adeyemo jailed and have they been released from custody in Benin?Igboho still held but wife releasedThe Adeyemos fled Nigeria for the neighbouring Republic of Benin in early July after their Ibadan home was raided by the the Department of State Services.Ammunition and weapons were found on the premises during the raid.The Nigerian government then issued a warrant for Sunday Adeyemo’s arrest.On 19 July, the couple were arrested in the port city of Cotonou by Beninoise authorities while trying to travel to Germany. Ropo Adeyemo lives in Germany.The charges brought by the Beninoise court were for immigration-related offences. It ordered Ropo’s release while Sunday remained in custody. His trial continued on 26 July. The claims on Facebook are false.","https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55934275,https://www.ngnews247.com/sunday-igboho-biography-wfe-age-house-sons-family-net-worth-cars/,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/471288-lagos-rally-sunday-igboho-yoruba-nation-campaigners-set-for-showdown-with-police.html,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://web.facebook.com/pdployalistsfanpage/posts/336548608129514?__tn__=%2CO*F,https://www.britannica.com/place/Benin,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55934275,https://www.dss.gov.ng/,https://guardian.ng/news/dss-declares-sunday-igboho-wanted-confirms-raid-on-his-residence/,https://guardian.ng/news/dss-declares-sunday-igboho-wanted-confirms-raid-on-his-residence/,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/474749-how-sunday-igboho-was-arrested-in-benin-republic.html,http://saharareporters.com/2021/07/22/breaking-beninese-court-releases-sunday-igboho%E2%80%99s-wife-orders-igboho-remain-custody,https://punchng.com/beninoise-courts-not-used-to-large-crowds-igbohos-lawyers-caution-supporters/","No, Nigeria's Yoruba separatist Sunday Adeyemo still in custody in Benin, but wife Ropo Adeyemo released",,,,,, +16,,,,Misleading,Keegan Leech,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/keegan-leech,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/reports/no-south-africa-does-not-account-50-global-mining-deaths,About 50% of global mining deaths occur in South Africa.,2021-07-28,africacheck,,"Messages posted on Twitter and Facebook claim that 50% of global mining deaths occur in South Africa.But the figure is taken from a 2020 report by the International Council on Mining and Minerals, which only records the deaths reported by its 28 member companies. This is not all the mining deaths in the world.There is a lack of reliable global statistics on mining fatalities. Deaths from mining diseases, and the deaths of contractors and small-scale miners, tend to be under-reported.“About 50% of global mining deaths occur in South Africa. Yet no single mining executive has been held accountable,” reads a tweet with more than 850 likes, which has been shared over 500 times on Twitter. The claim has also been posted on Facebook and other social media.When another user asked for “receipts” supporting the claim, the person who posted it said the data came from the International Council on Mining and Metals. Is the claim backed by data? We checked. Only 28 members included in rankingThe source of this claim is a 2020 report published by the International Council on Mining and Minerals (ICMM). The mining association collates the number of workplace accidents and fatalities recorded by its members.But the ICMM told Africa Check that its 28 member companies represent only about a third of the global mining industry. Not all mining companies are members and not all countries are represented. According to the report, South Africa recorded 22 out of 44 fatalities in 2020. This is 50% of deaths reported by its members – not 50% of global deaths. South Africa also accounted for more total working hours than any other individual country: 17.7% of all recorded hours in 2020.Government records more mining deathsSouth Africa has regularly fared worst in the ICMM’s safety reports. It has contributed the most deaths every year since 2015, the first year the council recorded location data. The one exception was 2019, when the Brumadinho dam disaster in Brazil claimed more than 250 lives.But the ICMM’s records likely don’t even represent all mining deaths in South Africa. The last year the country’s department of mineral resources and energy released a tally of mining fatalities was 2018. In that year, the department recorded 81 fatalities, while South African ICMM members recorded just 14.Data on global mining deaths is limited According to the Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA), another mining industry employers’ organisation, the ICMM’s 28 members “exclude huge numbers of mining businesses in many parts of the world, including some major mining jurisdictions, most notably China”.But determining the total number of mining fatalities around the world is not easy.“There is no one record of all industry fatalities,” the ICMM told Africa Check. “Individual companies will release their fatality numbers in their own sustainability and annual reports.”In 2019 the Wall Street Journal reported that many of the world’s mining fatalities may not even be counted. Its analysis of mining companies’ safety reports found that many did not record the deaths of contractors, workers transporting extracted minerals or deaths at joint mining ventures, which are managed by more than one company.The journal even found that more than half of the people who died in the 2019 Brumadinho dam disaster may not have been included in the official mining death toll. Deaths from mining diseases are even more likely to go unrecorded.Artisanal mining deaths may not be recordedAnother category of fatalities which may go overlooked is artisanal mining. In 2013, the World Bank estimated that there were “approximately 100 million artisanal miners globally”. This form of small-scale mining is often, but not always, conducted illegally. Deaths in this sector are more likely to go unrecorded. In June 2021 the bodies of 20 people believed to be illegal miners or “zama-zamas” were found near abandoned mine shafts in Johannesburg. In a 2016 report, human rights organisation Amnesty International said that in artisanal cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, “many accidents go unrecorded and bodies are left buried in the rubble”.And a 2004 publication by philanthropy organisation Oxfam, in collaboration with environmental non-profit Earthworks, found that “health and safety data for ASM [artisanal and small-scale mining] are sketchy, but the sector appears to experience a significantly higher accident rate than the industry as a whole”.Conclusion: South Africa accounts for 50% of mining deaths recorded by 28 companies in a single report – not 50% of global deaths. A widely shared social media post claims that South Africa accounted for “about 50% of global mining deaths”. But the report cited as evidence gives mining fatalities for 28 companies in 2020. That year South Africa accounted for half of the 44 recorded fatalities. The report likely doesn't even represent all mining deaths in South Africa. It also excludes major miners and mining countries such as China. We therefore rate the claim misleading. But data on global mining fatalities is fraught with problems. Beyond the lack of reliable global statistics, deaths from disease, and the deaths of contractors and small-scale miners, are regularly under-reported across the world. More and better data is needed to accurately determine how many deaths are due to mining, both globally and in South Africa.","https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-07/Screenshot_2021-06-21_at_16-00-47_T_on_Twitter.png,https://twitter.com/mokhathi/status/1406134773232418817,https://www.facebook.com/MduZondo/posts/4085206891534393,https://twitter.com/manhlamza/status/1406491787544432643,https://twitter.com/mokhathi/status/1406134773232418817,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2020-safety-data,https://www.icmm.com/,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/about-us,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/about-us/our-members/member-companies,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2019-safety-data,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2018-safety-data,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2015-safety-data,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0303243420300192,https://www.dmr.gov.za/,https://www.dmr.gov.za/Portals/0/Resources/Annual%20Reports/DMR_annual_report_2019_low%20res.pdf?ver=2019-11-05-161412-883#page=11,https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/research/health-safety/benchmarking-2018-safety-data,https://www.mineralscouncil.org.za/,https://www.wsj.com/,https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hidden-deaths-of-mining-11577825555,https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hidden-deaths-of-mining-11577825555,https://www.eiti.org/ASM,https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/extractiveindustries/brief/artisanal-and-small-scale-mining,https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-06-15-twenty-bodies-of-alleged-zama-zamas-found-outside-klerksdorp/,https://www.amnestyusa.org/reports/this-is-what-we-die-for-human-rights-abuses-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-power-the-global-trade-in-cobalt/,https://www.amnestyusa.org/,https://www.earthworks.org/publications/dirty_metals/,https://www.oxfam.org/en,https://www.earthworks.org/,https://www.earthworks.org/cms/assets/uploads/archive/files/publications/DirtyMetals_Workers.pdf#page=2","No, South Africa does not account for ‘50% of global mining deaths’","mining, global, deaths",,,,, +17,,,,Incorrect,Fatima Abubakar,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/fatima-abubakar,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/lemon-zobo-baya-maganin-zazzabi-aje-asibiti,,2021-07-27,africacheck,,"Wani rubutu da aka buga a Facebook yayi iƙirarin cewa lemon zoɓo “na maganin zazzaɓi.”“ Yadda ake lemon zoɓo na magani,” rubutun ya fara. Ya bayyana yadda za ayi  lemon da a fara  jiƙa ganyen zoɓo, abarba, ganyen lemongiras, citta, biturut, lemon zaƙi, kankana da ruwa.Zoɓo dai wani lemo ne da ya shahara a Najeriya, wanda ake yi da busasshiyar filawar itacen rosilli. Itacen rosilli, wanda ake kira da habiscus sabdariffa a kimiyance ya fito ne daga ayarin itatuwan Malvaceae. Yana fitowa a wurare masu zafi, yana kuma da launin kore mai duhu ko jajayen kara da ganye.Shin lemon da aka bayyana a rubutun yana maganin zazzaɓi?  Abubuwa da dama na jawo zazzaɓiZazzaɓi shine ƙaruwar zafin jiki sama da maki 37 a ma’aunin selshiyos. Wanda ke nuna alamun shigar cuta, kamar yadda Mayo Clinic suka bayyana. Wasu daga cikin alamun zazzaɓi sun haɗa da ciwon kai, rawar jiki, rashin ɗanɗano, rashin ruwa a jiki da kuma kasala. Hukumar lafiya ta Britaniyya(NHS) tace abubuwa da cututtaka da dama na iya jawo zazzaɓi. Yana kuma daga cikin alamun cutar Covid-19.Mutane- manya da yara- idan zazzaɓi ya kama su tare da ciwon kai mai zafi, jijjiga, rikicewar tunani, yawan amai, ciwon ciki da wahala wajen numfashi, ana basu shawarar zuwa asibiti cikin gaggawa.Kada a ɗauki zazzaɓi akan abu mai sauƙi“ Wannan haɗin gargajiya ne, ayi watsi da shi,” Cewar Marycelin Baba, Farfesa a fannin ƙwayoyin cuta ta jami’ar Maiduguri, kamar yadda ta shaidawa Africa Check.Baba wadda suka wallafa wata takarda akan gaza gane cutar zazzaɓin cizon sauro da zazzaɓin taifot. “ Babu wata hujja a kimiyance da ta goyi da bayan wannan da’awar,”  cewar Farfesar. “ Wannan haɗi baya magani ko hana zazzaɓi. Ƴaƴan itatuwan da aka lissafa na da muhimmanci  a jiki amma ba maganin zazzaɓi ba ne”.Baba ta ƙara da cewa: Idan an kamu da zazzaɓi, a hanzarta zuwa asibiti. Kada a dogara da haɗe-haɗe. Kada a ɗauki zazzaɓi da wasa.”","https://web.facebook.com/groups/353470598374000/permalink/1629649860756061/?__cft__%5b0%5d=AZXew-FyosdUNvmFiQHu2WmjBTbE0I-jl6fFvTmV0nZLllEaKq82pDD0kJl1kshMkyhXxKF0T8YLX_s3bUyzEtZRaH-bDeDuN0n0sc1Hbgp3l2kAaIKLJUpzf2F-2u7tfoQU6o5e4rM3jIMNjN2hZKW9&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R,https://thenationonlineng.net/interesting-facts-zobo-roselle-drinks/,https://www.britannica.com/plant/roselle-plant,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759,https://www.nhs.uk/search/results?q=Fever&page=0,https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-basics,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/fever/symptoms-causes/syc-20352759,https://www.unimaid.edu.ng/,https://www.longdom.org/proceedings/arbovirus-coinfections-in-suspected-febrile-malaria-and-typhoid-patients-a-worrisome-situation-in-nigeria-85.html",Lemon Zoɓo baya maganin zazzaɓi- aje asibiti,"zobo, Incorrect",,,,, +18,,,,False,Fatima Abubakar,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/fatima-abubakar,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/masanin-kwayoyin-cuta-montagnier-bai-ce-duk-wadanda-aka-yiwa-allurar-rigakafi,,2021-07-27,africacheck,,"Shin Luc Montagnier, ƙwararre akan ƙwayoyin cuta ɗan ƙasar Faransa yace duk waɗanda aka yiwa allurar rigakafi zasu mutu cikin shekaru biyu? Wannan rubutu ne da ke ta yawo a WhatsApp, Facebook da Instagram a Najeriya a watan Mayu 2021.Da dama daga rubutun da ake yaɗawa na nuna hoton Montagnier da taken: “ Duk waɗanda aka yiwa allurar rigakifi zasu mutu cikin shekaru biyu.”“ Luc Montagnier wanda ya samu lambar yabo ta Nobel ya tabbatar da cewa babu dama mutum ya cigaba da rayuwa bayan ya yi kowacce daga alluran rigakafin,” rubutu da ake fi yaɗawa ke cewa.“ A wata ganawa da akayi da shi, babban ƙwararre akan ƙwayoyin cuta ya ce: ‘ babu dama, sannan babu magani ga waɗanda suka riga sukayi allurar rigakafin. Mu shirya ƙona gawawwaki.’ Masanin kimiyar ya kuma goyi da bayan da’awowin wasu masana ƙwayoyin cuta bayan yayi nazarin abubuwa da ke ɗauke  acikin alluran rigakafin. Duk zasu mutu daga haɓakar ƙwayoyin kare ƙwayar cuta a jiki. Babu abun da za a kuma cewa.”Da dama daga rubutukan da ake yaɗawa an alaƙanta su ga wani rubutu a shafin yanar gizo na LifeSiteNews, wanda ke da taƙen: Wanda ya ci lambar yabo ta nobel: Taron llurar rigakafin Covid ‘kuskure ne da ba a amince da shi ba.”Da gaske Montagnier ya ce duk waɗanda aka yiwa alllurar rigakafi zasu mutu cikin shekaru biyu? Ƙarya aka alaƙanta masa, ‘ labaran ƙarya aka kwaikwaya’Wanda aka haifa a ranar 18 ga watan Agusta 1932, Luc Montagnier masanin binciken kimiyyyar ɗan asalin ƙasar Faransa, wanda ya samu tarin nasarori da suka haɗa da lambar yabo ta Nobel a shekarar 2008 akan ilimin sanin halittar ɗan adam da likitanci. Ya kuma jagoranci tawagar masana da suka gano ƙwayar cutar ƙanjamau (HIV) da kuma abun da ke jawo karyewar garkuwar jiki ( Aids)Rubutun da LifeSiteNews tayi, wanda aka buga ranar 19 ga Mayu, ya ambato wata hira da Montagnier “ wadda gidauniyar RAIR ta ƙasar Amurka suka fassara kuma suka wallafa a jiya.” Gidauniyar ta bayyana kanta a matsayin “ wani yunƙuri don ƙwanto jamhuriyar mu daga mutane da ƙungiyoyin da suka haɗa kai don yaƙi da Amurka, tsarin mulki, iyakokin mu da kare ɗabi’un yahudu da nasara”.A cewar LifeSiteNews, Montagnier ya kira “ allurar rigakafin cutar korona da abun da ba a yi tunani ba, kuma babban kuskure a tarihi da ke haifar da nau’ikan cutar, wadda ke ta jawo mace-mace daga cutar”. “ Babban kuskure ne, ko ba haka ba? Kuskure a kimiyance, a kuma likitance. Kuskure ne da ba za a taɓa amincewa da shi ba,” Sun wallafo Montagnier na cewa. “ Littattafan tarihi zasu tabbatar da haka, saboda allurar rigakafin ke jawo nau’oin cutar.”Sai dai babu inda rubutun ya ambato Montagnier ya ce duk waɗanda aka yiwa allurar zasu mutu cikin shekaru biyu, ko kuma “ mu shirya ƙona gawawwaki”.A ranar 27 ga Mayu, LifeSiteNews suka ƙara sabunta rubutun. “ Yayin da LifeSiteNews ta ruwaito abun da Montagnier ya faɗa, wasu masana kimiyya sun yi watsi da rubutun sa, na cewa alluran rigakafin na jawo sababbin nau’ikan cutar,” sabon rubutu ya fara da cewa. Ya kuma ƙare da cewa: “ Abu na biyu shine, Montagnier bai ce duk wanda aka yiwa gwajin  allurar rigakafin Covid-19 ‘zai mutu’ cikin shekaru biyu ba. Wannan maganar an ƙage ta, an danganta masa ita a matsayin labaran ƙarya da ya ke ta bazuwa.”Ba mu samu wata hujja da ta tabbatar da cewa Montagnier yayi waɗannan kalamai ba.","https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luc-Montagnier,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2961114490882044&set=a.1416453855348123&type=3,https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-06/mass%20vaccination.JPG,https://web.facebook.com/100002869583120/videos/3859004177538530/?__tn__=%2CO-R,https://www.instagram.com/p/CPjH9cihfL7/,https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-06/mass%20vaccination.JPG,https://web.facebook.com/100002869583120/videos/3859004177538530/?__tn__=%2CO-R,https://www.instagram.com/p/CPjH9cihfL7/,https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-06/mass%20vaccination.JPG,https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-mass-covid-vaccination-an-unacceptable-mistake-that-is-creating-the-variants,https://www.lifesitenews.com/about,https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nobel-Prize,https://www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/laureates/montagnier,https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-mass-covid-vaccination-an-unacceptable-mistake-that-is-creating-the-variants,https://rairfoundation.com/about/,https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-mass-covid-vaccination-an-unacceptable-mistake-that-is-creating-the-variants,https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-mass-covid-vaccination-an-unacceptable-mistake-that-is-creating-the-variants,https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-mass-covid-vaccination-an-unacceptable-mistake-that-is-creating-the-variants,https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-mass-covid-vaccination-an-unacceptable-mistake-that-is-creating-the-variants,https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-mass-covid-vaccination-an-unacceptable-mistake-that-is-creating-the-variants,https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/nobel-prize-winner-mass-covid-vaccination-an-unacceptable-mistake-that-is-creating-the-variants",Masanin ƙwayoyin cuta Montagnier bai ce ‘ duk waɗanda aka yiwa allurar rigakafi zasu mutu cikin shekaru biyu’,,,,,, +19,,,,False,Fatima Abubakar,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/fatima-abubakar,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/shafa-kugu-baya-kara-yawan-maniyyi,,2021-07-27,africacheck,,"Shafa tsakiyar ƙugu na sa ƙarin ruwan maniyyi, a cewar wani hoto a Facebook wanda mutane da dama suka aka rarraba shi.Hoton na ɗauke da kanun rubutun kamar haka, “ Yawan maniyyi” da kuma hoton babban ɗan yatsa akan tsakiyar ƙugu. “ Ku ƙara yawan maniyyi ta hanyar shafa nan wajen a ƙugun ku,” aka rubuta akan hoton.Wasu da su ke tsokaci a ƙasan rubutun waɗanda suka kai sama da mutum 600, na neman a tabbatar musu da gaskiyar batun. Akwai wata hujja a kimiyyance? Menene ƙarancin ruwan maniyyi?A cewar Mayo Clinic, wata cibiyar kiwon lafiya mallakar Amurka, ana ƙirga yawan maniyyin namiji ne ta hanyar dubawa da madubin dibarudu, sannan a ƙirga yawan ƙwayoyin halittar maniyyin da suka bayyana.Yawan ƙwayoyin halittar maniyyin lafiyayyen mutum yana kamawa daga miliyan 15 zuwa sama da miliyan 200 kowanne milimita. Wannan na nufin ƙasa da miliyan 39 yayin inzali. Babu hujja a kimiyyance “ Wannan ai abun dariya ne, duk shekarun da nayi ina aikin kiwon lafiya ban taɓa jin haka ba,” Cewar Sulyman Kuranga, Farfesan mafitsara na jami’ar Ilorin da ke arewa ta tsakiya a Najeriya, kamar yadda ya shaidawa Africa Check.Ya ce: “ Babu wata hujja a kimiyance cewa wannan zai ƙara yawan maniyyi. Sau tari ƙwayoyin cuta ke jawo matsalar ƙarancin yawan maniyyi. Idan an magance cutar, yawan maniyyi namiji na dawowa dai dai.”Don haka shafa ƙugu baya ƙara yawan maniyyi. Babu hujjar da ta tabbatar da hakan a kimiyance, hakan bashi da nasaba da samuwar ruwan maniyyi,” Kuranga ya ce.Bamu samu wani bayani ko bincike da akayi akan hakan ba.Africa Check ta taɓa tantance wata da’awa makamanciyar wannan, wadda ke cewa haɗa wasu  magungunan gargajiya na ƙara yawan maniyyi. Kamar dai wannan su ma ba mu samu wata hujja a kimiyyance ba, don haka da’awar ƙarya ce.","https://web.facebook.com/567790056994933/photos/a.568016010305671/596256384148300/,https://web.facebook.com/567790056994933/photos/a.568016010305671/596256384148300/,https://web.facebook.com/567790056994933/photos/a.568016010305671/596256384148300/,https://web.facebook.com/567790056994933/photos/a.568016010305671/596256384148300/,https://www.mayoclinic.org/,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/low-sperm-count/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20374591,https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/low-sperm-count/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20374591,https://www.unilorin.edu.ng/,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-combination-fruit-and-spices-wont-boost-sperm-count,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/mixture-bitter-kola-powder-honey-and-ginger-no-cure-low-or-no-sperm-count",Shafa ƙugu baya ƙara yawan maniyyi,"Wrist, massage, sperm count",,,,, +20,,,,Incorrect,Fatima Abubakar,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/fatima-abubakar,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/babu-wata-cikakkiyar-hujjar-cewa-jikakken-ganyen-mangwaro-na-taimakawa-masu,,2021-07-27,africacheck,,"Wani saƙo da ke yawo a Facebook a Najeriya na iƙirarin cewa za a iya amfani da  ganyen mangwaro don kula da cutar suga nau’i na biyu. Rubutun na Facebook na cewa: “ Ganyen Mangwaro na ɗauke da sindarin tanins da antosiyanis waɗanda suke da ikon taimakawa jiki ya samar da sinadarin insulin, ya daidaita yawan suga a jiki, ya taimakawa mai cutar suga nau’i na 2. Yana taimakawa mai ciwon rage alamomin ciwon a jiki, kamar yawan fitsari da daddare, ya kuma yi maganin cutukan sugan da akafi sani da aniyofati da ratinofati.”Ciwon suga cuta ce da ake rayuwa da ita a jiki, wacce ke haddasa hauhawar sikarin da ke jiki. Saboda gazawar jiki wajen samar da isasshen sinadarin insulin, ko kuma baya amfani da insulin ɗin da jiki ke samarwa yadda ya kamata. Jiki na amfani da sinadarin insulin wajen sarrafa suga da kitse.Cutar suga nau’i na 1 na afkuwa ne lokacin da jiki baya iya samar da isasshen sinadarin insulin, yayin da cutar suga nau’i na 2 na afkuwa ne lokacin da jiki ya gaza amfani da sinadarin insulin.Rubutun na Facebook ya bayyana yadda za’a haɗa da kuma yadda za’a yi amfani da jiƙon ganyen mangwaron.Shin akwai hujja a kimiyyance da ta tabbatar da hakan? Mun bincika. ‘Ba zan bawa kowa shawarar ya sha haɗin ba’ - cewar ƙwararre a fannin.A duk duniya, kimanin mutane miliyan 400 ke fama da cutar suga. Da dama sun fito daga ƙasashe masu ƙarancin tattalin arziƙi. Cutar na kashe aƙalla mutane milyan 1.6 a kowacce shekara, kamar yadda Hukumar Lafiya ta Duniya ta bayyana.Wasu binciken sun tattara bayanai akan sinadarin yaƙi da cutar suga da ke jikin mangwaro. Sharhi akan ayyukan ɗa itace da ganyen mangwaro wajen magani ya nuna cewa “ zai iya zama yana cikin magungunan maganin cutar suga”.“ Wasu daga cikin waɗannan itatuwa na da abubuwa kala kala a jikin su masu amfani,” Aihanuwa Eregie, Farfesa akan magunguna ta jami’ar Benin da ke kudu maso yammacin Najeriya ta shaidawa Africa Check.“Zan fi so ace anyi binciken waɗannan abubuwan a kimiyance, a fitar da abu mai amfani a yi gwaji akan sa na ɗan lokaci. Amma yanzu ba zan bawa kowa shawarar ya sha wannan haɗin ba,” Farfesar ta ce.Ta ƙara da cewa: “ Duk likitan da ya samo cikakken horo akan cutar suga, ba zai ce a sha ganyen mangwaro ba.”Hukumar kula da cututtaka masu yaɗuwa ta Amurka ta ce, za’a iya rayuwa da cutar suga tare da cin abincin da ya dace da shan magunguna don sauƙaƙa cutar suga, hawan jini da yawan kitse.","https://web.facebook.com/peterfatomilolaofficialpag/posts/1552215944969948,https://web.facebook.com/peterfatomilolaofficialpag/posts/1552215944969948,https://web.facebook.com/peterfatomilolaofficialpag/posts/1552215944969948,https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes,https://www.hormone.org/your-health-and-hormones/glands-and-hormones-a-to-z/hormones/insulin,https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/diabetes,https://web.facebook.com/peterfatomilolaofficialpag/posts/1552215944969948,https://www.who.int/health-topics/diabetes#tab=tab_1,https://www.who.int/health-topics/diabetes#tab=tab_1,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452316X17300819,https://www.phytojournal.com/archives/2016/vol5issue3/PartA/5-2-21-518.pdf,https://www.uniben.edu/,https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/type2.html",Babu wata cikakkiyar hujjar cewa jiƙaƙƙen ganyen mangwaro na taimakawa masu cutar suga nau’i na biyu,"fake cures, diabetes, mixtures",,,,, +21,,,,False,Fatima Abubakar,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/fatima-abubakar,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/babu-hujjar-cewa-sojojin-najeriya-300-sun-bar-aiki-tun-bayan-hatsarin-jirgin,,2021-07-27,africacheck,,"“ SAMA DA SOJOJIN NAJERIYA 300 NE SUKA BAR AIKI BAYAN JIRGIN DA AKE ZARGI YA FADO DA SHUGABAN SOJOJIN DA WASU,” cewar wani rubutu da aka wallafa a Facebook a Najeriya, a watan Mayu 2021.Rubutun ya ƙara da cewa: “ MU DAI MUNA ZUBA IDO.”Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, shugaban sojoji, ya rasa ransa da wasu mutane 10 ranar 21 ga watan Mayu a wani hatsarin jirgin sama a jihar Kaduna, arewa maso yammacin Najeriya. Jirgin ya taso ne daga Abuja, babban birnin tarayya, inda ya faɗi yayin da ya ke ƙoƙarin sauka a Kaduna sanadiyar rashin kyan yanayi. Ko sojojin Najeriya da dama sun bar aiki bayan afkuwar hatsarin? Mun bincika. Bamu samu inda aka fitar da labarin cewa sojoji 300 sun bar aiki baLabarin barin aikin sojoji na kwana-kwanan nan dai anyi shi tun watan Junerun 2021, inda aka ce an bawa sojojin 127 damar ajiye aiki idan suna so kafin watan Mayu. Kwamitin wakilai a Najeriya ya tabbatar da cewa a shekarar 2020 dai sojoji 386 sun ajiye aikin da kansu, dalilin matsalar rashin lafiya da wasu matsalolin..Amma babu rahoton barin aikin sojoji 300 bayan rasuwar Attahiru.Bamu samu shelar barin sojoji aiki ba a shafin rundunar sojojin, hanyoyin watsa labaran su ko a shafukan su na yanar gizo.","https://web.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=181073540577691&id=105023624849350&__cft__%5b0%5d=AZW0YHH6bwRBXe-Tm52ZxFFYVtNi242-Bs0ZKoZn90_qYyPbqXSjtNrHMemTglJb0ASictBnUG2YF1ypVpmOZlpfLCltDQj2TqIRZtOv7USb2BaZwaMWFMGgNhMbi_FVIhfV4sPX6KifvXumZqxYT9fp&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57208951,https://army.mil.ng/chief-of-army-staff-lt-gen-ibrahim-attahiru-dies-in-air-crash/,https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/437852-exclusive-127-soldiers-resign-from-nigerian-army.html,https://www.icirnigeria.org/why-3https:/www.icirnigeria.org/why-386-soldiers-resigned-from-nigerian-army-in-q2-of-2020-reps/,https://dailytrust.com/386-soldiers-quit-army-in-1-year-reps,https://army.mil.ng/,https://twitter.com/HQNigerianArmy",Babu hujjar cewa sojojin Najeriya 300 sun bar aiki tun bayan hatsarin jirgin saman da yayi sanadin mutuwar shugaban sojojin,military,,,,, +22,,,,Fake,Grace Gichuhi,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/grace-gichuhi,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-tanzanian-president-suluhu-didnt-tweet-twitter-activist-kigogo2014-should,,2021-07-26,africacheck,,"Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu has come out in support of a prominent but anonymous Twitter user with the handle @Kigogo2014, a whistleblower and human rights activist who was threatened with arrest by the administration of late president John Magufuli.At least, so it appears in what seems to be a screenshot of a tweet from Suluhu’s verified Twitter account, circulating on Facebook since June 2021.“Mwacheni Kigogo2014 Fanyeni mambo ya msingi na yenye Tija katika nchi, Kila mmoja ana Haki na Uhuru wa kujieleza,” the tweet reads, in Kiswahili.This roughly translates as: “Let Kigogo2014 be. Focus on important and productive issues in the country. Every person has a right and freedom to express themselves.”The screenshot has been shared in two public Facebook groups, one with more than 280,000 members, the other with some 67,000 members. False claims of copyright infringement have been used in an attempt to silence @Kigogo2014, who has more than 577,000 followers and has been described in Tanzania as “our president of the Twitter republic”.The activist’s identity is unknown, a “closely guarded secret”, the BBC says. He or she told the BBC: “I'm a whistleblower and I expose corruption and human rights abuses in the country.”But did Suluhu, who succeeded Magufuli when he died in March, really tweet that @Kigogo2104 should be left alone?We checked.‘This information is not true’There is no reference to “Kigogo2014” on the Tanzanian presidency’s official Facebook page. An advanced Twitter search also returned no results. But the screenshot was posted on “Ikulu Mawasiliano”, the Facebook page of the president’s communication team – stamped “FAKE NEWS”.“TAARIFA HII SIYO YA KWELI. IPUUZWE,” the post reads. Translation: “This information is not true. Ignore it.” A screenshot of a tweet suggests that Tanzanian president Suluhu has called for activist Twitter user @Kigogo2014 to be left alone. But the president’s communications team dismissed it as fake.","https://www.ikulu.go.tz/,https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/minister-lugola-launches-attack-on-twitter-user-kigogo-ahead-of-civic-polls-2695988,https://twitter.com/kigogo2014,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55186932,https://www.thecitizen.co.tz/tanzania/news/minister-lugola-launches-attack-on-twitter-user-kigogo-ahead-of-civic-polls-2695988,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56437852,https://www.facebook.com/groups/305876886781039/posts/787087178660005/,https://www.facebook.com/groups/329927404946164/posts/498008031471433/,https://web.facebook.com/groups/329927404946164/permalink/498008031471433/,https://www.facebook.com/groups/329927404946164/posts/498008031471433/,https://www.facebook.com/groups/305876886781039/posts/787087178660005/,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55186932,https://twitter.com/kigogo2014,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55186932,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55186932,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56437852,https://www.facebook.com/groups/305876886781039/posts/787087178660005/,https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-07/Kigogo2014.JPG,https://www.facebook.com/ikulu.mawasiliano,https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-07/Kigogo2014Twitter.JPG,https://web.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=129513889284026&id=100402328861849,https://web.facebook.com/Ikulu-Mawasiliano-100402328861849/?__cft__%5b0%5d=AZWm2B-o-K7ntsm7IN5Cy5w_26GOSiZRCheTSp_FZvK4JsVHslryicDjSarNS8U6Fgz4HozXk-_LKiwIEwRDXWryZ2AKNN_QNArcPCFCF4YaVjHmQOuGz_5Xq-MQ1q-Oy0H3Uy0sMFpbECCwqzBz0D8j&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R,https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=129513889284026&id=100402328861849","No, Tanzanian president Suluhu didn’t tweet that Twitter activist @Kigogo2014 should be left alone",,,,,, +23,,,,Correct,Mandy Lombo,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/mandy-lombo,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/yes-video-shows-massive-queue-shops-ulundi-after-shutdownsa-protests,,2021-07-26,africacheck,,"South Africa’s Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces experienced a week of looting, protests and violence following former president Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment for contempt of court. During the tense week several false and misleading videos were shared online. In many cases old or out of context videos were passed off as recent events. Social media users tagged Africa Check in many of the posts, including one with a video of a long queue winding along a road. Most posts of the video, filmed from a helicopter, said it showed food queues in Ulundi, KwaZulu-Natal. We checked. Google Maps confirms video filmed in Ulundi Using Google Maps we were able to confirm that the video was filmed in Ulundi. At the beginning of the video there’s a building on the corner of a T-junction. This is the Ulundi police station on King Zwelithini street. A billboard in the video is also visible in Google street view. At 19 seconds the Ulundi municipal building appears in the video. In Google satellite view, the same building and green roofs can be seen. Video filmed on 16 July 2021The next step was to confirm if the video was filmed after the violence and looting in KwaZulu-Natal. Africa Check spoke to Ulundi’s municipality speaker, councillor Johanna Manana. She confirmed that the video was shot on 16 July 2021, by municipal manager Nkosenye Zulu.  Manana said the queue formed because the municipality had decided that “only two shops, Spar and Boxer, would be open on that day. This was to try and avoid looting and burning of shops.” She said that all shops in Ulundi had since been opened.","https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/07/13/south-africa-zuma-protests-violence/,https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57650517,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/reports/beware-you-share-these-shutdownsa-videos-are-misleading,https://twitter.com/SammyJoeD/status/1416056830661382147,https://twitter.com/SammyJoeD/status/1416056830661382147,https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ulundi/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x1ef0636c86b220c3:0xcb1dd66c50c6974d?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiWiKnD5fjxAhX3QUEAHZW1AxsQ8gEwJHoECFMQAQ,https://www.google.com/maps/@-28.2951811,31.4291395,3a,75y,225.26h,83.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1svjOb6-wXxoZCsxqhwVg5XQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DvjOb6-wXxoZCsxqhwVg5XQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D304.48022%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656,https://www.google.com/maps/@-28.2954652,31.4281484,329m/data=!3m1!1e3,https://www.google.com/maps/@-28.2924603,31.4252623,329m/data=!3m1!1e3,https://www.ulundi.gov.za/office-mm","Yes, video shows massive queue for shops in Ulundi after #ShutdownSA protests",,,,,, +24,,,,False,Taryn Willows,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/taryn-willows,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-covid-vaccines-cannot-make-you-magnetic-videos-claim,,2021-07-23,africacheck,,"Several videos doing the rounds on Facebook in South Africa appear to show different metal objects sticking to people who have recently received the Covid-19 vaccine.One video shows a phone stuck to a man’s arm, apparently after he received the second jab of the vaccine against Covid.Another shows a metal spoon sticking to a woman’s arm, apparently also  after she received the vaccine.A third video, with people speaking isiZulu, shows a woman putting a coin against a man’s arm and it also sticking to him. It’s unclear whether the man and woman in the third video are in fact South African, as the dialogue is out of sync with the people speaking, so may have been recorded over a video from elsewhere. The man and woman in the first and second videos sound Nigerian, though this could not be immediately confirmed.These videos have been widely shared since vaccines against Covid-19 first became available in South Africa, with claims the vaccines contain metals or microchips that make the site of injection magnetic. But could this startling claim be true? We checked.Debunked by South African government news agencyThe South African government news agency put out a statement about the reported phenomena on 11 June 2021, in response to the viral videos. It started: “The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health has welcomed input from top global health experts, who have dismissed purported links between the Covid-19 vaccine and magnetic fields.”Provincial government minister of health Nomagugu Simelane said that “several international medical scientists have rejected these claims as scientifically improbable and false”.“According to a report shared by World Health Organization (WHO) affiliated group, Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (Aira), Covid-19 vaccines do not contain magnetic microchips.”An earlier statement by the South African government on 9 June quoted Dr Stephen Schrantz, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Chicago. He said: “No, getting a Covid-19 vaccine cannot cause your arm to be magnetised. This is a hoax, plain and simple”.“There is absolutely no way that a vaccine can lead to the reaction shown in these videos posted to Instagram and YouTube. It is better explained by two-sided tape on the metal disc being applied to the skin, rather than a magnetic reaction,” he said.The government also quoted Dr Thomas Hope, vaccine researcher and professor of cell and developmental biology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in the US, who also debunked the claim.He said: “This is impossible. There’s nothing there [in the vaccine] that a magnet can interact with, it’s protein and lipids, salts, water and chemicals that maintain the pH. That’s basically it, so this is not possible.”Nothing magnetic in vaccine ingredients?In order for these metal objects to stick to where someone has received the vaccine jab, the ingredients would have to have a metal base.According to the WHO, none of the ingredients in Covid vaccines have a metal base.The WHO also says that many of the components used in vaccines “occur naturally in the body, in the environment, and in the foods we eat”. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also lists the ingredients for each of the Covid-19 vaccines approved around the world.The various ingredients in the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are listed by the FDA. None of these vaccines list any metal-based ingredients. The US Centres for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) notes that “Covid-19 vaccines do not contain ingredients that can produce an electromagnetic field at the site of your injection”. (Note: Only the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines have been administered in South Africa at the time of writing.)Doses so small, even if were magnetic, wouldn’t attract objects shown in videosSome fact-checking organisations have also made the point that even if the vaccines did contain magnetic metals, one dose could not possibly cause a magnetic reaction. Medical professionals at the Meedan Health Desk have explained why: “The amount of metal that would need to be in a vaccine for it to attract a magnet is much more substantial than the amounts that could be present in a vaccine's small dose.”An expert the BBC spoke to gave some ways one can get metals to appear to stick to the skin. These include surface oils or tension and “trickery like band-aid residue or other sticky residue”. The claim that Covid-19 vaccines can cause a person to become magnetic at the vaccination site has been widely debunked by several other fact-checking organisations. It is simply not possible.","https://www.facebook.com/ruth.suowari/videos/418750162587520/,https://www.facebook.com/poemosis/videos/1168663400313236/,https://www.facebook.com/mbokazi/posts/10224841580205302,https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/covid-19-vaccine-magnetic-fields-claims-dismissed,https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/covid-19-vaccine-magnetic-fields-claims-dismissed,https://www.gov.za/speeches/mec-nomagugu-simelane-welcomes-dismissal-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-%E2%80%9Cmagnet%E2%80%9D-claims-hoax,https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/vaccines-and-immunization-what-is-vaccination?topicsurvey=)&gclid=CjwKCAjwruSHBhAtEiwA_qCppkxj3NWUiMNQ3be39DV5yPfZ19F0O0YrB_Nqn0Zl4w7rsn2qR5939RoCvbEQAvD_BwE,https://www.fda.gov/,https://www.fda.gov/media/144414/download#page=2,https://www.fda.gov/media/144638/download#page=2,https://www.fda.gov/media/146305/download#page=2,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/facts.html,https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-coronavirus-vaccine-idUSL2N2N41KA,https://health-desk.org/articles/what-do-we-know-about-the-pfizer-vaccine-and-magnets,https://www.bbc.com/news/av/57207134,https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/06/21/fact-check-covid-19-vaccines-arent-magnetic/7698556002/,https://www.jacarandafm.com/shows/mornings-with-mack/watch-covid-19-vaccine-wont-make-you-magnetic/,https://www.bbc.com/news/av/57207134","No, Covid vaccines cannot make you magnetic as videos claim","magnet, Coronavirus, Covid-19 vaccine",,,,, +25,,,,Incorrect,Naledi Mashishi,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/naledi-mashishi,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/reports/state-emergency-would-not-strip-ramaphosas-powers-and-make-dlamini-zuma,"If a state of emergency is declared in South Africa the president will be stripped of his powers, which will go to the military. Cooperative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will, in terms of the disaster management act, “take over”.",2021-07-23,africacheck,,"After calls for a state of emergency to deal with protests and looting in South Africa, a message appeared on social media claiming that an emergency declaration would give the president’s powers to the military and put cooperative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma in charge.Constitutional law experts told Africa Check this was false. A state of emergency would give the president more power, and he would retain control of the military.The current state of disaster to control Covid-19 does give the cooperative governance minister limited new powers. But she would not “take over”, as the message claims, under a state of emergency.A message heavily shared on WhatsApp and Facebook warns about the consequences of a state of emergency being declared in South Africa.“If a state of emergency is declared the military takes over the rule of the land and the state president is stripped of his powers,” it reads. “In terms of the Disaster management Act Nkosazana dlamini Zuma will take over giving power to the Zuma’s.” Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is South Africa’s minister of cooperative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta). She was married to former president Jacob Zuma from 1993 to 1998.South Africa saw a week of violent protests and looting after Zuma was taken into custody to serve a 15-month sentence for contempt of court. At least 337 people were killed and 1,500 arrested. The violence led to calls for the government to declare a state of emergency to restore order.Is the message an accurate reflection of what would happen if a state of emergency was declared in South Africa? We checked. Viral message is ‘absurd’Prof Pierre de Vos, a constitutional law expert in the department of public law at the University of Cape Town, said the viral message was “absurd”. He explained that under a state of emergency, governance still lies with parliament and the executive. But the presidency is given more powers –  they are not “stripped” away. The South African constitution and the State of Emergency Act allow the president to declare a state of emergency only when “the life of the nation is threatened by war, invasion, general insurrection, disorder, natural disaster, or other public emergency”. It can apply to the whole country or a specific area. “It gives the president Cyril Ramaphosa more power to make regulations,” de Vos said. But he added that there were limits to the presidency’s additional powers under a state of emergency: “The extra powers can only be used if they are necessary to deal with the emergency. You cannot make regulations about things that are not directly linked to trying to deal with the emergency.”Michael Evans is an attorney and partner at law firm Webber Wentzel with experience in local government, and administrative and constitutional issues. He told Africa Check that the military would not take over during a state of emergency. “The president is still the one who [delegates] responsibility and [confers] power and he can at any time withdraw it.”State of disaster during Covid pandemic  The message also claims that “in terms of the Disaster management Act Nkosazana dlamini Zuma will take over giving power to the Zuma’s”. South Africa is currently under a state of disaster, which was declared on 15 March 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Disaster Management Act, which falls under Cogta, dictates which regulations are enforced. At the moment these include mandatory mask-wearing in public, a curfew, restrictions on gatherings and an alcohol ban.But De Vos said the act was “completely separate” legislation that could not override the constitution. Evans told Africa Check that while the state of disaster has given Dlamini-Zuma powers that she would not ordinarily have as Cogta minister, she does not take the place of the president. He said there were key differences between a state of emergency and a state of disaster.A state of emergency has more parliamentary oversight than a state of disaster. Under the constitution, parliament must review a state of emergency after 21 days. “One of the problems with the national disaster has been that once a national disaster has been declared there is very little parliamentary oversight, which we’ve seen in the last year and a half,” Evans explained. Another major difference is that the public still have all of their basic constitutional rights under a state of disaster. But these rights can be limited under a state of emergency.  No state of emergency since apartheid ended South Africa last saw a state of emergency under the apartheid regime, in 1986. Evans, who was detained three times during apartheid-era states of emergency, told Africa Check the current state of emergency act was a “much better situation”.“Under the apartheid era we had no constitution so there was absolutely no protection. You could detain people, for example, indefinitely under the emergency in the apartheid era,” he said. “Now, if we have a state of emergency it will be very different because you will still retain a number of your constitutional rights and some of the other issues are quite heavily regulated.”The constitution includes a section setting out which rights can be limited under a state of emergency, and to what extent. Importantly, the right to life and human dignity are entirely protected from limitation. But De Vos warned that a state of emergency should not be taken lightly, as other rights could be limited. “They could, for example, allow people to be detained for 30 or 60 days without a trial.” The government could have the power to limit the media and communication, such as by shutting down the internet, if it is deemed necessary to deal with the emergency.Conclusion: No accuracy in claims about state of emergency in South AfricaA viral message on WhatsApp and Facebook warns that a declaration of a state of emergency in South Africa would strip powers from the president and give them to the military. It also claims that under the Disaster Management Act, Cogta minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma would become president.Two constitutional law experts rubbished these claims. Under a state of emergency the president is given more power and retains control of the military. The current state of disaster to deal with Covid-19 does give Dlamini-Zuma more power than before. But she would not become the president under a state of emergency.We therefore rate the message as incorrect.The experts warned, however, that a state of emergency should not be taken lightly as it could allow basic rights to be limited.","https://africacheck.org/sites/default/files/media/images/2021-07/State%20of%20Emergency.png,https://www.facebook.com/bevlee.naidoo/posts/10159575876567498,https://www.dpme.gov.za/about/Pages/Minister-Nkosazana-Dlamini-Zuma.aspx,https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/nkosazana-clarice-dlamini-zuma,https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-17-this-is-us-those-trying-to-tear-south-africa-apart/,https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/22/south-africa-unrest-death-toll-jumps-to-more-than-300,https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/505776/more-groups-call-for-state-of-emergency-in-south-africa/,http://www.publiclaw.uct.ac.za/pbl/staff/pdevos,http://www.publiclaw.uct.ac.za/,http://www.uct.ac.za/,https://www.gov.za/about-government/government-system/executive-authority-president-cabinet-and-deputy-ministers,https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf,https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a64-97.pdf,https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a64-97.pdf#page=2,https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf#page=20,https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a64-97.pdf#page=2,https://www.webberwentzel.com/Specialists/Pages/Michael-Evans.aspx,https://www.webberwentzel.com/Pages/default.aspx,http://declared,https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202106/44772rg11299gon565.pdf,https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202106/44772rg11299gon565.pdf#page=3,https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202106/44772rg11299gon565.pdf#page=5,https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202106/44772rg11299gon565.pdf#page=7,https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/202106/44772rg11299gon565.pdf#page=14,https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf#page=20,https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/states-emergency-south-africa-1960s-and-1980s,https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf#page=22,https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/saconstitution-web-eng.pdf#page=22",State of emergency would NOT strip Ramaphosa’s powers and make Dlamini-Zuma president,"state of emergency, president, Dlamini-Zuma",,,,, +26,,,,False,Dancan Bwire,,,africacheck,https://africacheck.org/about/authors/dancan-bwire,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/fbchecks/no-evidence-nairobi-county-deputy-governor-made-statement-about-kenya-trade,,2021-07-23,africacheck,,"Has the acting governor of Kenya’s capital credited her success to a prominent trade unionist?A graphic shared in a Facebook group with over a million members includes a photo of and supposedly quotes Nairobi county deputy governor Anne Kananu Mwenda. She has been acting governor since January 2021. The quote reads: “Without Francis Atwoli I wouldn't be deputy governor of Nairobi today, it is him who called Murathe and told him that regardless of being a Sonko nominee he believed that I would deliver. It is great honor to rename Dik Dik Road after my political godfather. On top of that he is also a staunch supporter of BBI.” Atwoli is the general secretary of Kenya’s Central Organization of Trade Unions. A road in Nairobi was named after him in May and he publicly thanked Mwenda for the honour on Twitter. But the renaming was criticised by some Kenyans and new road signs have been vandalised at least twice.David Murathe is the vice-chairperson of the country’s ruling party, Jubilee. Mike Mbuvi Sonko is the former governor of Nairobi county who was removed from office in December 2020.The graphic also shows the logo of the trusted news outlet Nation Africa. It has been shared by other users and Facebook groups. But is the quote genuine?No evidence Mwenda said anything similarThe graphic looks badly photoshopped and the photo of Mwenda is blurry. The quote includes misspellings and missing words, which is unusual in a communication from a trustworthy news organisation. The font is also different from the one used in other similar graphics from Nation Africa. These are all signs that the graphic wasn’t issued by the news outlet and is fake.Africa Check looked at all similar graphics published since 18 June 2021 and did not find this quote from Mwenda, or anything similar.Using the Nairobi City County website, we found the county’s Twitter handle and from there, the county deputy boss’s account. She has not posted anything on Twitter like the comment in the digitally manipulated graphic.We could find no coverage in any news outlet of a quote like it. It appears to have been made up.","https://www.facebook.com/groups/kenyapolitforum/permalink/2871879856444117/,https://citizentv.co.ke/news/who-is-anne-kananu-mwenda-the-new-nairobi-deputy-governor-311181/,https://citizentv.co.ke/news/who-is-anne-kananu-mwenda-the-new-nairobi-deputy-governor-311181/,https://www.pulselive.co.ke/news/local/jubilee-partys-message-to-anne-kananu-mwenda-after-taking-over-as-acting-nairobi/3h5jgg2,https://www.facebook.com/khalifoi/posts/10220970494184595,https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/lifestyle/profiles/francis-atwoli-straight-shooter-no-hostages-over-street-name-3425646,https://cotu-kenya.org/,https://twitter.com/AtwoliDza/status/1397894774787616775,https://twitter.com/AtwoliDza/status/1397894774787616775,https://citizentv.co.ke/news/francis-atwoli-road-sign-in-kileleshwa-burnt-down-11932708/,https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/entertainment/nainotepad/2001308336/david-murathe-the-chief-chef-in-uhurus-kitchen-cabinet,https://twitter.com/MikeSonko,https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/politics/article/2001397657/its-over-for-sonko,https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=192229306150952&id=103041941736356,https://nation.africa/kenya,https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10219545116081750&set=bc.Abo0ISOgdBjLRJsp5pZmVgWquSoilJF5aqwBgAh8vVrEwN6TqiPjZQmE-ieYH54Qsbc8zq3CR5XoONVicDSSrcjsNQMG9SGmp22TEEPxc5YU87w4Kcgzj8O3cQu35AhVdh2jYpVYM5YZUrD5Xlj-4bLrS_0nyHsgsQlo5jhq7Nb9BeGCEJ99jqXLUA3xttjWpSaxrRgfYTnha_vinzbp2fH0NH5gHPMIY4AnrX5QTJRIs94YTuKrVoyjyieDkD7JLoCDQFYAy3kalnCn2FkIgMa9qJwsF6WIW75tjzqsJHa48dS-xYvBuD--uGqcvaZ7V18rjVpVRwRM1Uepy0eJVXXkDtYBCHv4eS9XGFB6YEDWdnCzSXtNDfcRV6m0qFjePuM&opaqueCursor=AbpySrKdzkXnOLaMMmf8XWMhrGtdJs2NotEy4bPwnkorwa91N9RlmWY5Ubav8iriaBEkfXTMJNp_IMTLmOPXgKbf7l9XB-xjAVzdNo0pc04VMN_qpGT2EiwchadFQJ0IDe55-qWUjvVjbtOkuA92RnmM2UYhyWb4v_u-c3NztQ3KVuiLE_hUtA6j3aXTEp3EfG9HuzZm7KI7ZnN1gLvOzJhY_K1w3X20sVWyiBeEpctqVRR1X412c-iCOxkyuaWPl2X0gcCp8jEUjTt4LbYa7d22IUu0N41GVUQCexpklQoIk_SSzs35Cy8qB7udXRemIJlM_5JwSIa2RvY0s1uDLxAgzU6tXaEAvIqAKhUJM4H53coGmr2gZhV1MuZNLhE7JZAPwnQUQsxD9ZSWFFpbAFtzmAk1Ht5xF3K4_SsPc82hxWIiaMyw0PNt_zT7gQwPVMCWoktJROLNOqGOmgymN6hSAzLcqmKGdVS3tYD7ejFBhIYJ5A58Ux3tjj2L8csU2Sj6k9GhOj_5puB6kACTewy1qohzEyMYrEXAYM5dizx__oC96hf5YULjHQqf0T2FYGY,https://www.facebook.com/khalifoi/posts/10220970494184595,https://www.facebook.com/groups/3061760543907386/permalink/4226008697482559,https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=192229306150952&id=103041941736356,https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=192229306150952&id=103041941736356,https://www.facebook.com/nation/photos/10159823771319497,https://nairobi.go.ke/,https://twitter.com/047County?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Eprofile%3A047County%7Ctwgr%5EeyJ0ZndfZXhwZXJpbWVudHNfY29va2llX2V4cGlyYXRpb24iOnsiYnVja2V0IjoxMjA5NjAwLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X2hvcml6b25fdHdlZXRfZW1iZWRfOTU1NSI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJodGUiLCJ2ZXJzaW9uIjpudWxsfSwidGZ3X3R3ZWV0X2VtYmVkX2NsaWNrYWJpbGl0eV8xMjEwMiI6eyJidWNrZXQiOiJjb250cm9sIiwidmVyc2lvbiI6bnVsbH19&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnairobi.go.ke%2F,https://twitter.com/047County/status/1405170397369282562,https://twitter.com/AnnKMwenda1,https://twitter.com/AnnKMwenda1",No evidence Nairobi county deputy governor made statement about Kenya trade unionist helping her get top job,,,,,, diff --git a/output_sample_checkyourfact.csv b/samples/output_sample_checkyourfact.csv similarity index 100% rename from output_sample_checkyourfact.csv rename to samples/output_sample_checkyourfact.csv diff --git a/output_sample_fatabyyano.csv b/samples/output_sample_fatabyyano.csv similarity index 100% rename from output_sample_fatabyyano.csv rename to samples/output_sample_fatabyyano.csv diff --git a/samples/output_sample_fullfact.csv b/samples/output_sample_fullfact.csv new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5d1669 --- /dev/null +++ b/samples/output_sample_fullfact.csv @@ -0,0 +1,45 @@ +,rating_ratingValue,rating_worstRating,rating_bestRating,rating_alternateName,creativeWork_author_name,creativeWork_datePublished,creativeWork_author_sameAs,claimReview_author_name,claimReview_author_url,claimReview_url,claimReview_claimReviewed,claimReview_datePublished,claimReview_source,claimReview_author,extra_body,extra_refered_links,extra_title,extra_tags,extra_entities_claimReview_claimReviewed,extra_entities_body,extra_entities_keywords,extra_entities_author,related_links +0,,,,False,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-27,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/,"Tetanus is an anaerobic bacteria meaning it can't survive in oxygenated environments and because blood has oxygen in it, if the wound bled, there is no risk of tetanus.",2021-07-27,fullfact,,"A Facebook post contains lots of false information about tetanus, including misinformation about the types of wounds that can lead to tetanus infection, and the fact that a bleeding wound means there is “NO tetanus”.  Tetanus is an infection caused by a bacteria called Clostridium tetani, and affects the muscles and nervous system. It is rare in the UK, but can be fatal. The symptoms are caused by toxins produced by the bacteria once it enters the body.   The bacteria that cause tetanus can live in the gut and faeces of horses and other animals.  The bacteria itself is anaerobic (lives in an oxygen-free environment), but it produces spores which allow it to reproduce. These spores can live in lots of different environments including ones with oxygen, like on surfaces and in soil, and can survive for a very long time. Infection in humans then occurs if spores are introduced into the body, for example through a cut or wound. The Facebook post claims: “If your wound was not caused by a rusty nail (embedded in a place where cattle, sheep, or horses graze and poop, or where cattle, sheep, or horses used to graze or poop) or a pitch fork while mucking stalls... you most likely don’t have to worry about tetanus.” This isn’t true. While some types of injuries may pose a higher risk than others, the NHS website describes several different types of injury that could pose a risk of tetanus infection, especially if you are not vaccinated, including eye injury, contaminated injections, piercings, burns and animal bites. Public Health England says tetanus may also follow injecting drug use or abdominal surgery.  The post adds: “Once exposed to oxygen, it dies. Blood carries oxygen, so if the wound is bleeding, it is being oxygenated.” Although it is true that the bacteria require an environment without oxygen, it is not true that the presence of oxygen eliminates the risk of tetanus infection. A bleeding wound does not completely eliminate the risk of tetanus.  Vaccines against tetanus are a large part of why we have so few cases in the UK. The vaccine can protect against tetanus infection, and it is included in the standard UK immunisation schedule.  The post claims that if there were concerns about tetanus exposure, the only thing that could help would be an injection of tetanus immunoglobulin. This contains antibodies that stop the tetanus toxin working and offers immediate short term protection. The NHS website says that if somebody has a very high risk wound (but has not yet developed symptoms), the wound would be cleaned and immunoglobulins may be given. In addition, if somebody has not been fully vaccinated against tetanus, or isn’t sure, they may be given a top up vaccine.  If a tetanus infection is suspected (due to symptoms or laboratory tests), lots of different treatments may be given, including immunoglobulins, and this would normally require admission to hospital and an intensive care setting.  Tetanus immunisation is usually combined with others, for example, polio and diphtheria.","https://www.facebook.com/janine.brockway/posts/10158480827243727,https://patient.info/childrens-health/immunisation/tetanus-immunisation,https://patient.info/childrens-health/immunisation/tetanus-immunisation#nav-0,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tetanus/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820628/Tetanus_information_for_health_professionals_2019.pdf#page=7,https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002230.htm,https://www.britannica.com/science/spore-biology,https://www.uptodate.com/contents/tetanus,https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tetanus,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tetanus/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820628/Tetanus_information_for_health_professionals_2019.pdf#page=7,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820628/Tetanus_information_for_health_professionals_2019.pdf#page=8,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820628/Tetanus_information_for_health_professionals_2019.pdf#page=14,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tetanus/,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tetanus/,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/nhs-vaccinations-and-when-to-have-them/,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/3-in-1-teenage-booster/,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Facebook post on tetanus jabs gets a lot wrong,,,,,, +1,,,,False,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-27,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/,"Tetanus is an anaerobic bacteria meaning it can't survive in oxygenated environments and because blood has oxygen in it, if the wound bled, there is no risk of tetanus.",2021-07-27,fullfact,,"A Facebook post contains lots of false information about tetanus, including misinformation about the types of wounds that can lead to tetanus infection, and the fact that a bleeding wound means there is “NO tetanus”.  Tetanus is an infection caused by a bacteria called Clostridium tetani, and affects the muscles and nervous system. It is rare in the UK, but can be fatal. The symptoms are caused by toxins produced by the bacteria once it enters the body.   The bacteria that cause tetanus can live in the gut and faeces of horses and other animals.  The bacteria itself is anaerobic (lives in an oxygen-free environment), but it produces spores which allow it to reproduce. These spores can live in lots of different environments including ones with oxygen, like on surfaces and in soil, and can survive for a very long time. Infection in humans then occurs if spores are introduced into the body, for example through a cut or wound. The Facebook post claims: “If your wound was not caused by a rusty nail (embedded in a place where cattle, sheep, or horses graze and poop, or where cattle, sheep, or horses used to graze or poop) or a pitch fork while mucking stalls... you most likely don’t have to worry about tetanus.” This isn’t true. While some types of injuries may pose a higher risk than others, the NHS website describes several different types of injury that could pose a risk of tetanus infection, especially if you are not vaccinated, including eye injury, contaminated injections, piercings, burns and animal bites. Public Health England says tetanus may also follow injecting drug use or abdominal surgery.  The post adds: “Once exposed to oxygen, it dies. Blood carries oxygen, so if the wound is bleeding, it is being oxygenated.” Although it is true that the bacteria require an environment without oxygen, it is not true that the presence of oxygen eliminates the risk of tetanus infection. A bleeding wound does not completely eliminate the risk of tetanus.  Vaccines against tetanus are a large part of why we have so few cases in the UK. The vaccine can protect against tetanus infection, and it is included in the standard UK immunisation schedule.  The post claims that if there were concerns about tetanus exposure, the only thing that could help would be an injection of tetanus immunoglobulin. This contains antibodies that stop the tetanus toxin working and offers immediate short term protection. The NHS website says that if somebody has a very high risk wound (but has not yet developed symptoms), the wound would be cleaned and immunoglobulins may be given. In addition, if somebody has not been fully vaccinated against tetanus, or isn’t sure, they may be given a top up vaccine.  If a tetanus infection is suspected (due to symptoms or laboratory tests), lots of different treatments may be given, including immunoglobulins, and this would normally require admission to hospital and an intensive care setting.  Tetanus immunisation is usually combined with others, for example, polio and diphtheria.","https://www.facebook.com/janine.brockway/posts/10158480827243727,https://patient.info/childrens-health/immunisation/tetanus-immunisation,https://patient.info/childrens-health/immunisation/tetanus-immunisation#nav-0,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tetanus/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820628/Tetanus_information_for_health_professionals_2019.pdf#page=7,https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002230.htm,https://www.britannica.com/science/spore-biology,https://www.uptodate.com/contents/tetanus,https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tetanus,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tetanus/,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820628/Tetanus_information_for_health_professionals_2019.pdf#page=7,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820628/Tetanus_information_for_health_professionals_2019.pdf#page=8,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/820628/Tetanus_information_for_health_professionals_2019.pdf#page=14,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tetanus/,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tetanus/,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/nhs-vaccinations-and-when-to-have-them/,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/3-in-1-teenage-booster/,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Facebook post on tetanus jabs gets a lot wrong,,,,,, +2,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-27,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/,The daily number of Covid-19 cases seriously understates the real total because it does not count reinfections.,2021-07-27,fullfact,,"ITV News’s political editor Robert Peston said in a tweet that the number of Covid-19 cases being reported each day on the government’s Coronavirus Dashboard “seriously understates” the real number, because people who catch the disease more than once are not counted after the first time. While it is true that these reinfections are not counted as new cases on the dashboard, this is unlikely to mean that the daily case number “seriously understates” the number of cases each day. According to figures published by Public Health England (PHE), there have been 23,105 “possible reinfections” of Covid-19 in England up to 4 July 2021. PHE defines a possible reinfection as one person giving two positive tests “at least 90 days apart”. These are not definite reinfections, however. PHE says: “For a possible reinfection to be categorised as confirmed it requires sequencing of a specimen at each episode and for the later specimen to be genetically distinct from that sequenced from the earlier episode.” This is often not possible, however, since not all positive samples are genomically sequenced. The proportion of cases that are suspected reinfections changes from week to week, but the overall rate has been estimated by a PHE epidemiologist at around 1%. On the day that Mr Peston posted his tweet, 29,173 new cases were reported in the UK on the Coronavirus Dashboard. If a further 1% had been detected as reinfections and added to the total, following the pattern in England, this would have amounted to an extra 290 cases or so. It is possible that reinfections may become more common over time, if immunity from past infections wanes, or if new variants of Covid prove more likely to reinfect people. (Indeed there are indications that PHE may monitor reinfections more closely in future.) Reinfections aside, it’s true that the number of cases reported each day does underestimate the total number of actual infections in the real world, since some infections are asymptomatic and not everyone gets tested. Overall though, it is not right to say that the reported daily case total “seriously understates” the total number of detected cases, as the current evidence suggests it would be only 1% higher if reinfections were included. Mr Peston has since clarified that his concern was that “the quality of the dashboard infections data was not what it should be because of the policy driven exclusion of those who have been infected a second time”.","https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/about-data#:~:text=If%20a%20person%20has%20more%20than%20one%20positive%20test%2C%20they%20are%20only%20counted%20as%20one%20case.,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005056/Weekly_Flu_and_COVID-19_report_w29.pdf#page=18,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005056/Weekly_Flu_and_COVID-19_report_w29.pdf#page=17,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-exceeds-600000-covid-19-tests-genomically-sequenced,https://twitter.com/kallmemeg/status/1419246354224848897?s=20,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_date_reported,https://twitter.com/kallmemeg/status/1419249293693698049,https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1419683464408875012?s=20,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Robert Peston overstated the importance of reinfections,,,,,, +3,,,,Mixture,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-07-26,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/,The mandatory Covid-19 vaccine has been passed through the House of Lords without an impact assessment having been carried out.,2021-07-26,fullfact,,"A post on Facebook claims that a law mandating the Covid-19 vaccine has been passed through the House of Lords without an impact assessment.  This is true, but refers only to an amendment of the Health and Social Care Act which will make it a requirement for care home workers to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 from October.  It is not mandatory for anyone else to have a Covid-19 vaccination.  This amendment was passed after being voted through the House of Commons and approved by the House of Lords, and it is now law. Baroness Wheeler, a Labour peer, tabled another amendment highlighting the fact that “a full impact assessment has not been published including analysis of the number of current staff who may not comply and the potential impact on care homes if care home staff become ineligible for work because they are not fully vaccinated or medically exempt”.  The lack of an impact statement also prompted the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC), an independent group who assess the quality of evidence and analysis used to inform regulatory proposals across a number of policy areas, to say the Department of Health and Social Care should have produced an assessment and presented it to the RPC for scrutiny. The RPC also said it should have been seen by ministers and presented to Parliament before it was debated in the House of Commons.  Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi had said at a meeting of the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee on 13 July, that the impact assessment was being worked on and would hopefully be made available by the end of that month.  During the debate on this in the Lords, Baroness Wheeler said that an impact statement had been provided, but not a more thorough impact assessment.","https://www.facebook.com/cassiesunshine369/posts/10157902819056857,https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/health-and-social-care-act-2008-regulated-activities-amendment-coronavirus-regulations-2021/#:~:text=would%20make%20it%20a%20requirement%20for%20workers%20in%20care%20homes%20to%20be%20fully%20vaccinated%20against%20coronavirus,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/891/contents/made,https://commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/document/49419/html#:~:text=11National%20Health%20Service,accordingly%20agreed%20to.,https://commonsbusiness.parliament.uk/document/49419/html#:~:text=11National%20Health%20Service,accordingly%20agreed%20to.,https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/891/contents/made,https://votes.parliament.uk/Votes/Lords/Division/2552,https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/regulatory-policy-committee/about#:~:text=we%20assess%20the%20quality%20of%20evidence%20and%20analysis%20used%20to%20inform%20regulatory%20proposals%20affecting%20the%20economy%2C%20businesses%2C%20civil%20society%2C%20charities%20and%20other%20non-government%20organisations.,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regulatory-policy-committee-statement-on-the-draft-health-and-social-care-act-2008-regulated-activities-amendment-coronavirus-regulations-2021,https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/2542/html/#:~:text=You%20are%20absolutely,with%20your%20permission.,https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2021-07-20/debates/8154B2EF-D373-4C43-8831-A6B79BCC29CA/Debate#contribution-DE2918F9-74F8-4FF5-A520-7290D1B589F6,https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/making-vaccination-a-condition-of-deployment-in-older-adult-care-homes/outcome/statement-of-impact-the-health-and-social-care-act-2008-regulated-activities-amendment-coronavirus-regulations-2021#cost-implications-for-care-home-providers,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Mandatory Covid-19 vaccine is only for care home workers,,,,,, +4,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-26,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/,Vaccinated people are dying from Covid-19.,2021-07-26,fullfact,,"A widely shared Facebook post asks “If the jabbed are apparently dying from the unjabbed. Why are the unjabbed not dying? And why are the jabbed dying?”  As we have written about before, the Covid-19 vaccines have been shown to be highly effective in preventing serious illness and death from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A recent Public Health England (PHE) study, for example, showed that two doses of vaccine are 96% effective against hospitalisation of patients infected with the delta variant.  However, no vaccine is 100% effective in preventing everyone from getting a disease, and some ‘breakthrough’ cases in vaccinated people are expected. Although the virus can be passed on from both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, we know that people who are vaccinated are less likely to transmit the virus. A July 2021 publication from PHE showed that amongst cases of the delta variant (which is now dominant in the UK), there have been 257 deaths within 28 days of a positive test in England since February 2021. Of these, just under half had received two doses of vaccine,  17% were amongst those who’d had the first dose and tested positive after a 21 day period (the time taken to build immunity), and 36% of those deaths were amongst unvaccinated people. However, this does not mean that the vaccines aren’t working, or are themselves causing the deaths.  It is important to remember that although the risk of death with Covid-19 is much reduced with vaccination, because so many people in the UK have been vaccinated, and uptake has been highest and provided first to the most vulnerable people, it is expected that many people who become unwell with Covid-19 will now be among those who are vaccinated.  As statisticians Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, ​​chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge University, and Anthony Masters, a statistical ambassador for the Royal Statistical Society, wrote in the Guardian, due to the age-related nature of Covid-19 deaths: someone aged 80 who is fully vaccinated has a similar risk profile to an unvaccinated person aged around 50.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=122998123360389&set=a.106860828307452&type=3,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/,https://fullfact.org/online/fully-vaccinated-deaths-daily-expose/,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001354/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_17.pdf#page=39,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/one-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-can-cut-household-transmission-by-up-to-half,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001358/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_18.pdf#page=17,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001358/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_18.pdf#page=3,https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2021/jun/27/why-most-people-who-now-die-with-covid-have-been-vaccinated,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Vaccines reduce the risk of death but don’t eliminate it altogether,,,,,, +5,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-26,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/,Vaccinated people are dying from Covid-19.,2021-07-26,fullfact,,"A widely shared Facebook post asks “If the jabbed are apparently dying from the unjabbed. Why are the unjabbed not dying? And why are the jabbed dying?”  As we have written about before, the Covid-19 vaccines have been shown to be highly effective in preventing serious illness and death from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. A recent Public Health England (PHE) study, for example, showed that two doses of vaccine are 96% effective against hospitalisation of patients infected with the delta variant.  However, no vaccine is 100% effective in preventing everyone from getting a disease, and some ‘breakthrough’ cases in vaccinated people are expected. Although the virus can be passed on from both vaccinated and unvaccinated people, we know that people who are vaccinated are less likely to transmit the virus. A July 2021 publication from PHE showed that amongst cases of the delta variant (which is now dominant in the UK), there have been 257 deaths within 28 days of a positive test in England since February 2021. Of these, just under half had received two doses of vaccine,  17% were amongst those who’d had the first dose and tested positive after a 21 day period (the time taken to build immunity), and 36% of those deaths were amongst unvaccinated people. However, this does not mean that the vaccines aren’t working, or are themselves causing the deaths.  It is important to remember that although the risk of death with Covid-19 is much reduced with vaccination, because so many people in the UK have been vaccinated, and uptake has been highest and provided first to the most vulnerable people, it is expected that many people who become unwell with Covid-19 will now be among those who are vaccinated.  As statisticians Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, ​​chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge University, and Anthony Masters, a statistical ambassador for the Royal Statistical Society, wrote in the Guardian, due to the age-related nature of Covid-19 deaths: someone aged 80 who is fully vaccinated has a similar risk profile to an unvaccinated person aged around 50.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=122998123360389&set=a.106860828307452&type=3,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/,https://fullfact.org/online/fully-vaccinated-deaths-daily-expose/,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001354/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_17.pdf#page=39,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/one-dose-of-covid-19-vaccine-can-cut-household-transmission-by-up-to-half,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001358/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_18.pdf#page=17,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001358/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_18.pdf#page=3,https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2021/jun/27/why-most-people-who-now-die-with-covid-have-been-vaccinated,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Vaccines reduce the risk of death but don’t eliminate it altogether,,,,,, +6,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-23,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/news/dawn-butler-boris-johnson-lying/,Vaccines have severed the link between Covid-19 infections and serious disease or death.,2021-07-23,fullfact,,"In a speech to Parliament on 22 July, the Labour MP Dawn Butler said that Boris Johnson “has lied to this House and the country, over and over again”. This broke the rules about “unparliamentary language”, which say that accusations of “deliberate falsehood” must only be made with prior permission of the Speaker. Ms Butler did not withdraw her comments and was asked to leave the House for the rest of the day as a result. Ms Butler based most of her claims that the Prime Minister lied on a widely viewed video from the lawyer and campaigner Peter Stefanovic. It is often impossible to say for sure whether somebody is “lying”, because you’d need to know that they intended to deceive people. At Full Fact, our focus is on whether the claim being made is true, not the intention behind it. However, it is correct that the majority of Mr Johnson’s claims that Ms Butler mentioned were either false or misleading.   On 29 January 2020, Boris Johnson said: “The economy, under this Conservative government, has grown by 73%.” Ms Butler is correct that this claim is false. As we wrote at the time, and as Mr Stefanovic says in his video, the 73% figure describes growth since 1990, not since 2010, which means it covers a much longer period that also includes 13 years of Labour government.   On 26 February 2020, Boris Johnson did say: “We have restored the nurses’ bursary.” He made similar claims on 4 March 2020 and 19 May 2021. A bursary for student nurses was reintroduced in 2019, but it did not restore funding for tuition fees that existed before. Under the bursary scheme which existed until 2017, new nursing students were entitled to a non-means tested grant of £1,000 a year, and a means tested bursary to help with living costs up to £3,191. Additional funding elements were available for certain students. Students who qualified for a bursary also had the costs of their tuition paid.  In 2017, following plans announced by George Osborne in 2015, the Conservative government led by Theresa May replaced this bursary with access to the full loan system used by other students, and began requiring student nurses to pay their own tuition fees. Some extra grants remained available for students with children or experiencing hardship. In December 2019, the Conservative government led by Boris Johnson announced the introduction of an additional £5,000 grant for all student nurses to help with living costs, with an additional £3,000 available for some eligible students. However, students would continue to pay their own tuition fees. This is not the same system that existed before 2017, so in that sense it is not true that the old bursary has been “restored”. Mr Johnson’s government has reintroduced a system in which all student nurses receive a non-repayable grant from the government, but it does not pay their tuition fees on their behalf, which was the system when the old bursary applied.   The Prime Minister said on 24 June 2020: “The [Covid-19 contact-tracing] app would be the icing on the cake, if we can get it to work. If we can get it to work, it would be a fine thing, but there isn’t one anywhere in the world so far.” We checked a similar claim that he made the day before, when he said: “No country currently has a functioning track and trace app”. The truth of this really depends on what you think it means for a contact-tracing app to “work” or “function”. Many countries had launched apps that were operational when the Prime Minister was speaking. However, at the time it was not yet clear whether any of their technological approaches were effective, or whether they’d been downloaded widely enough to reduce the spread of Covid. There is now some evidence that contact-tracing apps have been effective to some extent in several countries, including the UK. Arguably, Mr Johnson oversimplified the situation by claiming that no app was working anywhere (when he couldn’t yet be sure, and apps were certainly available and being downloaded by millions of people), but Ms Butler also oversimplified things by claiming that he was definitely wrong (which we can’t be sure he was at the time, either).     Mr Johnson said on 15 July 2020 that “the government are engaged in record investments in the NHS of £34bn.” And it was not the first time he had made this claim. Technically speaking, it is true in absolute cash terms, but this is a misleading way to measure it.   As we explained in November 2019, the government did announce a £34 billion spending increase for the NHS between 2018/19 and 2023/24. However, this figure does not account for inflation, which tends to make the actual value of a sum of money diminish over time. If you do account for inflation, which is the fairest way to compare sums of money across time, then the ‘real terms’ value of the spending increase was £20.5 billion. Nor is this spending increase a “record”. The last time NHS spending rose by at least this much in real terms was between 2004/05 and 2009/10.   This comes from Prime Minister’s Questions on 7 July 2021, when Mr Johnson said: “Scientists are also absolutely clear that we have severed the link between infection and serious disease and death.” Ms Butler is correct that this is not true. Vaccination is highly effective against the worst effects of Covid-19, but it is not perfectly effective. Recent data from Public Health England shows that even fully vaccinated people do sometimes get seriously ill with the disease, and a few still die. It is therefore not right to say that the link has been completely “severed” between infection and serious disease or death, although it has certainly been severely weakened. We have not attempted to determine whether the Prime Minister was ‘lying’ in any of these instances. The Ministerial Code states: “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.” The Prime Minister has corrected none of the errors mentioned in this piece, at the time of writing.","https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/e9085c07-ac3b-43dd-9dbf-71911d435363?in=15:37:55&out=15:39:46,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmproced/writev/language/p19.htm,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-01-29/debates/821DAC2A-A644-40CF-86AE-5D8CB585640D/Engagements#contribution-6FD04C53-12E7-47D0-B2DF-25B5857BD6C7,https://fullfact.org/economy/boris-johnson-economic-growth/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-02-26/debates/6A733918-AC43-4143-A629-0BA4AF5A932B/Engagements#contribution-5D74B73E-78A7-437F-84C3-5D6DD99E8A8C,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-03-04/debates/034D0B7F-9941-489F-ADDD-69F0E6FC7CA9/Engagements#contribution-DC09ECB4-8137-41A1-B314-DA2E27FC34D5,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-05-19/debates/C4EF032A-1F6B-429D-934D-B8BBF28D7B95/Engagements#contribution-357DC6C3-1BD3-49BF-B747-783999136D83,https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7436/CBP-7436.pdf#page=7,https://web.archive.org/web/20170329095234/http:/www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk:80/Documents/Students/Your_guide_to_NHS_Student_Bursaries_2016_-17_(V1)_09.2015_Web.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/spending-review-and-autumn-statement-2015-key-announcements,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#why-changes-to-funding-have-been-made,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#additional-funding,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-06-24/debates/A22E1955-6855-4DCA-B5A8-0A0D97A71BB5/PrimeMinister#contribution-68A65581-DFA5-452D-A4EE-91036487A53F,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00451-y,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-07-15/debates/8EB241F4-52D1-4AAD-9A64-D1D544FEE903/Engagements#contribution-A9E9FA33-D061-43FC-AE47-3AE1E59E7BB7,https://fullfact.org/health/boris-johnsons-first-interview-2020-fact-checked/,https://fullfact.org/election-2019/nhs-spending-biggest-boost/,https://fullfact.org/economy/economics-glossary/#:~:text=If%20an%20amount%20of%20money,%E2%80%9Creal%20terms%E2%80%9D%20pay%20rise.,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-07-07/debates/1C736EA1-AB82-4BE4-81D6-9D2F284BEAB3/Engagements#contribution-630FC374-5980-43EC-A603-37F1237EDAEC,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005517/Technical_Briefing_19.pdf#page=18,https://fullfact.org/online/fully-vaccinated-deaths-daily-expose/,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmproced/622/622ap28.htm,https://hansard.parliament.uk/search/MemberContributions?memberId=1423&startDate=07%2F23%2F2016%2000%3A00%3A00&endDate=07%2F23%2F2021%2000%3A00%3A00&type=Corrections,https://fullfact.org/news/boris-johnson-whatsapp-covid-life-expectancy-cummings/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/what-has-prime-minister-said-about-booing-england-players/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/times-woke-survey/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/michael-gove-public-first/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/sun-cancel-culture/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Was Dawn Butler right about Boris Johnson ‘lying’ to Parliament?,,,,,, +7,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-23,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/news/dawn-butler-boris-johnson-lying/,Vaccines have severed the link between Covid-19 infections and serious disease or death.,2021-07-23,fullfact,,"In a speech to Parliament on 22 July, the Labour MP Dawn Butler said that Boris Johnson “has lied to this House and the country, over and over again”. This broke the rules about “unparliamentary language”, which say that accusations of “deliberate falsehood” must only be made with prior permission of the Speaker. Ms Butler did not withdraw her comments and was asked to leave the House for the rest of the day as a result. Ms Butler based most of her claims that the Prime Minister lied on a widely viewed video from the lawyer and campaigner Peter Stefanovic. It is often impossible to say for sure whether somebody is “lying”, because you’d need to know that they intended to deceive people. At Full Fact, our focus is on whether the claim being made is true, not the intention behind it. However, it is correct that the majority of Mr Johnson’s claims that Ms Butler mentioned were either false or misleading.   On 29 January 2020, Boris Johnson said: “The economy, under this Conservative government, has grown by 73%.” Ms Butler is correct that this claim is false. As we wrote at the time, and as Mr Stefanovic says in his video, the 73% figure describes growth since 1990, not since 2010, which means it covers a much longer period that also includes 13 years of Labour government.   On 26 February 2020, Boris Johnson did say: “We have restored the nurses’ bursary.” He made similar claims on 4 March 2020 and 19 May 2021. A bursary for student nurses was reintroduced in 2019, but it did not restore funding for tuition fees that existed before. Under the bursary scheme which existed until 2017, new nursing students were entitled to a non-means tested grant of £1,000 a year, and a means tested bursary to help with living costs up to £3,191. Additional funding elements were available for certain students. Students who qualified for a bursary also had the costs of their tuition paid.  In 2017, following plans announced by George Osborne in 2015, the Conservative government led by Theresa May replaced this bursary with access to the full loan system used by other students, and began requiring student nurses to pay their own tuition fees. Some extra grants remained available for students with children or experiencing hardship. In December 2019, the Conservative government led by Boris Johnson announced the introduction of an additional £5,000 grant for all student nurses to help with living costs, with an additional £3,000 available for some eligible students. However, students would continue to pay their own tuition fees. This is not the same system that existed before 2017, so in that sense it is not true that the old bursary has been “restored”. Mr Johnson’s government has reintroduced a system in which all student nurses receive a non-repayable grant from the government, but it does not pay their tuition fees on their behalf, which was the system when the old bursary applied.   The Prime Minister said on 24 June 2020: “The [Covid-19 contact-tracing] app would be the icing on the cake, if we can get it to work. If we can get it to work, it would be a fine thing, but there isn’t one anywhere in the world so far.” We checked a similar claim that he made the day before, when he said: “No country currently has a functioning track and trace app”. The truth of this really depends on what you think it means for a contact-tracing app to “work” or “function”. Many countries had launched apps that were operational when the Prime Minister was speaking. However, at the time it was not yet clear whether any of their technological approaches were effective, or whether they’d been downloaded widely enough to reduce the spread of Covid. There is now some evidence that contact-tracing apps have been effective to some extent in several countries, including the UK. Arguably, Mr Johnson oversimplified the situation by claiming that no app was working anywhere (when he couldn’t yet be sure, and apps were certainly available and being downloaded by millions of people), but Ms Butler also oversimplified things by claiming that he was definitely wrong (which we can’t be sure he was at the time, either).     Mr Johnson said on 15 July 2020 that “the government are engaged in record investments in the NHS of £34bn.” And it was not the first time he had made this claim. Technically speaking, it is true in absolute cash terms, but this is a misleading way to measure it.   As we explained in November 2019, the government did announce a £34 billion spending increase for the NHS between 2018/19 and 2023/24. However, this figure does not account for inflation, which tends to make the actual value of a sum of money diminish over time. If you do account for inflation, which is the fairest way to compare sums of money across time, then the ‘real terms’ value of the spending increase was £20.5 billion. Nor is this spending increase a “record”. The last time NHS spending rose by at least this much in real terms was between 2004/05 and 2009/10.   This comes from Prime Minister’s Questions on 7 July 2021, when Mr Johnson said: “Scientists are also absolutely clear that we have severed the link between infection and serious disease and death.” Ms Butler is correct that this is not true. Vaccination is highly effective against the worst effects of Covid-19, but it is not perfectly effective. Recent data from Public Health England shows that even fully vaccinated people do sometimes get seriously ill with the disease, and a few still die. It is therefore not right to say that the link has been completely “severed” between infection and serious disease or death, although it has certainly been severely weakened. We have not attempted to determine whether the Prime Minister was ‘lying’ in any of these instances. The Ministerial Code states: “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.” The Prime Minister has corrected none of the errors mentioned in this piece, at the time of writing.","https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/e9085c07-ac3b-43dd-9dbf-71911d435363?in=15:37:55&out=15:39:46,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmproced/writev/language/p19.htm,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-01-29/debates/821DAC2A-A644-40CF-86AE-5D8CB585640D/Engagements#contribution-6FD04C53-12E7-47D0-B2DF-25B5857BD6C7,https://fullfact.org/economy/boris-johnson-economic-growth/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-02-26/debates/6A733918-AC43-4143-A629-0BA4AF5A932B/Engagements#contribution-5D74B73E-78A7-437F-84C3-5D6DD99E8A8C,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-03-04/debates/034D0B7F-9941-489F-ADDD-69F0E6FC7CA9/Engagements#contribution-DC09ECB4-8137-41A1-B314-DA2E27FC34D5,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-05-19/debates/C4EF032A-1F6B-429D-934D-B8BBF28D7B95/Engagements#contribution-357DC6C3-1BD3-49BF-B747-783999136D83,https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7436/CBP-7436.pdf#page=7,https://web.archive.org/web/20170329095234/http:/www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk:80/Documents/Students/Your_guide_to_NHS_Student_Bursaries_2016_-17_(V1)_09.2015_Web.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/spending-review-and-autumn-statement-2015-key-announcements,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#why-changes-to-funding-have-been-made,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#additional-funding,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-06-24/debates/A22E1955-6855-4DCA-B5A8-0A0D97A71BB5/PrimeMinister#contribution-68A65581-DFA5-452D-A4EE-91036487A53F,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00451-y,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-07-15/debates/8EB241F4-52D1-4AAD-9A64-D1D544FEE903/Engagements#contribution-A9E9FA33-D061-43FC-AE47-3AE1E59E7BB7,https://fullfact.org/health/boris-johnsons-first-interview-2020-fact-checked/,https://fullfact.org/election-2019/nhs-spending-biggest-boost/,https://fullfact.org/economy/economics-glossary/#:~:text=If%20an%20amount%20of%20money,%E2%80%9Creal%20terms%E2%80%9D%20pay%20rise.,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-07-07/debates/1C736EA1-AB82-4BE4-81D6-9D2F284BEAB3/Engagements#contribution-630FC374-5980-43EC-A603-37F1237EDAEC,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005517/Technical_Briefing_19.pdf#page=18,https://fullfact.org/online/fully-vaccinated-deaths-daily-expose/,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmproced/622/622ap28.htm,https://hansard.parliament.uk/search/MemberContributions?memberId=1423&startDate=07%2F23%2F2016%2000%3A00%3A00&endDate=07%2F23%2F2021%2000%3A00%3A00&type=Corrections,https://fullfact.org/news/boris-johnson-whatsapp-covid-life-expectancy-cummings/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/what-has-prime-minister-said-about-booing-england-players/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/times-woke-survey/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/michael-gove-public-first/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/sun-cancel-culture/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Was Dawn Butler right about Boris Johnson ‘lying’ to Parliament?,,,,,, +8,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-23,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/news/dawn-butler-boris-johnson-lying/,Vaccines have severed the link between Covid-19 infections and serious disease or death.,2021-07-23,fullfact,,"In a speech to Parliament on 22 July, the Labour MP Dawn Butler said that Boris Johnson “has lied to this House and the country, over and over again”. This broke the rules about “unparliamentary language”, which say that accusations of “deliberate falsehood” must only be made with prior permission of the Speaker. Ms Butler did not withdraw her comments and was asked to leave the House for the rest of the day as a result. Ms Butler based most of her claims that the Prime Minister lied on a widely viewed video from the lawyer and campaigner Peter Stefanovic. It is often impossible to say for sure whether somebody is “lying”, because you’d need to know that they intended to deceive people. At Full Fact, our focus is on whether the claim being made is true, not the intention behind it. However, it is correct that the majority of Mr Johnson’s claims that Ms Butler mentioned were either false or misleading.   On 29 January 2020, Boris Johnson said: “The economy, under this Conservative government, has grown by 73%.” Ms Butler is correct that this claim is false. As we wrote at the time, and as Mr Stefanovic says in his video, the 73% figure describes growth since 1990, not since 2010, which means it covers a much longer period that also includes 13 years of Labour government.   On 26 February 2020, Boris Johnson did say: “We have restored the nurses’ bursary.” He made similar claims on 4 March 2020 and 19 May 2021. A bursary for student nurses was reintroduced in 2019, but it did not restore funding for tuition fees that existed before. Under the bursary scheme which existed until 2017, new nursing students were entitled to a non-means tested grant of £1,000 a year, and a means tested bursary to help with living costs up to £3,191. Additional funding elements were available for certain students. Students who qualified for a bursary also had the costs of their tuition paid.  In 2017, following plans announced by George Osborne in 2015, the Conservative government led by Theresa May replaced this bursary with access to the full loan system used by other students, and began requiring student nurses to pay their own tuition fees. Some extra grants remained available for students with children or experiencing hardship. In December 2019, the Conservative government led by Boris Johnson announced the introduction of an additional £5,000 grant for all student nurses to help with living costs, with an additional £3,000 available for some eligible students. However, students would continue to pay their own tuition fees. This is not the same system that existed before 2017, so in that sense it is not true that the old bursary has been “restored”. Mr Johnson’s government has reintroduced a system in which all student nurses receive a non-repayable grant from the government, but it does not pay their tuition fees on their behalf, which was the system when the old bursary applied.   The Prime Minister said on 24 June 2020: “The [Covid-19 contact-tracing] app would be the icing on the cake, if we can get it to work. If we can get it to work, it would be a fine thing, but there isn’t one anywhere in the world so far.” We checked a similar claim that he made the day before, when he said: “No country currently has a functioning track and trace app”. The truth of this really depends on what you think it means for a contact-tracing app to “work” or “function”. Many countries had launched apps that were operational when the Prime Minister was speaking. However, at the time it was not yet clear whether any of their technological approaches were effective, or whether they’d been downloaded widely enough to reduce the spread of Covid. There is now some evidence that contact-tracing apps have been effective to some extent in several countries, including the UK. Arguably, Mr Johnson oversimplified the situation by claiming that no app was working anywhere (when he couldn’t yet be sure, and apps were certainly available and being downloaded by millions of people), but Ms Butler also oversimplified things by claiming that he was definitely wrong (which we can’t be sure he was at the time, either).     Mr Johnson said on 15 July 2020 that “the government are engaged in record investments in the NHS of £34bn.” And it was not the first time he had made this claim. Technically speaking, it is true in absolute cash terms, but this is a misleading way to measure it.   As we explained in November 2019, the government did announce a £34 billion spending increase for the NHS between 2018/19 and 2023/24. However, this figure does not account for inflation, which tends to make the actual value of a sum of money diminish over time. If you do account for inflation, which is the fairest way to compare sums of money across time, then the ‘real terms’ value of the spending increase was £20.5 billion. Nor is this spending increase a “record”. The last time NHS spending rose by at least this much in real terms was between 2004/05 and 2009/10.   This comes from Prime Minister’s Questions on 7 July 2021, when Mr Johnson said: “Scientists are also absolutely clear that we have severed the link between infection and serious disease and death.” Ms Butler is correct that this is not true. Vaccination is highly effective against the worst effects of Covid-19, but it is not perfectly effective. Recent data from Public Health England shows that even fully vaccinated people do sometimes get seriously ill with the disease, and a few still die. It is therefore not right to say that the link has been completely “severed” between infection and serious disease or death, although it has certainly been severely weakened. We have not attempted to determine whether the Prime Minister was ‘lying’ in any of these instances. The Ministerial Code states: “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.” The Prime Minister has corrected none of the errors mentioned in this piece, at the time of writing.","https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/e9085c07-ac3b-43dd-9dbf-71911d435363?in=15:37:55&out=15:39:46,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmproced/writev/language/p19.htm,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-01-29/debates/821DAC2A-A644-40CF-86AE-5D8CB585640D/Engagements#contribution-6FD04C53-12E7-47D0-B2DF-25B5857BD6C7,https://fullfact.org/economy/boris-johnson-economic-growth/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-02-26/debates/6A733918-AC43-4143-A629-0BA4AF5A932B/Engagements#contribution-5D74B73E-78A7-437F-84C3-5D6DD99E8A8C,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-03-04/debates/034D0B7F-9941-489F-ADDD-69F0E6FC7CA9/Engagements#contribution-DC09ECB4-8137-41A1-B314-DA2E27FC34D5,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-05-19/debates/C4EF032A-1F6B-429D-934D-B8BBF28D7B95/Engagements#contribution-357DC6C3-1BD3-49BF-B747-783999136D83,https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7436/CBP-7436.pdf#page=7,https://web.archive.org/web/20170329095234/http:/www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk:80/Documents/Students/Your_guide_to_NHS_Student_Bursaries_2016_-17_(V1)_09.2015_Web.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/spending-review-and-autumn-statement-2015-key-announcements,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#why-changes-to-funding-have-been-made,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#additional-funding,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-06-24/debates/A22E1955-6855-4DCA-B5A8-0A0D97A71BB5/PrimeMinister#contribution-68A65581-DFA5-452D-A4EE-91036487A53F,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00451-y,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-07-15/debates/8EB241F4-52D1-4AAD-9A64-D1D544FEE903/Engagements#contribution-A9E9FA33-D061-43FC-AE47-3AE1E59E7BB7,https://fullfact.org/health/boris-johnsons-first-interview-2020-fact-checked/,https://fullfact.org/election-2019/nhs-spending-biggest-boost/,https://fullfact.org/economy/economics-glossary/#:~:text=If%20an%20amount%20of%20money,%E2%80%9Creal%20terms%E2%80%9D%20pay%20rise.,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-07-07/debates/1C736EA1-AB82-4BE4-81D6-9D2F284BEAB3/Engagements#contribution-630FC374-5980-43EC-A603-37F1237EDAEC,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005517/Technical_Briefing_19.pdf#page=18,https://fullfact.org/online/fully-vaccinated-deaths-daily-expose/,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmproced/622/622ap28.htm,https://hansard.parliament.uk/search/MemberContributions?memberId=1423&startDate=07%2F23%2F2016%2000%3A00%3A00&endDate=07%2F23%2F2021%2000%3A00%3A00&type=Corrections,https://fullfact.org/news/boris-johnson-whatsapp-covid-life-expectancy-cummings/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/what-has-prime-minister-said-about-booing-england-players/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/times-woke-survey/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/michael-gove-public-first/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/sun-cancel-culture/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Was Dawn Butler right about Boris Johnson ‘lying’ to Parliament?,,,,,, +9,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-23,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/news/dawn-butler-boris-johnson-lying/,Vaccines have severed the link between Covid-19 infections and serious disease or death.,2021-07-23,fullfact,,"In a speech to Parliament on 22 July, the Labour MP Dawn Butler said that Boris Johnson “has lied to this House and the country, over and over again”. This broke the rules about “unparliamentary language”, which say that accusations of “deliberate falsehood” must only be made with prior permission of the Speaker. Ms Butler did not withdraw her comments and was asked to leave the House for the rest of the day as a result. Ms Butler based most of her claims that the Prime Minister lied on a widely viewed video from the lawyer and campaigner Peter Stefanovic. It is often impossible to say for sure whether somebody is “lying”, because you’d need to know that they intended to deceive people. At Full Fact, our focus is on whether the claim being made is true, not the intention behind it. However, it is correct that the majority of Mr Johnson’s claims that Ms Butler mentioned were either false or misleading.   On 29 January 2020, Boris Johnson said: “The economy, under this Conservative government, has grown by 73%.” Ms Butler is correct that this claim is false. As we wrote at the time, and as Mr Stefanovic says in his video, the 73% figure describes growth since 1990, not since 2010, which means it covers a much longer period that also includes 13 years of Labour government.   On 26 February 2020, Boris Johnson did say: “We have restored the nurses’ bursary.” He made similar claims on 4 March 2020 and 19 May 2021. A bursary for student nurses was reintroduced in 2019, but it did not restore funding for tuition fees that existed before. Under the bursary scheme which existed until 2017, new nursing students were entitled to a non-means tested grant of £1,000 a year, and a means tested bursary to help with living costs up to £3,191. Additional funding elements were available for certain students. Students who qualified for a bursary also had the costs of their tuition paid.  In 2017, following plans announced by George Osborne in 2015, the Conservative government led by Theresa May replaced this bursary with access to the full loan system used by other students, and began requiring student nurses to pay their own tuition fees. Some extra grants remained available for students with children or experiencing hardship. In December 2019, the Conservative government led by Boris Johnson announced the introduction of an additional £5,000 grant for all student nurses to help with living costs, with an additional £3,000 available for some eligible students. However, students would continue to pay their own tuition fees. This is not the same system that existed before 2017, so in that sense it is not true that the old bursary has been “restored”. Mr Johnson’s government has reintroduced a system in which all student nurses receive a non-repayable grant from the government, but it does not pay their tuition fees on their behalf, which was the system when the old bursary applied.   The Prime Minister said on 24 June 2020: “The [Covid-19 contact-tracing] app would be the icing on the cake, if we can get it to work. If we can get it to work, it would be a fine thing, but there isn’t one anywhere in the world so far.” We checked a similar claim that he made the day before, when he said: “No country currently has a functioning track and trace app”. The truth of this really depends on what you think it means for a contact-tracing app to “work” or “function”. Many countries had launched apps that were operational when the Prime Minister was speaking. However, at the time it was not yet clear whether any of their technological approaches were effective, or whether they’d been downloaded widely enough to reduce the spread of Covid. There is now some evidence that contact-tracing apps have been effective to some extent in several countries, including the UK. Arguably, Mr Johnson oversimplified the situation by claiming that no app was working anywhere (when he couldn’t yet be sure, and apps were certainly available and being downloaded by millions of people), but Ms Butler also oversimplified things by claiming that he was definitely wrong (which we can’t be sure he was at the time, either).     Mr Johnson said on 15 July 2020 that “the government are engaged in record investments in the NHS of £34bn.” And it was not the first time he had made this claim. Technically speaking, it is true in absolute cash terms, but this is a misleading way to measure it.   As we explained in November 2019, the government did announce a £34 billion spending increase for the NHS between 2018/19 and 2023/24. However, this figure does not account for inflation, which tends to make the actual value of a sum of money diminish over time. If you do account for inflation, which is the fairest way to compare sums of money across time, then the ‘real terms’ value of the spending increase was £20.5 billion. Nor is this spending increase a “record”. The last time NHS spending rose by at least this much in real terms was between 2004/05 and 2009/10.   This comes from Prime Minister’s Questions on 7 July 2021, when Mr Johnson said: “Scientists are also absolutely clear that we have severed the link between infection and serious disease and death.” Ms Butler is correct that this is not true. Vaccination is highly effective against the worst effects of Covid-19, but it is not perfectly effective. Recent data from Public Health England shows that even fully vaccinated people do sometimes get seriously ill with the disease, and a few still die. It is therefore not right to say that the link has been completely “severed” between infection and serious disease or death, although it has certainly been severely weakened. We have not attempted to determine whether the Prime Minister was ‘lying’ in any of these instances. The Ministerial Code states: “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.” The Prime Minister has corrected none of the errors mentioned in this piece, at the time of writing.","https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/e9085c07-ac3b-43dd-9dbf-71911d435363?in=15:37:55&out=15:39:46,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmproced/writev/language/p19.htm,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-01-29/debates/821DAC2A-A644-40CF-86AE-5D8CB585640D/Engagements#contribution-6FD04C53-12E7-47D0-B2DF-25B5857BD6C7,https://fullfact.org/economy/boris-johnson-economic-growth/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-02-26/debates/6A733918-AC43-4143-A629-0BA4AF5A932B/Engagements#contribution-5D74B73E-78A7-437F-84C3-5D6DD99E8A8C,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-03-04/debates/034D0B7F-9941-489F-ADDD-69F0E6FC7CA9/Engagements#contribution-DC09ECB4-8137-41A1-B314-DA2E27FC34D5,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-05-19/debates/C4EF032A-1F6B-429D-934D-B8BBF28D7B95/Engagements#contribution-357DC6C3-1BD3-49BF-B747-783999136D83,https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7436/CBP-7436.pdf#page=7,https://web.archive.org/web/20170329095234/http:/www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk:80/Documents/Students/Your_guide_to_NHS_Student_Bursaries_2016_-17_(V1)_09.2015_Web.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/spending-review-and-autumn-statement-2015-key-announcements,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#why-changes-to-funding-have-been-made,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#additional-funding,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-06-24/debates/A22E1955-6855-4DCA-B5A8-0A0D97A71BB5/PrimeMinister#contribution-68A65581-DFA5-452D-A4EE-91036487A53F,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00451-y,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-07-15/debates/8EB241F4-52D1-4AAD-9A64-D1D544FEE903/Engagements#contribution-A9E9FA33-D061-43FC-AE47-3AE1E59E7BB7,https://fullfact.org/health/boris-johnsons-first-interview-2020-fact-checked/,https://fullfact.org/election-2019/nhs-spending-biggest-boost/,https://fullfact.org/economy/economics-glossary/#:~:text=If%20an%20amount%20of%20money,%E2%80%9Creal%20terms%E2%80%9D%20pay%20rise.,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-07-07/debates/1C736EA1-AB82-4BE4-81D6-9D2F284BEAB3/Engagements#contribution-630FC374-5980-43EC-A603-37F1237EDAEC,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005517/Technical_Briefing_19.pdf#page=18,https://fullfact.org/online/fully-vaccinated-deaths-daily-expose/,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmproced/622/622ap28.htm,https://hansard.parliament.uk/search/MemberContributions?memberId=1423&startDate=07%2F23%2F2016%2000%3A00%3A00&endDate=07%2F23%2F2021%2000%3A00%3A00&type=Corrections,https://fullfact.org/news/boris-johnson-whatsapp-covid-life-expectancy-cummings/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/what-has-prime-minister-said-about-booing-england-players/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/times-woke-survey/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/michael-gove-public-first/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/sun-cancel-culture/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Was Dawn Butler right about Boris Johnson ‘lying’ to Parliament?,,,,,, +10,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-23,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/news/dawn-butler-boris-johnson-lying/,Vaccines have severed the link between Covid-19 infections and serious disease or death.,2021-07-23,fullfact,,"In a speech to Parliament on 22 July, the Labour MP Dawn Butler said that Boris Johnson “has lied to this House and the country, over and over again”. This broke the rules about “unparliamentary language”, which say that accusations of “deliberate falsehood” must only be made with prior permission of the Speaker. Ms Butler did not withdraw her comments and was asked to leave the House for the rest of the day as a result. Ms Butler based most of her claims that the Prime Minister lied on a widely viewed video from the lawyer and campaigner Peter Stefanovic. It is often impossible to say for sure whether somebody is “lying”, because you’d need to know that they intended to deceive people. At Full Fact, our focus is on whether the claim being made is true, not the intention behind it. However, it is correct that the majority of Mr Johnson’s claims that Ms Butler mentioned were either false or misleading.   On 29 January 2020, Boris Johnson said: “The economy, under this Conservative government, has grown by 73%.” Ms Butler is correct that this claim is false. As we wrote at the time, and as Mr Stefanovic says in his video, the 73% figure describes growth since 1990, not since 2010, which means it covers a much longer period that also includes 13 years of Labour government.   On 26 February 2020, Boris Johnson did say: “We have restored the nurses’ bursary.” He made similar claims on 4 March 2020 and 19 May 2021. A bursary for student nurses was reintroduced in 2019, but it did not restore funding for tuition fees that existed before. Under the bursary scheme which existed until 2017, new nursing students were entitled to a non-means tested grant of £1,000 a year, and a means tested bursary to help with living costs up to £3,191. Additional funding elements were available for certain students. Students who qualified for a bursary also had the costs of their tuition paid.  In 2017, following plans announced by George Osborne in 2015, the Conservative government led by Theresa May replaced this bursary with access to the full loan system used by other students, and began requiring student nurses to pay their own tuition fees. Some extra grants remained available for students with children or experiencing hardship. In December 2019, the Conservative government led by Boris Johnson announced the introduction of an additional £5,000 grant for all student nurses to help with living costs, with an additional £3,000 available for some eligible students. However, students would continue to pay their own tuition fees. This is not the same system that existed before 2017, so in that sense it is not true that the old bursary has been “restored”. Mr Johnson’s government has reintroduced a system in which all student nurses receive a non-repayable grant from the government, but it does not pay their tuition fees on their behalf, which was the system when the old bursary applied.   The Prime Minister said on 24 June 2020: “The [Covid-19 contact-tracing] app would be the icing on the cake, if we can get it to work. If we can get it to work, it would be a fine thing, but there isn’t one anywhere in the world so far.” We checked a similar claim that he made the day before, when he said: “No country currently has a functioning track and trace app”. The truth of this really depends on what you think it means for a contact-tracing app to “work” or “function”. Many countries had launched apps that were operational when the Prime Minister was speaking. However, at the time it was not yet clear whether any of their technological approaches were effective, or whether they’d been downloaded widely enough to reduce the spread of Covid. There is now some evidence that contact-tracing apps have been effective to some extent in several countries, including the UK. Arguably, Mr Johnson oversimplified the situation by claiming that no app was working anywhere (when he couldn’t yet be sure, and apps were certainly available and being downloaded by millions of people), but Ms Butler also oversimplified things by claiming that he was definitely wrong (which we can’t be sure he was at the time, either).     Mr Johnson said on 15 July 2020 that “the government are engaged in record investments in the NHS of £34bn.” And it was not the first time he had made this claim. Technically speaking, it is true in absolute cash terms, but this is a misleading way to measure it.   As we explained in November 2019, the government did announce a £34 billion spending increase for the NHS between 2018/19 and 2023/24. However, this figure does not account for inflation, which tends to make the actual value of a sum of money diminish over time. If you do account for inflation, which is the fairest way to compare sums of money across time, then the ‘real terms’ value of the spending increase was £20.5 billion. Nor is this spending increase a “record”. The last time NHS spending rose by at least this much in real terms was between 2004/05 and 2009/10.   This comes from Prime Minister’s Questions on 7 July 2021, when Mr Johnson said: “Scientists are also absolutely clear that we have severed the link between infection and serious disease and death.” Ms Butler is correct that this is not true. Vaccination is highly effective against the worst effects of Covid-19, but it is not perfectly effective. Recent data from Public Health England shows that even fully vaccinated people do sometimes get seriously ill with the disease, and a few still die. It is therefore not right to say that the link has been completely “severed” between infection and serious disease or death, although it has certainly been severely weakened. We have not attempted to determine whether the Prime Minister was ‘lying’ in any of these instances. The Ministerial Code states: “It is of paramount importance that Ministers give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.” The Prime Minister has corrected none of the errors mentioned in this piece, at the time of writing.","https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/e9085c07-ac3b-43dd-9dbf-71911d435363?in=15:37:55&out=15:39:46,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmproced/writev/language/p19.htm,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://twitter.com/PeterStefanovi2/status/1417524808141639682?s=20,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-01-29/debates/821DAC2A-A644-40CF-86AE-5D8CB585640D/Engagements#contribution-6FD04C53-12E7-47D0-B2DF-25B5857BD6C7,https://fullfact.org/economy/boris-johnson-economic-growth/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-02-26/debates/6A733918-AC43-4143-A629-0BA4AF5A932B/Engagements#contribution-5D74B73E-78A7-437F-84C3-5D6DD99E8A8C,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-03-04/debates/034D0B7F-9941-489F-ADDD-69F0E6FC7CA9/Engagements#contribution-DC09ECB4-8137-41A1-B314-DA2E27FC34D5,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-05-19/debates/C4EF032A-1F6B-429D-934D-B8BBF28D7B95/Engagements#contribution-357DC6C3-1BD3-49BF-B747-783999136D83,https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7436/CBP-7436.pdf#page=7,https://web.archive.org/web/20170329095234/http:/www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk:80/Documents/Students/Your_guide_to_NHS_Student_Bursaries_2016_-17_(V1)_09.2015_Web.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/spending-review-and-autumn-statement-2015-key-announcements,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#why-changes-to-funding-have-been-made,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-bursary-reform/nhs-bursary-reform#additional-funding,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nursing-students-to-receive-5-000-payment-a-year,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-06-24/debates/A22E1955-6855-4DCA-B5A8-0A0D97A71BB5/PrimeMinister#contribution-68A65581-DFA5-452D-A4EE-91036487A53F,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00451-y,https://fullfact.org/health/coronavirus-track-and-trace-app-boris-johnson/,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-07-15/debates/8EB241F4-52D1-4AAD-9A64-D1D544FEE903/Engagements#contribution-A9E9FA33-D061-43FC-AE47-3AE1E59E7BB7,https://fullfact.org/health/boris-johnsons-first-interview-2020-fact-checked/,https://fullfact.org/election-2019/nhs-spending-biggest-boost/,https://fullfact.org/economy/economics-glossary/#:~:text=If%20an%20amount%20of%20money,%E2%80%9Creal%20terms%E2%80%9D%20pay%20rise.,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-07-07/debates/1C736EA1-AB82-4BE4-81D6-9D2F284BEAB3/Engagements#contribution-630FC374-5980-43EC-A603-37F1237EDAEC,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1005517/Technical_Briefing_19.pdf#page=18,https://fullfact.org/online/fully-vaccinated-deaths-daily-expose/,https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmselect/cmproced/622/622ap28.htm,https://hansard.parliament.uk/search/MemberContributions?memberId=1423&startDate=07%2F23%2F2016%2000%3A00%3A00&endDate=07%2F23%2F2021%2000%3A00%3A00&type=Corrections,https://fullfact.org/news/boris-johnson-whatsapp-covid-life-expectancy-cummings/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/what-has-prime-minister-said-about-booing-england-players/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/times-woke-survey/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/michael-gove-public-first/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/sun-cancel-culture/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Was Dawn Butler right about Boris Johnson ‘lying’ to Parliament?,,,,,, +11,,,,False,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-07-22,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/,Pictures show Boris Johnson has received a Covid-19 vaccine three times.,2021-07-22,fullfact,,"A number of posts on social media claim that pictures show Boris Johnson receiving three doses of the Covid-19 vaccines.  Two of the pictures do show the Prime Minister receiving a Covid-19 vaccine—his first dose in March 2021 and his second in June.  But the third picture shows him receiving a different vaccine, the annual flu jab, in October 2019.  A clue that this third photograph was taken before vaccine roll out began in December is the fact that, unlike in the other two pictures, Mr Johnson is not wearing a face mask.  This photograph was also taken in Downing Street, rather than in a medical setting like the other two pictures.  The NHS has been given the go-ahead to start a programme of booster Covid-19 vaccines before winter, but the rollout is not expected to start until the autumn. This will mean that all adults aged 50 or over— which will include Mr Johnson—as well as anyone over 16 who qualifies for a flu jab will be offered a third vaccination.  Only two doses are being given at present.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10159938653122697&set=a.10150496491497697&type=3,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRga4vGJ1-e/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRe7uj3Joiz/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/boris-johnson-first-dose-of-astrazeneca-oxford-covid-19-jab-b925189.html#:~:text=else.%22-,The%20Prime%20Minister%20urged%20everyone,%2F%20%20AP,-The%20Prime,https://www.itv.com/news/2021-06-03/covid-boris-johnson-receives-second-coronavirus-vaccine-dose#:~:text=boris%20johnson%20receives%20his%20second%20dose%20of%20the%20astrazeneca%20coronavirus%20vaccine.%20credit%3A%20pa,https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/12/02/boris-johnson-may-take-newly-approved-covid-vaccine-live-on-tv/?sh=574530234e28#:~:text=speed.-,Prime%20Minister%20Boris%20Johnson,Getty%20Images,-Key,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55227325,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-57667987,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/coronavirus-vaccine/#:~:text=the%20covid-19%20vaccines%20currently%20available%20are%20given%20in%202%20doses.,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Boris Johnson hasn’t had three Covid-19 vaccines,,,,,, +12,,,,Other,Abbas Panjwani,2021-07-22,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/,"Everybody who’s self-isolating is entitled, in addition to the equivalent of the living wage and statutory sick pay, to help in extreme circumstances from their local councils and also to a £500 payment to help them with self-isolation.",2021-07-22,fullfact,,"At Prime Minister’s Questions, Boris Johnson suggested that everybody who’s self-isolating due to Covid-19 is entitled to the equivalent of living wage, statutory sick pay, council support in extreme circumstances and a £500 payment. This is not true. All employees (with a few exceptions) are entitled to statutory sick pay from their employer of £96.35 a week if they are self-isolating (provided the reason for self-isolating isn’t that they have recently returned from abroad). But people are not legally entitled to the equivalent of the living wage (£8.91 an hour for over 23s) while they are self-isolating. Although some employers may of course choose to continue to pay them the living wage while they’re off, as if it were sick leave, and this may be a part of their contractual obligations.  It’s unclear whether Mr Johnson just meant that all employees are entitled to the living wage in general, which is broadly true, except under-23s and apprentices. However, the suggestion that people are entitled to receive the “equivalent” of the living wage while self-isolating, is not. People on low incomes who receive certain benefits, including self-employed people, can also apply for a £500 support payment from their local council.  Some of those who do not receive the right benefits to qualify may get a discretionary payment from their council instead. However, this is an alternative to the support payment, not an additional payment. Nor is “everybody” entitled to it, as the Prime Minister’s comments might have suggested. There is provision for councils to make the £500 payment to people in “extreme circumstances”, but it remains a “discretionary” payment that they are not guaranteed to receive. We have asked Downing Street to clarify Mr Johnson’s comments but at the time of writing it had not responded.","https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/self-isolation-and-treatment/when-to-self-isolate-and-what-to-do/,https://www.gov.uk/employers-sick-pay/eligibility-and-form-ssp1,https://www.gov.uk/employers-sick-pay,https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates,https://www.gov.uk/national-minimum-wage-rates,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme-claiming-financial-support/claiming-financial-support-under-the-test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme-claiming-financial-support/claiming-financial-support-under-the-test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme,https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/coronavirus-getting-benefits-if-youre-self-isolating/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme-claiming-financial-support/claiming-financial-support-under-the-test-and-trace-support-payment-scheme#:~:text=for%20a%20%C2%A3500-,discretionary,-payment%20if%20all,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Boris Johnson was wrong to say that “everybody” is entitled to extra self-isolation support,,,,,, +13,,,,Mixture,Pippa Allen-Kinross,2021-07-21,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/,Sir Patrick Vallance said 60% of people currently in hospital with Covid-19 were double vaccinated.,2021-07-21,fullfact,,"The government’s Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has corrected comments made at a press conference on 19 July, when he claimed that 60% of people currently in hospital with Covid-19 were double vaccinated.  Writing on Twitter the same evening, he clarified: “About 60% of hospitalisations from covid are not from double vaccinated people, rather 60% of hospitalisations from covid are currently from unvaccinated people.” However, some users on social media are continuing to share the original, incorrect claim without acknowledging the correction in their posts.  The most recent data publicly available from Public Health England, covering the period between 1 February and 21 June 2021, shows there were 1,165 confirmed Delta variant cases where presentation to emergency care resulted in an overnight stay (although this is likely an underestimate). Of these, 733 cases were people who were unvaccinated (63%). Of those who had been vaccinated, 173 cases had received both doses of the vaccine (14.8%), 162 cases had received their first dose of the vaccine more than 21 days ago (13.9%) and 74 had received the first dose less than 21 days ago (6.4%).  As we have written before, none of the Covid-19 vaccines currently available are 100% effective, but vaccines have been found to be highly effective against the risk of hospitalisation. The fact so many people have been vaccinated, and vaccine take up has been very high amongst those most at risk, means it is expected that many people now presenting with Covid in hospitals will have received one or more doses of the vaccine. We welcome Sir Patrick’s correction. It is important that public figures are transparent about errors that they make and issue corrections in a timely manner.","https://youtu.be/3EkYBeoGgV8?t=1544,https://twitter.com/uksciencechief/status/1417204235356213252?s=20,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRjOscMNAiF/,https://www.instagram.com/p/CRhSSlONDC6/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.facebook.com/jordan.nixon.946/posts/10224820733767355,https://www.facebook.com/janine.davies.129/posts/10226433634405379,https://www.instagram.com/reel/CRhWEN2hAHT/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001358/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_18.pdf#page=17,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1001358/Variants_of_Concern_VOC_Technical_Briefing_18.pdf#page=18,https://fullfact.org/online/fully-vaccinated-deaths-daily-expose/,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Double vaccinated people do not make up 60% of Covid-19 hospitalisations,,,,,, +14,,,,False,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-07-21,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/,"“Forcing” young women to have Covid-19 vaccines is “almost certain” to lead to increased stillbirths, miscarriages, disabled children and infertility.",2021-07-21,fullfact,,"In a widely shared and now-deleted tweet, Reform UK leader Richard Tice claimed that “forcing” young women to have the Covid-19 vaccine is “almost certain” to lead to “increased stillbirths, miscarriages, disabled children, infertility”. There is no evidence to support this claim. Mr Tice appeared to be reacting to the announcement that people attending nightclubs and other venues where large numbers of people gather in England will need to be fully vaccinated from the end of September.  When asked on Twitter to back up his claim, Mr Tice later cited the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) Yellow Card scheme, and a similar programme also used to monitor suspected side effects of vaccines in the US called the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).  After being questioned on why he shared inaccurate information about the vaccines, Mr Tice  later deleted the tweet and apologised.  As we have written before, the Yellow Card scheme relies on voluntary reporting from medics and members of the public, and is intended to provide an early warning of any previously unknown risks. An adverse event that occurs after vaccination did not necessarily occur because of it. As the MHRA explains: “The nature of Yellow Card reporting means that reported events are not always proven side effects. Some events may have happened anyway, regardless of vaccination.”  The VAERS site includes a similar caveat, stating: “Healthcare providers, vaccine manufacturers, and the public can submit reports to VAERS. While very important in monitoring vaccine safety, VAERS reports alone cannot be used to determine if a vaccine caused or contributed to an adverse event or illness.  “The reports may contain information that is incomplete, inaccurate, coincidental, or unverifiable. Most reports to VAERS are voluntary, which means they are subject to biases.” Claims that the vaccine can affect a woman’s fertility due to the generation of the spike protein have circulated since the start of the vaccine rollout. As we have written before, there is no evidence this is true.  The latest government data shows that 46 million people in the UK have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.  The most recent adverse reaction data published by the MHRA shows that there have been six reports of stillbirths after a Covid-19 vaccine, four reports of foetal death, 339 reports of spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), and nine reports of infertility (two male, one female, five unspecified).  As we have written before, it’s sadly estimated one in five pregnancies ends in miscarriage, with an estimated 250,000 miscarriages in the UK each year, so the number of miscarriages reported after vaccination doesn’t appear to exceed the expected level.  Advice from the NHS says there is no evidence that the Covid-19 vaccines affect fertility, and the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines have been “widely used during pregnancy in other countries and no safety concerns have been identified.” Evidence reviewed by the MHRA “has raised no specific concerns for safety in pregnancy”. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists states on its website: “Covid-19 vaccines do not contain ingredients that are known to be harmful to pregnant women or to a developing baby.  “Studies of the vaccines in animals to look at the effects on pregnancy have shown no evidence that the vaccine causes harm to the pregnancy or to fertility.” Mr Tice also said the Covid-19 vaccines have “emergency approval only”. All three of the vaccines currently in use in the UK (Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna) have been authorised for use. A fourth, Janssen has been authorised, but is not yet in use.  Across the UK, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has a temporary authorisation (sometimes known as a regulation 174 authorisation) issued by the MHRA, which is an emergency authorisation.  In Great Britain, the Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna and Janssen vaccines have another type of authorisation, called a “conditional marketing authorisation” which has been issued by the MHRA.  We have written more about the difference between these types of authorisation before.","https://twitter.com/TiceRichard/status/1417173243782475783,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57893788,https://twitter.com/TiceRichard/status/1417462595175522305,https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/,https://vaers.hhs.gov/,https://twitter.com/TiceRichard/status/1417534451534467073,https://fullfact.org/online/yellow-card-astrazeneca-reactions/#:~:text=REACTIONS-,The%20Yellow%20Card%20scheme,who%20have%20underlying%20illness,-The,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting#summary,https://wonder.cdc.gov/vaers.html#:~:text=Healthcare,scientifically,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccine-covid-fertility/,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003227/COVID-19_Pfizer-BioNTech_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=66,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003228/COVID-19_AstraZeneca_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=85,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003227/COVID-19_Pfizer-BioNTech_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=66,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003227/COVID-19_Pfizer-BioNTech_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=66,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003228/COVID-19_AstraZeneca_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=85,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003230/COVID-19_Moderna_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=30,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003231/COVID-19_Brand_Unspecified_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=19,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003227/COVID-19_Pfizer-BioNTech_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=78,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003228/COVID-19_AstraZeneca_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=97,https://fullfact.org/online/Covid-vaccine-miscarriage-false/,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/pregnancy-breastfeeding-fertility-and-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-of-covid-19-vaccines-when-given-in-pregnancy/the-safety-of-covid-19-vaccines-when-given-in-pregnancy,https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/coronavirus-covid-19-pregnancy-and-womens-health/covid-19-vaccines-and-pregnancy/covid-19-vaccines-pregnancy-and-breastfeeding/,https://fullfact.org/online/car-multiclaim-video/#:~:text=All%20three,authorisation%20before,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/information-for-uk-recipients-on-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/conditions-of-authorisation-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca#history,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-moderna,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-janssen,https://fullfact.org/health/covid-vaccines/,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Richard Tice makes misleading claims about Covid-19 vaccines and fertility,,,,,, +15,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-21,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/charles-walker-youngsters-covid-risk/,Young people are not at risk from Covid-19 at all.,2021-07-21,fullfact,,"During a conversation about nightclub rules on the BBC radio programme World at One, the Conservative MP Sir Charles Walker said that young people are not at risk from Covid-19. This is not true. Although the risks of Covid-19 to young people are very low, it is not right to say that they face no risk at all. In England and Wales, since the pandemic started, 237 people under the age of 30 have died with Covid mentioned on their death certificates as either an underlying or contributory cause. Within this group, the risk is higher among those old enough to go to nightclubs. A small number of young people also become seriously ill with Covid, even if they do not die. The latest data from England, Wales and Northern Ireland suggests that since September about 2.9% of hospital patients critically ill with Covid were younger than 30. There also appears to be a risk of ‘long Covid’, when symptoms last for a long time, although the size of this risk is currently difficult to quantify.","https://medium.com/wintoncentre/what-have-been-the-fatal-risks-of-covid-particularly-to-children-and-younger-adults-a5cbf7060c49,https://twitter.com/zorinaq/status/1406714693507375106?s=20,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/weeklyprovisionalfiguresondeathsregisteredinenglandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/weeklyprovisionalfiguresondeathsregisteredinenglandandwales,https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2770542/#:~:text=Young%20adults%20age%2018%20to%2034%20years%20hospitalized%20with%20COVID-19%20experienced%20substantial%20rates%20of%20adverse%20outcomes%3A%2021%25%20required%20intensive%20care%2C%2010%25%20required%20mechanical%20ventilation%2C%20and%202.7%25%20died.,https://www.icnarc.org/our-audit/audits/cmp/reports,https://www.icnarc.org/our-audit/audits/cmp/reports,https://www.icnarc.org/our-audit/audits/cmp/reports,https://www.icnarc.org/our-audit/audits/cmp/reports,https://fullfact.org/health/extrapolating-figures-around-long-covid-kids-not-way-go/,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Young people do face a small risk from Covid,,,,,, +16,,,,True,Grace Rahman,2021-07-21,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/,"In the UK on 1 July 2021, 66% had had their first vaccination, 49% had had their second, and there were 27,989 new cases of Covid-19.",2021-07-21,fullfact,,"A post on Instagram seems to imply that the vaccine is causing more Covid-19 cases, by comparing the number of new cases at the start of July 2021, with the same time last year. It correctly states that there were 27,989 new cases reported on 1 July 2021, but incorrectly suggests that there were 63 new daily cases reported on 1 July 2020 in the UK, when there were actually 829. The national Covid-19 vaccine roll-out didn’t start until 8 December. It’s true that, by 1 July 2020, 66% of the total population had received a first dose and 49% had received their second, although that population includes those under 18, who are not routinely advised to have the vaccine. The percentage of adults who had had their first and second vaccines by 1 July 2021 was 86% and 63% respectively. But to suggest then that the vaccines have not slowed transmission, or even increased it, ignores the fact that a lot of other things have changed in the year between these dates. A more transmissible strain of Covid-19 is now dominant, testing is much more prominent now, and restrictions have generally eased across the UK.  The Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing Covid-19, and at preventing hospitalisations and death following Covid-19 infection, including from the Delta variant. There’s also evidence that they can reduce the risk of you passing Covid-19 to household contacts, if you do happen to get infected.  Getting vaccinated doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get Covid-19, but it does decrease the chance of getting seriously ill and having to hospitalised, and dying of the disease. It certainly isn’t causing more cases, as the Instagram post implies.","https://www.instagram.com/p/CRZ26g9LIIz/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_date_reported,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_specimen_date,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-55153325,https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2021-07-01&pickerSort=asc&pickerMetric=location&Metric=People+vaccinated+%28by+dose%29&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=~GBR,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-issues-advice-on-covid-19-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations#card-latest_reported_vaccination_uptake,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000661/8_July_2021_Risk_assessment_for_SARS-CoV-2_variant_DELTA_02.00-1.pdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing#card-virus_tests_conducted,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/charts/uk-government-coronavirus-lockdowns,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-report-published,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=3,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Vaccines have not caused daily cases to increase,,,,,, +17,,,,True,Grace Rahman,2021-07-21,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/,"In the UK on 1 July 2021, 66% had had their first vaccination, 49% had had their second, and there were 27,989 new cases of Covid-19.",2021-07-21,fullfact,,"A post on Instagram seems to imply that the vaccine is causing more Covid-19 cases, by comparing the number of new cases at the start of July 2021, with the same time last year. It correctly states that there were 27,989 new cases reported on 1 July 2021, but incorrectly suggests that there were 63 new daily cases reported on 1 July 2020 in the UK, when there were actually 829. The national Covid-19 vaccine roll-out didn’t start until 8 December. It’s true that, by 1 July 2020, 66% of the total population had received a first dose and 49% had received their second, although that population includes those under 18, who are not routinely advised to have the vaccine. The percentage of adults who had had their first and second vaccines by 1 July 2021 was 86% and 63% respectively. But to suggest then that the vaccines have not slowed transmission, or even increased it, ignores the fact that a lot of other things have changed in the year between these dates. A more transmissible strain of Covid-19 is now dominant, testing is much more prominent now, and restrictions have generally eased across the UK.  The Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing Covid-19, and at preventing hospitalisations and death following Covid-19 infection, including from the Delta variant. There’s also evidence that they can reduce the risk of you passing Covid-19 to household contacts, if you do happen to get infected.  Getting vaccinated doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get Covid-19, but it does decrease the chance of getting seriously ill and having to hospitalised, and dying of the disease. It certainly isn’t causing more cases, as the Instagram post implies.","https://www.instagram.com/p/CRZ26g9LIIz/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_date_reported,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_specimen_date,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-55153325,https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2021-07-01&pickerSort=asc&pickerMetric=location&Metric=People+vaccinated+%28by+dose%29&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=~GBR,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-issues-advice-on-covid-19-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations#card-latest_reported_vaccination_uptake,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000661/8_July_2021_Risk_assessment_for_SARS-CoV-2_variant_DELTA_02.00-1.pdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing#card-virus_tests_conducted,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/charts/uk-government-coronavirus-lockdowns,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-report-published,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=3,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Vaccines have not caused daily cases to increase,,,,,, +18,,,,True,Grace Rahman,2021-07-21,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/,"In the UK on 1 July 2021, 66% had had their first vaccination, 49% had had their second, and there were 27,989 new cases of Covid-19.",2021-07-21,fullfact,,"A post on Instagram seems to imply that the vaccine is causing more Covid-19 cases, by comparing the number of new cases at the start of July 2021, with the same time last year. It correctly states that there were 27,989 new cases reported on 1 July 2021, but incorrectly suggests that there were 63 new daily cases reported on 1 July 2020 in the UK, when there were actually 829. The national Covid-19 vaccine roll-out didn’t start until 8 December. It’s true that, by 1 July 2020, 66% of the total population had received a first dose and 49% had received their second, although that population includes those under 18, who are not routinely advised to have the vaccine. The percentage of adults who had had their first and second vaccines by 1 July 2021 was 86% and 63% respectively. But to suggest then that the vaccines have not slowed transmission, or even increased it, ignores the fact that a lot of other things have changed in the year between these dates. A more transmissible strain of Covid-19 is now dominant, testing is much more prominent now, and restrictions have generally eased across the UK.  The Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing Covid-19, and at preventing hospitalisations and death following Covid-19 infection, including from the Delta variant. There’s also evidence that they can reduce the risk of you passing Covid-19 to household contacts, if you do happen to get infected.  Getting vaccinated doesn’t guarantee that you won’t get Covid-19, but it does decrease the chance of getting seriously ill and having to hospitalised, and dying of the disease. It certainly isn’t causing more cases, as the Instagram post implies.","https://www.instagram.com/p/CRZ26g9LIIz/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_date_reported,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases#card-cases_by_specimen_date,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-55153325,https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2021-07-01&pickerSort=asc&pickerMetric=location&Metric=People+vaccinated+%28by+dose%29&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=~GBR,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jcvi-issues-advice-on-covid-19-vaccination-of-children-and-young-people,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations#card-latest_reported_vaccination_uptake,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000661/8_July_2021_Risk_assessment_for_SARS-CoV-2_variant_DELTA_02.00-1.pdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/testing#card-virus_tests_conducted,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/charts/uk-government-coronavirus-lockdowns,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=4,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/covid-19-vaccine-surveillance-report-published,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/vaccines-highly-effective-against-hospitalisation-from-delta-variant,https://khub.net/documents/135939561/390853656/Impact+of+vaccination+on+household+transmission+of+SARS-COV-2+in+England.pdf/35bf4bb1-6ade-d3eb-a39e-9c9b25a8122a?t=1619601878136,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1002580/Vaccine_surveillance_report_-_week_28.pdf#page=3,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Vaccines have not caused daily cases to increase,,,,,, +19,,,,True,Abbas Panjwani,2021-07-20,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/tfl-self-isolation-pilot/,TfL is part of a pilot whereby staff required to self-isolate can instead take daily Covid-19 tests at work.,2021-07-20,fullfact,,"Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed to Full Fact that it has been participating in a pilot where staff can take daily Covid-19 tests at work instead of self-isolating, after earlier suggesting it was unaware of its formal involvement in the trial. On Sunday, 18 July, it was announced that, as part of this pilot, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor were not required to self-isolate after coming into contact with the health secretary Sajid Javid, who then tested positive for Covid-19. This decision was later reversed and both are now self-isolating.  After accusations that the government had received preferential treatment, ministers including Robert Jenrick and Nadhim Zahawi stressed that the pilot scheme included other participants including TfL, and not just the government. TfL, however, responded suggesting it was not part of the trial and was “waiting for formal notification from [the government] that we are part of this trial.” The head of the RMT trade union said: “For the government to claim there is an agreed scheme or system is totally untrue.” But the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) told us that TfL currently have two sites registered as part of the pilot And a TfL spokesperson later confirmed: “We have been part of a limited location-based trial at two sites which allows staff who have been notified by Test & Trace to take a lateral flow test at one of these sites on seven consecutive days and continue working throughout if negative.” The two locations included its own main office in Southwark, as well as King’s Cross station.  DHSC said that the trial has been running since December among organisations in England with workplace testing sites, and that Downing Street joined the trial in May.  TfL confirmed that when it said it was “waiting for formal notification from them that we are part of this trial”, it had been referring to a different trial, whereby employees can take tests at home instead of self-isolating, after being told to do so by NHS Test & Trace.","https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57877373,https://news.sky.com/story/pm-and-sunak-not-isolating-despite-being-pinged-after-javids-positive-covid-test-12358198,https://twitter.com/RidgeOnSunday/status/1416735259740225536,https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000y35m/breakfast-19072021,https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/18/unions-deny-rail-and-tube-staff-in-scheme-to-skip-self-isolation,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",TfL is part of self-isolation pilot scheme,,,,,, +20,,,,Other,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-07-20,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/news/boris-johnson-whatsapp-covid-life-expectancy-cummings/,"The average age of Covid-19 deaths is higher than the average life expectancy, which means that people who get Covid live longer.",2021-07-20,fullfact,,"In an allegedly leaked WhatsApp message, shared with the BBC by the Prime Minister’s former chief political adviser Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson appears to say “get Covid and live longer”, alluding to the average age of Covid-19 deaths.  Screenshots of the supposed message from Mr Johnson, shared on Twitter and dated 15 October 2020, read: “I must say I have been slightly rocked by some of the data on Covid fatalities. The median age is 82 - 81 for men 85 for women.  “That is above life expectancy. So get Covid and live longer.”  While Downing Street has denied other claims made by Mr Cummings, they have so far not denied that the message was sent by Mr Johnson. The idea that people who die of Covid have lived longer than average fails to appreciate these are the very people who would have been expected to live much longer. As we have written before, people dying of Covid lose about a decade of life, on average. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not regularly publish information on the average age of Covid-19 deaths but, as we have written before, a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request published in January 2021 shows that between the week ending 9 October, 2020, and the week ending 1 January, 2021, the median age of deaths involving Covid-19 was 83.  Data published through a different FOI request to the ONS shows that the median age of Covid-19 deaths in England and Wales, up to and including 2 October, 2020, was also 83. According to the most recent statistics from the ONS, the average life expectancy at birth in the UK from 2017 to 2019 was 79.4 years for males and 83.1 years for females.  This would appear to show that the message attributed to Mr Johnson was correct—but it is not how life expectancy works in reality.  Life expectancy is an average, which means it is pulled down by people who die young. It also means that life expectancy increases as you age.  A set of data called the National Life Tables, produced by the ONS, shows how life expectancy adjusts as a person ages.  An 82-year-old man can expect to live for another 7.4 years on average, while an 85-year-old woman can expect to live another 6.87 years on average.  People dying of Covid in their 80s before they otherwise would have died, itself reduces average life expectancy.  The idea that you can ‘get Covid and live longer’ fails to take this into account, and therefore misunderstands the impact of Covid-19 deaths.","https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57854811#:~:text=the%20%22median%20age%22%20for%20those%20dying%20was%20between%2081%20and%2082%20for%20men%20and%2085%20for%20women%2C%20the%20prime%20minister%20allegedly%20wrote%2C%20adding%3A%20%22that%20is%20above%20life%20expectancy.%20so%20get%20covid%20and%20live%20longer.,https://twitter.com/faisalislam/status/1417397768931401754,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57854811#:~:text=downing%20street%20denied%20that%20this%20incident%20took%20place%20and%20buckingham%20palace%20declined%20to%20comment.],https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/#:~:text=people%20dying%20of%20covid%20have%20still%20lost%20about%20a%20decade%20of%20life%2C%20on%20average.,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-cremation-pcr-asymptomatic-transmission/#:~:text=The%20ONS%20does,was%20also%2083,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/adhocs/12773averageageofdeathmedianandmeanofpersonswhosedeathwasduetocovid19orinvolvedcovid19bysexdeathsregisteredinweekending9october2020toweekending1january2021englandandwales,https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/transparencyandgovernance/freedomofinformationfoi/averageageofthosewhohaddiedwithcovid19,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/nationallifetablesunitedkingdom/2017to2019#:~:text=life%20expectancy%20at%20birth%20in%20the%20uk%20in%202017%20to%202019%20was%2079.4%20years%20for%20males%20and%2083.1%20years%20for%20females,https://www.covid-arg.com/post/get-covid-and-live-longer#:~:text=above-,life%20expectancy%20is%20an,at%20least%2080%20years,-The,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/nationallifetablesunitedkingdom/2017to2019#:~:text=national%20life%20tables%3A%20uk%20dataset%20%7C%20released%2024%20september%202020,https://fullfact.org/news/dawn-butler-boris-johnson-lying/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/what-has-prime-minister-said-about-booing-england-players/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/times-woke-survey/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/michael-gove-public-first/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/news/sun-cancel-culture/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Average Covid-19 victim dies years before they otherwise would,,,,,, +21,,,,Mixture,Grace Rahman,2021-07-20,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/,"There have been 1,400 deaths and one million injured from Covid-19 vaccinations in the UK.",2021-07-20,fullfact,,"The front page of free newspaper ‘The Light’, shared on Facebook, claimed that there have been 1,400 deaths and a million injuries “from covid injections” in the UK. There have been just over 1,470 deaths following a Covid-19 vaccination in the UK, according to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) Yellow Card reporting scheme, as of 7 July 2020. These deaths aren’t necessarily caused by the vaccine though. The MHRA says: “Vaccination and surveillance of large populations means that, by chance, some people will experience and report a new illness or events in the days and weeks after vaccination.  “A high proportion of people vaccinated early in the vaccination campaign were very elderly, and/or had pre-existing medical conditions. Older age and chronic underlying illnesses make it more likely that coincidental adverse events will occur, especially given the millions of people vaccinated.” The MHRA has identified a possible link between a type of extremely rare blood clot occurring with low levels of platelets and the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. There have been 74 fatal cases of this following this vaccination as of 7 July. There have been just over a million suspected reactions reported as of 7 July. Again, these adverse reactions weren’t definitely caused by the vaccination, but were reported afterwards, either by the individual themselves or a healthcare professional. Not all of these were serious “injuries”, as The Light describes them. For example, there were over 14,000 reported suspected side effects of fatigue following the Pfizer vaccine. The main body of The Light’s front page text, which is blurry in the Facebook picture, goes on to say: “More than 1400 deaths have been reported following covid injections in the UK”. This is technically correct but, as said, the fact a death is reported following a vaccination is no proof the vaccine was the cause.","https://thelightpaper.co.uk/assets/pdf/The-Light-11D-Miki-FINAL.pdf,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158628780561795&set=a.493612736794&type=3,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003414/Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting_07.07.2021_-_Clean.pdf#page=17,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003414/Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting_07.07.2021_-_Clean.pdf#page=17,https://www.gov.uk/government/news/mhra-issues-new-advice-concluding-a-possible-link-between-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-and-extremely-rare-unlikely-to-occur-blood-clots,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003414/Coronavirus_vaccine_-_summary_of_Yellow_Card_reporting_07.07.2021_-_Clean.pdf#page=9,https://coronavirus-yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/about,https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1003227/COVID-19_Pfizer-BioNTech_Vaccine_Analysis_Print_DLP_07.07.2021.pdf#page=22,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Free paper repeats falsehoods on deaths following vaccination,,,,,, +22,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-20,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/lord-sumption-covid-errors/,"Only hundreds, not thousands, of people have died of Covid without any other pre-existing condition mentioned on their death certificate.",2021-07-20,fullfact,,"The former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption made several mistakes with Covid-19 data when talking about the disease on the Today programme this morning. First of all, he said that the virus had not killed more than 100,000 people, because many of the deaths recorded may have been people who were infected with Covid, but died for other reasons. This is not true. The daily data on the number of people who have died after a positive test does include some people who died for other reasons. However, we also have data from death certificates, which records whether or not Covid itself was the “underlying cause”. This shows that up to 2 July this year, 124,082 people died with Covid as the underlying cause of death in England and Wales alone. Lord Sumption went on to say that the people who died of Covid would soon have died anyway. He said: “At the age which they had reached, they would probably have died within a year after, as even Professor Ferguson has I think admitted.""  [1.19.00] This is not supported by the evidence. The mention of Professor Ferguson seems to be a reference to the government’s former scientific advisor’s comments before the Science and Technology Select Committee on 25 March 2020, when he said that the proportion of people dying of Covid in 2020 who would have died that year anyway “might be as much as half to two thirds of the deaths we are seeing from COVID-19”. In other words, he was talking at a very early stage of the pandemic about what might be seen by the end of the year, not stating a fact, or predicting what the facts would be. Research suggests that people dying of Covid lost far more than a year of life—about a decade on average. We have written about this in detail before.  Lord Sumption also said: ""The number of people who have died who are not in highly vulnerable groups who have died without a sufficiently serious comorbidity to appear on the death certificate is very small. It's a matter of hundreds and not thousands."" [1.19.42] This is not true either. It seems that Lord Sumption is talking about the number of death certificates that mention Covid as the underlying cause but do not mention any pre-existing medical condition. There were 15,883 of these deaths in England and Wales alone, up to the end of March 2021. All of them had Covid as the underlying cause. If you added all the deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland too, the total would be higher.","https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths#card-deaths_within_28_days_of_positive_test_by_date_of_death,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending2july2021#:~:text=Deaths%20involving%20and%20due%20to%20COVID-19%20and%20influenza%20and%20pneumonia%2C%20England%20and%20Wales%2C%20deaths%20registered%20in%202020%20and%202021,https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/237/pdf/#page=10,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/preexistingconditionsofpeoplewhodiedduetocovid19englandandwales,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Lord Sumption made several errors about Covid on Today,,,,,, +23,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-20,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/lord-sumption-covid-errors/,"Only hundreds, not thousands, of people have died of Covid without any other pre-existing condition mentioned on their death certificate.",2021-07-20,fullfact,,"The former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption made several mistakes with Covid-19 data when talking about the disease on the Today programme this morning. First of all, he said that the virus had not killed more than 100,000 people, because many of the deaths recorded may have been people who were infected with Covid, but died for other reasons. This is not true. The daily data on the number of people who have died after a positive test does include some people who died for other reasons. However, we also have data from death certificates, which records whether or not Covid itself was the “underlying cause”. This shows that up to 2 July this year, 124,082 people died with Covid as the underlying cause of death in England and Wales alone. Lord Sumption went on to say that the people who died of Covid would soon have died anyway. He said: “At the age which they had reached, they would probably have died within a year after, as even Professor Ferguson has I think admitted.""  [1.19.00] This is not supported by the evidence. The mention of Professor Ferguson seems to be a reference to the government’s former scientific advisor’s comments before the Science and Technology Select Committee on 25 March 2020, when he said that the proportion of people dying of Covid in 2020 who would have died that year anyway “might be as much as half to two thirds of the deaths we are seeing from COVID-19”. In other words, he was talking at a very early stage of the pandemic about what might be seen by the end of the year, not stating a fact, or predicting what the facts would be. Research suggests that people dying of Covid lost far more than a year of life—about a decade on average. We have written about this in detail before.  Lord Sumption also said: ""The number of people who have died who are not in highly vulnerable groups who have died without a sufficiently serious comorbidity to appear on the death certificate is very small. It's a matter of hundreds and not thousands."" [1.19.42] This is not true either. It seems that Lord Sumption is talking about the number of death certificates that mention Covid as the underlying cause but do not mention any pre-existing medical condition. There were 15,883 of these deaths in England and Wales alone, up to the end of March 2021. All of them had Covid as the underlying cause. If you added all the deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland too, the total would be higher.","https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths#card-deaths_within_28_days_of_positive_test_by_date_of_death,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending2july2021#:~:text=Deaths%20involving%20and%20due%20to%20COVID-19%20and%20influenza%20and%20pneumonia%2C%20England%20and%20Wales%2C%20deaths%20registered%20in%202020%20and%202021,https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/237/pdf/#page=10,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/preexistingconditionsofpeoplewhodiedduetocovid19englandandwales,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Lord Sumption made several errors about Covid on Today,,,,,, +24,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-20,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/lord-sumption-covid-errors/,"Only hundreds, not thousands, of people have died of Covid without any other pre-existing condition mentioned on their death certificate.",2021-07-20,fullfact,,"The former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption made several mistakes with Covid-19 data when talking about the disease on the Today programme this morning. First of all, he said that the virus had not killed more than 100,000 people, because many of the deaths recorded may have been people who were infected with Covid, but died for other reasons. This is not true. The daily data on the number of people who have died after a positive test does include some people who died for other reasons. However, we also have data from death certificates, which records whether or not Covid itself was the “underlying cause”. This shows that up to 2 July this year, 124,082 people died with Covid as the underlying cause of death in England and Wales alone. Lord Sumption went on to say that the people who died of Covid would soon have died anyway. He said: “At the age which they had reached, they would probably have died within a year after, as even Professor Ferguson has I think admitted.""  [1.19.00] This is not supported by the evidence. The mention of Professor Ferguson seems to be a reference to the government’s former scientific advisor’s comments before the Science and Technology Select Committee on 25 March 2020, when he said that the proportion of people dying of Covid in 2020 who would have died that year anyway “might be as much as half to two thirds of the deaths we are seeing from COVID-19”. In other words, he was talking at a very early stage of the pandemic about what might be seen by the end of the year, not stating a fact, or predicting what the facts would be. Research suggests that people dying of Covid lost far more than a year of life—about a decade on average. We have written about this in detail before.  Lord Sumption also said: ""The number of people who have died who are not in highly vulnerable groups who have died without a sufficiently serious comorbidity to appear on the death certificate is very small. It's a matter of hundreds and not thousands."" [1.19.42] This is not true either. It seems that Lord Sumption is talking about the number of death certificates that mention Covid as the underlying cause but do not mention any pre-existing medical condition. There were 15,883 of these deaths in England and Wales alone, up to the end of March 2021. All of them had Covid as the underlying cause. If you added all the deaths in Scotland and Northern Ireland too, the total would be higher.","https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths#card-deaths_within_28_days_of_positive_test_by_date_of_death,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/deathsregisteredweeklyinenglandandwalesprovisional/weekending2july2021#:~:text=Deaths%20involving%20and%20due%20to%20COVID-19%20and%20influenza%20and%20pneumonia%2C%20England%20and%20Wales%2C%20deaths%20registered%20in%202020%20and%202021,https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000xzdf,https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/237/pdf/#page=10,https://wellcomeopenresearch.org/articles/5-75,https://fullfact.org/health/covid19-behind-the-death-toll/,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/preexistingconditionsofpeoplewhodiedduetocovid19englandandwales,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Lord Sumption made several errors about Covid on Today,,,,,, +25,,,,False,Abbas Panjwani,2021-07-20,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/economy/george-freeman-africa-eu-tariffs/,The EU has a 40% tariff on food from Africa.,2021-07-20,fullfact,,"Following the government’s decision to reduce its commitment to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income on foreign aid to 0.5%, Conservative MP George Freeman appeared on Newsnight to talk about the other ways in which the government supported poorer nations. One thing he claimed was that the UK had reduced the EU’s 40% tariff on food imports from Africa. It was something he previously said in Parliament in April. But the EU doesn’t have a 40% tariff on food from Africa.  Tariffs are taxes on imports. They are largely used to protect domestic producers from foreign competition. For example, if a government wanted to protect domestic beef farmers from being undercut by foreign competitors, it might choose to place a tariff on foreign imports of beef. The EU has tariffs on various products, but there isn’t just one flat 40% tariff on food. Tariffs vary by foodstuff. For instance, the average tariff placed on dairy products imported into the EU is 37% while on tea and coffee it’s 6%.  In practice there are many different products within each of these categories which have their own specific tariff.  But what’s more important, is that the EU waives most tariffs on the majority of African countries.  By our count, 43 of 55 African countries face no tariffs whatsoever when exporting to the EU, with the exception of arms. This is because of schemes where the EU unilaterally waives tariffs on the least developed nations worldwide, or bilateral “economic partnership agreements”, where the EU drops its import tariffs, often in exchange for better access to the other signatory country’s market.  Another eight African countries face either reduced or removed tariffs on most exports to the EU, by virtue of schemes the EU has to help low and lower-middle income countries, or free trade agreements.  Goods originating from Western Sahara are subject to the same terms as goods from Morocco which claims the area (a free trade agreement with some tariffs on fish and agri-foods) .   Only three countries in Africa do not have preferential trading terms with the EU: Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Libya.  Going back to Mr Freeman’s original claim, there may well be a particular foodstuff from the continent which the EU charges an import tariff of 40% on, and which the UK does not. And that may mean that exporters from those 12 countries without complete tariff free access to the EU face lower tariff barriers exporting that product to the UK than the EU. But that’s hardly the same as saying that the EU puts a 40% tariff on food imports from Africa. After publication Mr Freeman acknowledged the statistic was incorrect.","https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-sets-out-conditions-for-returning-to-07-aid-target,https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000xwmw/newsnight-13072021,https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-04-13/debates/9158B8BB-DBAE-4495-86F7-57A3C5B05CD2/Finance(No2)Bill#contribution-27E3A907-13A5-46A1-9875-A89DCF05C156,https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/trade-tariffs#:~:text=What%20are%20tariffs%20and%20why,domestic%20industries%20from%20foreign%20competition.,https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/daily_update_e/tariff_profiles/CE_E.pdf,https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/reports/how-many-countries-africa-how-hard-can-question-be,https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17kCrdVtZr8ziSFFA0EeVJ0QGCYNWV7rXgx23Li88R-A/edit?usp=sharing,https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/development/generalised-scheme-of-preferences/,https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/development/economic-partnerships/index_en.htm,https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2014/october/tradoc_152818.pdf,https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17kCrdVtZr8ziSFFA0EeVJ0QGCYNWV7rXgx23Li88R-A/edit?usp=sharing,https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/development/generalised-scheme-of-preferences/index_en.htm,https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2017/november/tradoc_156399.pdf,https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2019.034.01.0004.01.ENG,https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationalrelations/2021/05/04/eu-western-sahara/,https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2017/november/tradoc_156399.pdf,https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/regions/central-africa/index_en.htm,https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/libya/index_en.htm,https://twitter.com/GeorgeFreemanMP/status/1417950084017397760,https://fullfact.org/economy/millionaire-pensioners/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/april-2021-trade-figures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/uk-foreign-aid-g7/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/labours-record-on-unemployment/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/economy/foreign-aid-2021/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",The EU doesn’t have a 40% tariff on African food imports,,,,,, +26,,,,False,Pippa Allen-Kinross,2021-07-19,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/paris-protests-photograph/,Photograph of people filling the streets of Paris was taken during protests against Covid-19 regulations on 17 July 2021.,2021-07-19,fullfact,,"A post on Facebook shared almost 1,000 times shows people lining the streets of Paris. The caption of the post claims this photograph was taken on 17 July 2021, when there were protests in the French capital over Covid-19 rules. However, this photograph actually shows celebrations in the city after France won the World Cup in 2018.  Since this fact check was published, the Facebook post has been updated to show a different image of people protesting against Covid-19 regulations. On 12 July, French president Emmanuel Macron announced new measures against Covid-19, including the introduction of Covid-19 ‘passports’ and that vaccination will become mandatory for all health workers.  The planned new measures have led to large protests in the country. Reuters reported that there were 137 protests across France on 17 July, gathering nearly 114,000 people. Of these protestors, 18,000 were in Paris, according to the French government.  However, this photograph, which appears to show far more than 18,000 people, was not taken during these protests. A reverse image search shows this photograph was used by multiple news outlets reporting on France’s victory in the 2018 World Cup. Posts suggesting the image was taken during the protests on 17 July have also been widely shared on Twitter, including by lockdown sceptic Ivor Cummins.","https://www.facebook.com/red.hat.121398/posts/193482426124960,https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-protests-call-freedom-amid-government-vaccine-push-2021-07-17/,https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210712-follow-live-france-s-macron-addresses-the-nation-as-covid-19-delta-variant-surges,https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/french-protests-call-freedom-amid-government-vaccine-push-2021-07-17/,https://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/frankreich-ist-weltmeister-so-schoen-feiert-paris-fotostrecke-162444.html,https://www.lejsl.com/actualite/2018/07/15/apres-la-victoire-les-champs-elysees-pris-d-assaut,https://twitter.com/adsportwereld/status/1018580749186928640,https://twitter.com/MaryMbois/status/1416729576701579265,https://twitter.com/StealthGrooove/status/1416949079301496837,https://twitter.com/avokasianssi/status/1416871116384182280?s=20,https://twitter.com/FatEmperor/status/1416874308249559045?s=20,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Photo doesn’t show Covid protest in Paris,,,,,, +27,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-07-16,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-statistics-Covid-19/,Death rates are lower than previous years which proves Covid-19 hasn’t killed or is killing anyone.,2021-07-16,fullfact,,"A Facebook post shows a meme of actor John Krasinski in TV show The Office sitting next to a white board with edited text which states that death rates are the same level as previous years therefore proving there is “nothing new killing people”. Other text accompanying the image adds “Actually lower”. Firstly, it’s true that death rates are lower than previous years, at least in England and Wales. To measure this we can use the age-standardised mortality rate which is the number of deaths per 100,000 people, adjusted to even out the changing age structure of the country over time. As of May 2021, the rate is at its lowest since records began in 2001. Mortality rates have been broadly declining since 2001. However, the Facebook post seems to be suggesting that lower death rates indicate that Covid-19 is not killing anyone or perhaps that it does not exist. Using the same data we can see the age-standardised mortality rate in May 2020 (near the peak of the pandemic in England) was at its highest level for both men and women since 2007. Looking back further to April 2020, mortality rates were then at their highest since the Office for National Statistics’ mortality records began. While deaths are lower now compared to the same time last year, owed in part to the vaccination programme, people are still dying from Covid-19.  Hundreds of people are also still being infected and hospitalised every day. We’ve fact checked similar claims before.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10225170874115640&set=a.10209627838189456&type=3&theater,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwales/may2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwales/may2021,https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/bulletins/monthlymortalityanalysisenglandandwales/april2021,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare,https://fullfact.org/online/death-rate-2020-2003/,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",A fall in death rates doesn’t prove Covid-19 isn’t killing anyone,,,,,, +28,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-07-16,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/Allison-Pearson-Covid-stats-hospital/,The number of Covid hospitalisations is 0.5% of the level of cases.,2021-07-16,fullfact,,"Columnist Allison Pearson tweeted on Monday that only 0.5% of patients with Covid-19 have been hospitalised, looking at the recent weekly average of cases and hospitalisations. This is a misleading calculation to make because of the lag between cases and hospitalisations, and, regardless, the calculation has been done incorrectly. It's unclear but it appears Ms Pearson was looking at the data for England. When she tweeted, the seven-day average daily case count was around 26,000 (taken on 4 July). She compares this with the seven-day average of patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19 (which was 444 on 7 July, the latest data when she tweeted). You can’t compare these numbers to calculate the hospitalisation risk of Covid. It takes time for symptoms to develop to the point someone with Covid may need to be hospitalised, meaning, they are likely to be hospitalised later than the date they were first tested. We’re also not sure where the 0.5% proportion figure has come from either, as (although as noted these figures shouldn’t be compared) 433 is 1.67% of 26,000, not 0.5%.","https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases?areaType=nation&areaName=England,https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare?areaType=nation&areaName=England,https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html#:~:text=Symptoms%20may%20appear%202%2D14,Fever%20or%20chills,https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.18.20156307v1,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Allison Pearson tweets misleading stats about Covid hospital patients,,,,,, +29,,,,False,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-16,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/health/Rife-machines/,"Rife machines can cure over 5,000 diseases including all cancers, infections and more.",2021-07-16,fullfact,,"A post on social media claims that Raymond Rife created a device that could “cure over 5000 diseases including all cancers, infections and more” and asks “why aren’t we using it”? This claim is not proven. Cancer Research UK says that “there is no reliable evidence to use [Rife machines] as a treatment for cancer”. RIFE machines were created in the 1920-30s by the scientist Raymond Rife, and they work by omitting low electromagnetic energy waves. Supporters of the machine say that all medical conditions have an electromagnetic frequency, and by matching the frequency, the RIFE machine can kill or disable affected cells.  RIFE machines are not an established treatment in the UK (or in other countries such as the US), as there is no reliable evidence to say that they work and they have not been through the rigorous testing required for a treatment to be used.  Cancer Research UK says: “Many websites promote the Rife machine as a cure for cancer. But no reputable scientific cancer organisations support any of these claims.” It also says there is no evidence that these machines do not cause harm to people who use them, and warns: “You could harm your health if you stop your cancer treatment for an unproven treatment.” There are some studies which have explored the use of low energy waves as a treatment for cancer, but further research in this area is required.  There are cancer treatments which use high frequency sound waves to kill cancer cells, and these have a good evidence base for their use.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=173655694783084&set=a.125066426308678&type=3&theater,https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/rife-machine-and-cancer,https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.3322/canjclin.44.2.115#page=5,https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8124604/,https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/rife-machine-and-cancer#:~:text=The%20Food%20and%20Drug%20Administration,machines%20against%20making%20unproven%20claims.,https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/rife-machine-and-cancer,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3097732/,https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/complementary-alternative-therapies/individual-therapies/rife-machine-and-cancer,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3261663/,https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26762464/,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3845545/#b11,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5119968/,https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3188936/,https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/other/high-intensity-focused-ultrasound-hifu,https://fullfact.org/health/tetanus-risk-social-media/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/robert-peston-reinfections/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/vaccinated-Covid-19-deaths/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/self-isolation-support/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/health/richard-tice-covid-vaccine-infertility-stillbirth/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",No evidence Rife machines can cure all cancers,,,,,, +30,,,,Other,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-07-16,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/education/evening-standard-missing-school-children-covid/,"100,000 children have not returned to school since the start of the pandemic.",2021-07-16,fullfact,,"An Evening Standard article claims that “almost 100,000 ‘ghost children’ have not returned to school since [the] start of [the] Covid pandemic”.  We have fact checked the use of this figure before. It is based on a report produced by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), which states that during September to December 2020, 93,514 pupils in England were severely absent, which means they missed school more often than they attended. This does not include pupils who missed lessons directly due to Covid-19, for example, school bubble closures. As the figure is now quite old, it tells us nothing about attendance during the spring and summer terms so it is not accurate to say that “nearly 100,000 children have failed to return to school full-time since they reopened [our emphasis]”, as stated in the article. The phrasing that these children “have not returned to school” is also problematic. The CSJ found 100,000 children attended less than 50% of available sessions in the autumn term, not that they weren’t present at school at all.  Finally, the idea that these children have failed to “return” is inaccurate, in suggesting that these children (or this many equivalent children) were regularly attending school before the pandemic, which is not the case.  Even before Covid-19, in the autumn term of 2019, 60,244 pupils were classed as severely absent. The number of severely absent children has risen by more than 50% in a year, a significant increase, but it’s important to bear in mind that the factors contributing to the absence of a large number of these children may not be related to, or at least dependent on, Covid-19.","https://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/school-absence-children-covid-pandemic-b945551.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1626187865-1,https://fullfact.org/education/school-pupils-return-classroom-covid/,https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Cant_Catch_Up_FULL-REPORT.pdf#page=3,https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Cant_Catch_Up_FULL-REPORT.pdf#page=7,https://www.standard.co.uk/news/education/school-absence-children-covid-pandemic-b945551.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#:~:text=nearly%20100%2C000%20children%20have%20failed%20to%20return%20to%20school%20full-time%20since%20they%20reopened.,https://www.centreforsocialjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Cant_Catch_Up_FULL-REPORT.pdf#page=3,https://fullfact.org/education/maria-miller-nine-ten-girls-ofsted/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/ofsted-sexual-abuse-schools/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/school-pupils-return-classroom-covid/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/literacy-numeracy-uk-telegraph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/pupil-funding-conservatives/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content","Figure of 100,000 children missing from school is out of date",,,,,, +31,,,,Other,Tom Norton,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/wolf-pack-BBC-frozen-planet/,"A photo of a wolf pack shows how they are separated in formation based on strength, with an alpha wolf that pulls up the rear and controls the whole group.",2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A Facebook post shows a photo of a wolf pack, with text alongside the photo explaining their formation. It claims that while on the move the pack organises a formation based on strength, with the “alpha” wolf pulling up the rear and controlling the direction of the entire group, while the old and sick wolves set the pace at the front of the group. While the photograph is real (taken from the 2011 documentary Frozen Planet filming in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Canada), the accompanying description isn’t accurate. As this fact check by Snopes points out, the documentary explains that one “alpha female” leads the pack while other wolves follow to conserve energy. It is not correct that the wolves at the front are old or sick, or that the wolves at the back are the strongest. The post has been in circulation online since at least 2015. The photo is incorrectly attributed to “Cesare Brai” but was actually taken by Chadden Hunter.","https://www.facebook.com/groups/welovewolf/posts/505338357438884/,https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2011/oct/19/bbc-frozen-planet-in-pictures,https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/wolf-pack-photo/,https://twitter.com/chaddenh/status/679623256404398080?lang=en,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Facebook post about wolves makes howling errors,,,,,, +32,,,,Other,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/fuel-tank-car-heatwave-explode/,Filling up your car in hot weather could cause the fuel tank to explode.,2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A post on Facebook, shared more than half a million times, warns that filling a fuel tank in hot weather could cause the tank to explode.  “Due to [an] increase in temperature in the coming days, please don’t fill petrol to the maximum limit. It may cause [an] explosion in the fuel tank. Please fill the tank about half and allow space for air.”  This is not true, and has already been debunked a number of times online.  In 2018, a spokesperson for motoring organisation RAC, Rod Dennis, said: “All fuel systems on passenger vehicles are designed to cope with any expansion of fuel, or vapour coming from the fuel. “There is no risk of explosion from filling up a fuel tank fully and drivers should have no concerns in doing so.” In their fact check of a similar post, fact checking service Snopes write: “The temperature at which fuel auto-ignites (i.e. the temperature at which fuel will combust without a trigger or spark) is around 495ºF [257C].  “This level is far higher than any temperature a covered, insulated tank could possibly achieve simply by being driven or parked on planet Earth.”","https://www.facebook.com/highwaypolicepakistan/photos/a.407439279293874/1055122731192189/?type=3&theater,https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/no-truth-to-exploding-petrol-tank-reports-rac/,https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/full-gas-tank-explosion/,https://inews.co.uk/essentials/lifestyle/cars/car-news/filling-up-heatwave-do-cars-expode-170259,https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/news/motoring-news/no-truth-to-exploding-petrol-tank-reports-rac/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThere%20is%20no,via%20social%20media.%E2%80%9D,https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/full-gas-tank-explosion/,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Your fuel tank won’t explode if you fill it during a heatwave,,,,,, +33,,,,Other,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/google-removed-churchill-photograph/,Google has removed Churchill.,2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A Facebook post shares a picture of Winston Churchill with the text: “As Google have removed him let's share him all over Facebook.” The post was published on 17 June 2020, but it is still being widely shared, with more than 36,000 shares so far. It seems to refer to the disappearance of Churchill’s photograph from Google’s ‘Knowledge Graph’ in late April last year. The Knowledge Graph is the panel of basic information that appears after some searches on Google, and which sometimes creates lists at the top of the page. Photographs of Churchill continued to be available on Google through web and image searches. Google subsequently restored the image on 14 June 2020, and said that it was never deliberately removed. According to the company, the image failed to update as a result of a bug following its decision to use a more recognisable picture. The photograph of Churchill had already been restored by Google when this Facebook post was first published.","https://www.facebook.com/andy.penaluna.1/posts/3321214734569190,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53050711,https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1272234504594141184?s=20,https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1272234504594141184?s%3D20&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1626361548908000&usg=AOvVaw2QeXhLzT1UfQmjvbK0yvWT,https://www.google.com/search?q=uk+prime+ministers&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB888GB888&ei=wUTwYN3QObKLhbIP7_uG2A4&oq=uk+pr&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAMYADIICAAQsQMQkQIyAggAMgQIABADMgIIADIFCAAQyQMyAggAMgIIADIFCAAQsQMyCAgAELEDEIMBMgIIADoKCC4QsQMQQxCTAjoECAAQQzoCCC46BwgAELEDEEM6CggAELEDEIMBEEM6CAguEMcBEK8BOgQILhBDOgUILhCxAzoLCAAQsQMQgwEQyQNKBAhBGABQ5-4mWNbzJmCM_yZoAnACeACAAWqIAeIDkgEDNi4xmAEAoAEBqgEHZ3dzLXdpesABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz,https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1272077557454655490?s=20,https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1272112542576328706,https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1272112542576328706,https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1272234502421708800?s=20,https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1272234502421708800?s=20,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Churchill’s photograph has not been removed from Google,,,,,, +34,,,,Mixture,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/jonathan-tortoise-190-oldest-animal/,"A picture shows the world's oldest living land animal, a tortoise named Jonathan.",2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A picture of a tortoise, claimed to be the oldest known living land animal in the world, has been shared widely on social media.  It’s true that the oldest known living land animal in the world is a tortoise named Jonathan, at almost 190 years old.  But the picture shared on social media is not of Jonathan, who lives on the island of St Helena in the south Atlantic.  The picture can instead be sourced to Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. A post from 2014 on the zoo’s Instagram page identifies the animal as a male Galapagos Tortoise.  While fact checking the same picture, Check Your Fact contacted the zoo itself. A spokesperson said the tortoise pictured was in its 50s.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158862630436091&set=a.10150979184681091&type=3&theater,https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=283652683330876&set=gm.771326640425104,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2834547610192780&set=a.1403261623321393&type=3&theater,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10225429101704294&set=a.10204941070356315&type=3&theater,https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2019/2/introducing-jonathan-the-worlds-oldest-animal-on-land-561882,https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/2019/2/introducing-jonathan-the-worlds-oldest-animal-on-land-561882#:~:text=St%20Helena%20in%20the%20South%20Atlantic%20since%201882,https://www.instagram.com/p/nZpsJNQPk6/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.instagram.com/p/nZpsJNQPk6/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://checkyourfact.com/2021/06/24/fact-check-jonathan-tortoise-oldest-land-animal-alive/?fbclid=IwAR093rMoqhGqfVNEvOwOtI3mgkEGpc0URLASIEn7lxKXYqFA1U2GpG_UhAc,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Viral social media picture doesn’t show world’s oldest living land animal,,,,,, +35,,,,Other,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/three-president-deaths-refuse-vaccines/,"The presidents of Haiti, Tanzania and Zambia died ‘unexpectedly’, and this is linked to the fact they refused the Covid-19 vaccines for their nations.",2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A meme shared on Facebook features actor John Krasinski in The Office with a whiteboard with edited text, which says: “3 countries refused the covid vaccine”, followed by: “Now all 3 of their presidents have died unexpectedly”. Beneath the image are the names of the former presidents of Haiti (Jovenel Moïse), Tanzania (John Magufuli) and Zambia (Kenneth Kaunda).  The posts suggest that the death of these three men is linked to a refusal of the Covid-19 vaccines. There is no evidence to support this claim.  Haiti is eligible for provision of Covid-19 vaccines through the Covax programme, but roll out has been slow, with Haiti yet to give any doses to residents, and only receiving its first vaccines this week.   President Moïse did not explicitly refuse all of the Covid-19 vaccines, but the country did initially refuse the AstraZeneca vaccine due to safety concerns.   There have also been administrative and supply difficulties around the arrival of vaccinations to Haiti, and concerns about the logistics of organising the vaccine roll out.  Mr Moïse was fatally shot at home on 7 July 2021. Arrests have been made but there are still many unknown details about the assasination. There is no evidence to suggest that there is a link to the lack of progress made regarding Haiti’s vaccine roll out.  President Magufuli reportedly said that home treatments such as steam inhalation were preferable to “dangerous foreign vaccines”, and in February 2021 the country’s health minister said that Tanzania had no plans to accept Covid-19 vaccines.   Mr Magufuli’s successor,  president Samia Suluhu Hassan announced that the president’s death in March 2021 was due to heart disease. There is no evidence to suggest that the death was related to Mr Magufuli’s stance on the Covid-19 vaccines.  There has been some speculation from Tanzanian opposition leaders, and on social media, that Mr Magufuli’s death may have been caused by Covid-19, however this has been discredited.  President Kaunda died of pneumonia at a military hospital in Lusaka in June 2021, age 97. The president did not refuse the Covid-19 vaccines for Zambia. In fact, in March 2021, the Zambian health minister announced plans to vaccinate all over 18s in the country. Similar claims have been fact checked before.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=274927637691526&set=a.154530876397870&type=3&theater,https://www.gavi.org/news/media-room/92-low-middle-income-economies-eligible-access-covid-19-vaccines-gavi-covax-amc,https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/covid/covax/COVAX-Interim-Distribution-Forecast.pdf,https://apnews.com/article/africa-coronavirus-vaccine-coronavirus-pandemic-business-government-and-politics-2d5eab50c1ef8bd63b1a48331f4c3025,https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/coronavirus-wave-takes-haiti-yet-begin-vaccinations-by-surprise-2021-06-09/,https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-08/haiti-is-the-only-country-in-western-hemisphere-without-vaccines,https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/15/world/haiti-covid-vaccine.html,https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/15/world/haiti-covid-vaccine.html,https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-08/haiti-is-the-only-country-in-western-hemisphere-without-vaccines,https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2021/7/5/haiti-still-awaiting-first-covid-vaccines-as-cases-surge,https://apnews.com/article/caribbean-haiti-puerto-rico-public-health-health-40bd0544848fd37b28414c37281be86e,https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/covax-aims-deliver-520-mln-vaccine-doses-africa-this-year-2021-07-08/,https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/haitian-president-shot-dead-home-overnight-pm-2021-07-07/,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-57800152,https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-tanzania-idUSKBN29W1Z6,https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00362-7/fulltext,https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tanzania-president-idUSKBN2B92R0,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-56437852,https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check-magufuli-covid-idUSL1N2M11DF,https://www.reuters.com/article/fact-check-magufuli-covid-idUSL1N2M11DF,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-57517729,https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-zambia-vaccine-idUSKBN2BH2NS,https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/former-zambian-president-kenneth-kaunda-97-hospitalised-2021-06-14/,https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jul/12/facebook-posts/theres-no-evidence-these-politicians-were-killed-o/?fbclid=IwAR3nn2jIyk-pzxIw5UCQ0h5eFqlKIyRmVzEAY0y4dtiJ5FjVKob9lQY1HCc,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",No evidence three presidents died because they refused vaccines for their nations,,,,,, +36,,,,False,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/wolf-retreating-not-protecting-partner-neck/,Female wolf is acting as part of a ‘fighting unit’ and showing trickery and loyalty by protecting her partner’s neck in a fight.,2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A Facebook post shows a picture of three wolves entitled ‘a fighting unit’. Underneath, a caption says “A she-wolf hides under a male. She doesn’t seem frightened by his opponent, but that’s only because she trusts her partner and believes in his strength. Male wolves never attack a female, and she knows it. Why does she hide then? By doing this, the resourceful female protects her partner’s throat against an attack”.  This narrative is untrue. The image, ‘wolf fight’, was taken by photographer Jean Paul and uploaded to Flickr in 2009. It shows three wolves, two of which appear about to fight. The third wolf is cowering beneath one of the fighting wolves’ heads and is covering its neck. The caption says that the image was taken in Ely, Minnesota. The claim attached to the image on Facebook—that one of the wolves is female, and is using her stance to protect a male wolf's neck—appears to come from a post on Reddit in 2016.  Fact checkers Snopes, previously spoke to wolf expert Cameron Feaster at the International Wolf Center in Ely who said that “little of anything in that photo’s statement is correct.”  Mr Feaster was familiar with the wolves, and said none of the three shown in the image are female. He also said that the crouching wolf was simply submitting and trying to turn back, and collided into another male wolf.  Rather than showing a female wolf protecting the neck of her male partner, the photograph simply shows a collision between two male wolves as one tries to flee.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2639763119652582&set=gm.979222356242137&type=3&theater,https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeanpaulphotos/3409921252,https://www.reddit.com/r/wolves/comments/4esyro/the_female_wolf_appears_to_hide_under_the/,https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/wolf-fight-female-throat/,https://wolf.org/wolf-log/feeding-time/,https://wolf.org/visit/hours-fees-programs/,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content","Image shows a retreating wolf, not a protector",,,,,, +37,,,,Other,Abbas Panjwani,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/vaers-adverse-event-reports/,"In the USA there have been 387,087 reports of adverse events after the Covid-19 vaccination.",2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A Facebook post claims that, in the USA there have been 387,087 reports of adverse events “of this evil shot in the arm”, presumably referring to the Covid-19 vaccine, up until 18 June 2021. As we have said before, the fact that an adverse event was reported after a vaccination is no proof that it was caused by the vaccine. Public health authorities do monitor these reports to see if there may be genuine issues associated with vaccination, and this has uncovered issues such as a link between the AstraZeneca vaccine and rare blood clots.    But the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) says these ”reports alone cannot be used to determine if a vaccine caused or contributed to an adverse event or illness.” Some of the reports submitted include things we know can be a result of vaccination, such as fatigue and headaches.  The most recent data shows 438,441 reports detailing 1,919,081 adverse events have been submitted to the CDC following a Covid-19 vaccine, up until 2 July 2021. A small number of these reports come from outside the United States.   The USA’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) is similar to the UK’s Yellow Card scheme, which we have written about before.","https://www.facebook.com/Dawn.Jesusismylife/posts/1447389282284898,https://fullfact.org/health/VAERS-reporting-america/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-adverse-reactions/coronavirus-vaccine-summary-of-yellow-card-reporting,https://vaers.hhs.gov/data.html,https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/safety-and-side-effects/,https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D8/D185F526,https://wonder.cdc.gov/controller/saved/D8/D185F540,https://www.cdc.gov/vaccinesafety/ensuringsafety/monitoring/vaers/index.html,https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/,https://fullfact.org/online/MHRA-yellow-card-poster/,https://fullfact.org/online/police-station-video/,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Adverse event reports after vaccines are not necessarily due to vaccines,,,,,, +38,,,,False,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/stonehenge-not-1950s-fake/,Stonehenge is a modern fake.,2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A video claiming that Stonehenge is a modern fake has been widely viewed on Facebook. (At least one other post has made similar claims.) Stonehenge isn’t fake, just to be clear. The video appears to come from TikTok. It begins with the caption: “And you thought Stonehenge was real?!” It then shows a series of pictures of the site. The video claims that the first picture shows “Metal framing with poured concrete”. In fact this is a picture of “Stone 60”, which is ancient like the rest, but was reinforced with concrete in 1959. The other pictures show people working on the site with various pieces of scaffolding and equipment. The video captions say: “These are just props… Created in the 1950s… Then Faked old pictures from the 1800s… To fool the masses… ‘His-story’ is a lie... We are now learning the mainstream narrative of history was completely fabricated!” A post accompanying the video claims something slightly different, saying: “They built the fake Stonehenge in the 1800's”. In fact, these pictures simply show the stones being restored at various times in history. Stonehenge was built in stages, between 5,000 and 4,500 years ago. It wasn’t made in the 1800s, or the 1950s.","https://www.facebook.com/stevenjdbeattie/videos/244340077179183/,https://www.facebook.com/davidewingjr/videos/1596385043886808/,https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/373/,https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/things-to-do/stone-circle/stones-of-stonehenge/,https://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge-100-years-of-care/,https://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge-early-excavations-restoration/,https://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/excavation-restoration-stonehenge-1950s-60s/,https://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/excavation-restoration-stonehenge-1950s-60s/,https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/history-and-stories/history/description/,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Stonehenge wasn’t built in the 1950s,,,,,, +39,,,,Other,Abbas Panjwani,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/this-isnt-a-real-image-of-the-northern-lights-from-space/,An image from NASA shows the Northern Lights from space.,2021-07-15,fullfact,,"An image claiming to show the Northern Lights from space has been going viral on Facebook.  The post says the image comes “courtesy of NASA” which is true. But the image is not a real photo from space but a computer generation. As Snopes reported back in 2018, the image is a still image taken from a short video made by NASA to explain the Earth’s magnetic field.  The Northern Lights, also called the aurora borealis, are a natural phenomenon caused when electrically charged particles from the Sun collide with the Earth and are drawn to the magnetic poles, where they become heated and then glow.  While this particular image is not real, NASA has taken many genuine photos of the Northern Lights from space.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4954700961223273&set=a.288421267851289&type=3,https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/northern-lights-seen-space/,https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=20056,https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/what-causes-northern-lights-aurora-borealis-explained,https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/aurora-image-gallery/index.html,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",This isn’t a real image of the Northern Lights from space,,,,,, +40,,,,False,Tom Norton,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/social-media-food-covid-tests/,"Tomatoes, raspberries, blackberries and lemons produce positive lateral flow test results for Covid-19.",2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A number of Facebook posts have claimed that tomatoes, raspberries, blackberries and lemons produce positive lateral flow test results for Covid-19. This isn’t true. The photos in both posts show pictures of fruit accompanied by a completed lateral flow test with two lines next to areas marked “C” and “T”. These lines indicate a positive result for Covid-19. Any other result is either negative or invalid. One of the posts shows a lemon with a positive result, which it claims is evidence of the tests producing multiple false positives, while the other shows ‘positive’ results next to a tomato, a raspberry and a blackberry. However, as we’ve established before, foods high in acid break lateral flow tests, causing it to appear like a positive result. The fact that these tests can effectively be broken with fruit does not make them inaccurate or unreliable for use in the general population.  Lateral flow tests are unlikely to give a false positive result if used correctly. We have previously fact checked, among others, claims that kiwi fruit, Coca Cola, ketchup, fruit squash, strawberries, grapes, oranges and diluted cordial have incorrectly produced “positive” results.  Using food and drinks on lateral flow tests has been in the news after reports that pupils are attempting to get time off school by using liquids like lemon juice to create false positive results.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=175025971311811&set=a.108946811253061&type=3,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4779371318745742&set=a.178099415539645&type=3,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4779371318745742&set=a.178099415539645&type=3,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=175025971311811&set=a.108946811253061&type=3,https://fullfact.org/online/orange-covid-positive/,https://www.apr.cz/data/uploads/covid-19/cpr_05_diaquick-covid-19-ag-cassette_2020-09-18.pdf,https://en.joysbio.com/covid-19-antigen-rapid-test-kit/,https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Options-use-of-rapid-antigen-tests-for-COVID-19.pdf#page=4,https://fullfact.org/online/kiwi-covid/,https://fullfact.org/online/ketchup-squash-fruit/,https://fullfact.org/online/orange-covid-positive/,https://fullfact.org/online/lateral-flow-tests-cordial/,https://inews.co.uk/news/technology/tiktok-fake-covid-positive-test-schools-1079693,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Acidic foods don’t test positive for Covid,,,,,, +41,,,,False,Sarah Turnnidge,2021-07-15,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/david-attenborough-red-black-ants/,An analogy about red and black ants in a jar and society was made by Sir David Attenborough.,2021-07-15,fullfact,,"A post on Facebook, shared thousands of times, attributes an analogy about red and black ants in a jar to broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.  “If you collect 100 black ants and 100 fire ants and put them in a glass jar, nothing will happen. But if you take the jar, shake it violently and leave it on the table, the ants will start killing each other. Red believes that black is the enemy, while black believes that red is the enemy, when the real enemy is the person who shook the jar. The same is true in society. Men vs Women. Black vs White. Faith vs Science. Young vs Old. Etc… Before we fight each other, we must ask ourselves: Who shook the jar?”  There is no evidence of Sir David ever having made this analogy. Full Fact can find no credible sources attributing this quote to the naturalist.  We also couldn’t find any record online of an experiment of the nature described in the quote ever having been carried out.  The quote has appeared elsewhere online, including on Facebook, without attribution to Sir David. It was also referenced, and directly attributed to Sir David, in an opinion article about prisons published in the Express and Star, and has been shared hundreds of times on Twitter.  Fact checking service Snopes have also written about this quote, and found no evidence it had originated with Sir David.  This is not the first time we have seen a quote incorrectly sourced to Sir David. Posts like these, where quotes are misattributed to public figures, are relatively common on social media.","https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=338170754332034&set=a.281579096657867&type=3&theater,https://m.facebook.com/IamSouthAfrican/photos/a.144762078905365/3254961457885396/?type=3&source=48,https://www.expressandstar.com/news/voices/opinions/2021/06/08/star-comment-we-must-look-at-our-prisons/,https://twitter.com/freebabarahmad/status/1397595453470957568?lang=en,https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/black-and-red-ants-attenborough/,https://fullfact.org/online/david-attenborough-tree-HS2/,https://fullfact.org/online/no-evidence-boris-johnson-said-he-wanted-to-lop-the-heads-off-of-smelly-peasants/,https://fullfact.org/online/martin-lewis-city-of-london-police/,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",No record of Sir David Attenborough talking about red and black ants in a jar,,,,,, +42,,,,False,Daniella de Block Golding,2021-07-14,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/online/graphene-oxide/,The Pfizer vaccine is 99% graphene oxide.,2021-07-14,fullfact,,"There have been multiple claims made online which say that the Pfizer vaccine contains 99% graphene oxide, a substance which is derived from graphite. The claims originate from a Spanish study and have been circulating in English (across the UK and the US), in Spanish and in Portugese. They are not true. Some of the claims highlight concerns about the toxicity of graphene oxide, while others suggest that graphene oxide may provide an explanation for the ‘magnetism’ that has been commonly claimed to be associated with the Covid-19 vaccines (this is false and we have fact checked this claim previously).  In addition to seeing posts shared on social media, Full Fact has also been asked about these claims by our own readers. Several users on social media have claimed graphene oxide in the vaccine is being used to poison people and create a mass genocide. This is not true, and there is no graphene oxide in the Pfizer vaccine. Graphene oxide is a nanomaterial (a chemical substance or material that is at a very small scale, for example with an external dimension of 1-100nm) which is thought to be of important potential use for biomedicine. There are concerns, however, around toxicity and potential adverse effects. There are modifications which are being explored, and Johns Hopkins infectious disease specialist Dr. Amesh Adalja previously told AP News that there has been research on potentially using graphene oxide in other vaccines, but the amounts would not be toxic to human cells. The concern around the presence of graphene oxide in the Pfizer vaccine seem to be based on a Spanish study which says that on transmission electron microscopy (a microscopy technique which allows particularly fine details and structures to be seen), the solution created from a vial of the Pfizer vaccine takes a very similar form to graphene oxide.  Graphene oxide is not listed as an ingredient of the vaccine, and the Medical and Health product Regulatory Agency (MHRA)  told Full Fact that these claims are “completely incorrect”.  A spokesperson for Pfizer also told Full Fact that “Graphene oxide is not used in the manufacture of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine”. With regards to the Spanish study, there are a number of problems with the claims that it makes, and the way that these findings have been interpreted by some people on social media.  The claim that the Pfizer vaccine is largely made up of graphene oxide has been fact checked many times before.    Firstly, we have no way of verifying what the scientists actually looked at through electron microscopy. The paper says that the sample of Pfizer vaccine for testing was received by the testing laboratory from a courier and, although the sample was sealed, its provenance and traceability is unknown. The author says in the study limitations that these findings are from “one single sample” of Pfizer vaccine and therefore, “significant sampling of similar vials” is required in order to “draw conclusions that can be generalized”.    When referring to the images which compare electron microscopy of the Pfizer vaccine with images of microscopy of graphene oxide, the study says that they “represent a high similarity” but also says that this does not provide “definitive identification” or “conclusive evidence”.  Importantly, the document says that it is an interim report. It has not been published in a reputable scientific journal, or received peer review.  Thirdly, while the researcher who authors the paper reportedly works at the University of Almeria in Spain—a claim that has been used to add legitimacy when circulated online—the author clearly states that the results and conclusions of the report “do not imply any institutional position of the University of Almeria”.  The university has also publicly distanced itself from the paper on Twitter and in a released statement, saying that it is an “unofficial report by a university professor about an analysis of a sample of unknown origin with total lack of traceability”.  The university said it does not subscribe to this report.","https://roguemale.org/2021/07/07/murder-by-injection-the-vile-vials/?fbclid=IwAR17MwbuL8YLrZ3M_YToUeQVeuIEfHHGcjCq5VRd09tR4VV8x4q21t6CPr4,https://truth11.com/2021/06/30/no-biological-content-in-pfizer-vaccine-spanish-researchers-put-the-pfizer-vaccine-under-an-electron-microscope-and-found-it-contains-99-graphene-oxide-and-hardly-anything-else/,https://www.henrymakow.com/2021/06/no-biological-content-in-pfize.html,https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/graphene-oxide,https://www.docdroid.net/rNgtxyh/microscopia-de-vial-corminaty-dr-campra-firma-e-1-fusionado-pdf#page=16,https://www.globalresearch.ca/actual-contents-inside-pfizer-vials-exposed/5749458,https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20210704/analizamos-bulo-grafeno-vacuna-informe/2119721.shtml,https://observador.pt/factchecks/fact-check-vacinas-contem-grafeno-na-sua-composicao/,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-vaccine-magnet/,https://www.instagram.com/p/CQsk4_SNWEO/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.facebook.com/oluwole.adebiyi/videos/vb.1360171672/1111292026061642/?type=2&theater,https://www.instagram.com/reel/CRBnSVVAgPO/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=345722947084202&set=pcb.553492665657573&type=3&theater,https://www.instagram.com/reel/CRBnSVVAgPO/?utm_source=ig_embed,https://www.facebook.com/oluwole.adebiyi/videos/vb.1360171672/1111292026061642/?type=2&theater,https://www.safenano.org/knowledgebase/resources/faqs/what-is-a-nanomaterial/,https://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/nanotech/faq/definition_en.htm,https://www.news-medical.net/news/20210520/Could-graphene-oxide-nanosheets-be-an-effective-SARS-CoV-2-antiviral-in-PPE.aspx,https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.202101483,https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1742706120303305,https://www.pnas.org/content/118/19/e2024998118,https://particleandfibretoxicology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12989-016-0168-y,https://www.pnas.org/content/118/19/e2024998118,https://www.graphene-info.com/graphene-oxide-gives-boost-new-intranasal-flu-vaccine,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-430816913228,https://www.docdroid.net/Ov1M99x/official-interim-report-in-english-university-of-almeria-pdf#page=8,https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/current/postgraduate/regs/mpagswarwick/ex5/techniques/structural/tem/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/summary-of-product-characteristics-for-covid-19-vaccine-pfizerbiontech,https://www.newtral.es/grafeno-vacuna-pfizer-universidad-almeria-bulo/20210702/,https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/there-is-no-conclusive-evidence-that-the-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-contains-graphene-oxide/,https://maldita.es/malditaciencia/20210709/informe-universidad-almeria-vacuna-covid-19-pfizer-grafeno-oxido/,https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20210704/analizamos-bulo-grafeno-vacuna-informe/2119721.shtml,https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2021/07/10/graphene-oxide-in-pfizer-covid-19-vaccines-here-are-the-latest-unsupported-claims/?sh=2301198974d7,https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-430816913228?fbclid=IwAR2PeKAzhQNulH_xFDS5BAac4YGQ4vXw2DRLwBfsSmuG1dx2Yj5EGTFBsZg,https://www.docdroid.net/rNgtxyh/microscopia-de-vial-corminaty-dr-campra-firma-e-1-fusionado-pdf#page=3,https://www.docdroid.net/rNgtxyh/microscopia-de-vial-corminaty-dr-campra-firma-e-1-fusionado-pdf#page=22,https://www.docdroid.net/rNgtxyh/microscopia-de-vial-corminaty-dr-campra-firma-e-1-fusionado-pdf,https://twitter.com/ualmeria/status/1410884237377560579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1410884237377560579%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fhealthfeedback.org%2Fclaimreview%2Fthere-is-no-conclusive-evidence-that-the-pfizer-biontech-covid-19-vaccine-contains-graphene-oxide%2F,https://www.newtral.es/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/COMUNICADO-DE-LA-UNIVERSIDAD-DE-ALMERI%CC%81A_2-julio-2021_def.pdf?x32658,https://fullfact.org/online/mandatory-vaccine-care-workers/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/boris-johnson-three-covid-vaccine-pictures/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/covid-hospitalisations-vaccine-patrick-vallance/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/daily-cases-vaccine-coverage/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/online/the-light-vaccines/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",The Pfizer vaccine isn’t 99% graphene oxide,,,,,, +43,,,,True,Leo Benedictus,2021-07-14,,fullfact,,https://fullfact.org/education/maria-miller-nine-ten-girls-ofsted/,Nine in 10 school-age girls are being sent explicit images.,2021-07-14,fullfact,,"During Prime Minister’s Questions last week, and on Twitter, the Conservative MP Maria Miller misinterpreted recent Ofsted research on sexual abuse in schools. As we have said before, based on evidence from a variety of sources, it seems very likely that sexual harassment and abuse are a common problem among schoolchildren, and especially among girls. However, the Ofsted survey does not tell us how common the problem is. Ofsted visited 32 schools and colleges, which it specifically said “should not be assumed to be a fully representative sample of all schools and colleges nationally.” During these visits, inspectors asked students to complete a questionnaire, which showed them a list of different types of abusive behaviour and asked: “How often do these things happen between people of your age”. (This is slightly different from the wording that Ofsted originally told us it had used.) Roughly nine out of 10 girls (88%) said that “being sent pictures or videos they did not want to see” happened “a lot” or “sometimes”. However, they were not answering a question about what happened to them. The question was whether people their age are sent pictures or videos that they do not want to see. It’s unclear how students might have interpreted that in their answers so we can’t say that the figure refers to the number of girls, or even students, that this has happened to. Ms Miller’s office told us that her claim was based on Ofsted’s press statement and its review. We subsequently explained why Ofsted’s statement and review did not support Ms Miller’s claim. She has now added a clarification to her original tweet. Ms Miller is by no means the only person who misinterpreted Ofsted’s research. As we said in our original fact check, the i, Mirror, Metro, Times, Telegraph, Mail, BBC and ITV all made the same mistake in their reporting. The day after we published our first fact check, the BBC amended its article and added a clarification. The fact that many people misunderstood Ofsted’s research in the same way suggests that its press statement and review were not easy for others to understand correctly. We contacted Ofsted to ask whether it planned to clarify the press release or reach out to news outlets to correct these mistakes. However, Ofsted denies that its communication was misleading, and has told us that it will not clarify it.","https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2021-07-07/debates/71BD3D91-1486-41C0-904C-3B5836088E4C/TopicalQuestions#contribution-335CAA50-3B51-4DFF-9B53-15AF33D123F9,https://fullfact.org/education/ofsted-sexual-abuse-schools/,https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-sexual-abuse-in-schools-and-colleges/review-of-sexual-abuse-in-schools-and-colleges#what-did-we-find-out-about-the-scale-and-nature-of-sexual-abuse-in-schools,https://twitter.com/MariaMillerUK/status/1415238835609477123?s=20,https://fullfact.org/education/ofsted-sexual-abuse-schools/,https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57411363,https://fullfact.org/education/evening-standard-missing-school-children-covid/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/ofsted-sexual-abuse-schools/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/school-pupils-return-classroom-covid/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/literacy-numeracy-uk-telegraph/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content,https://fullfact.org/education/pupil-funding-conservatives/?utm_source=content_page&utm_medium=related_content",Nine in 10 girls did not say they’d been sent explicit images,,,,,, diff --git a/output_sample_politifact.csv b/samples/output_sample_politifact.csv similarity index 100% rename from output_sample_politifact.csv rename to samples/output_sample_politifact.csv diff --git a/output_sample_snopes.csv b/samples/output_sample_snopes.csv similarity index 100% rename from output_sample_snopes.csv rename to samples/output_sample_snopes.csv diff --git a/samples/output_sample_truthorfiction.csv b/samples/output_sample_truthorfiction.csv new file mode 100644 index 0000000..286cbcf --- /dev/null +++ b/samples/output_sample_truthorfiction.csv @@ -0,0 +1,31 @@ +,rating_ratingValue,rating_worstRating,rating_bestRating,rating_alternateName,creativeWork_author_name,creativeWork_datePublished,creativeWork_author_sameAs,claimReview_author_name,claimReview_author_url,claimReview_url,claimReview_claimReviewed,claimReview_datePublished,claimReview_source,claimReview_author,extra_body,extra_refered_links,extra_title,extra_tags,extra_entities_claimReview_claimReviewed,extra_entities_body,extra_entities_keywords,extra_entities_author,related_links +0,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/china-received-8-months-of-rain-in-just-5-days-in-july-2021/,"""China received 8 months of rain in just 5 days.""",2021-07-27,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged 1000 year climate event, china flooding 2021, extreme weather, floods in china 2021, how much rain did china get, viral facebook posts, zhengzhou flood 2021","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/1000-year-climate-event/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/china-flooding-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/extreme-weather/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/floods-in-china-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/how-much-rain-did-china-get/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/zhengzhou-flood-2021/",‘China Received 8 Months of Rain in Just 5 Days’ in July 2021,"1000 year climate event, china flooding 2021, extreme weather, floods in china 2021, how much rain did china get, viral facebook posts, zhengzhou flood 2021",,,,, +1,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/bics-martha-and-snoop-ad/,"Image shows a real advertisement for Bic lighters, featuring Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart.",2021-07-27,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Entertainment, Fact ChecksTagged bic, bic martha and snoop, cannabis, cheerful nihilism, cheerful nihilism facebook, martha stewart, snoop dogg, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/entertainment/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bic/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bic-martha-and-snoop/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cannabis/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cheerful-nihilism/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cheerful-nihilism-facebook/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/martha-stewart/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snoop-dogg/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Bic’s ‘Martha and Snoop’ Ad,"bic, bic martha and snoop, cannabis, cheerful nihilism, cheerful nihilism facebook, martha stewart, snoop dogg, viral facebook posts",,,,, +2,,,,Unknown,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/banana-peel-water-for-plants/,Banana peel water or banana peel tea is superior to water for home gardeners.,2021-07-26,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged bad advice, bad science, banana peel tea, banana peel water, banana peel water for plants, folk cures, folk gardening, Gardening, gardening myths, Pinterest, tiktok, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bad-advice/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bad-science/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/banana-peel-tea/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/banana-peel-water/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/banana-peel-water-for-plants/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/folk-cures/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/folk-gardening/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/gardening/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/gardening-myths/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/pinterest/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tiktok/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Banana Peel Water for Plants,"bad advice, bad science, banana peel tea, banana peel water, banana peel water for plants, folk cures, folk gardening, Gardening, gardening myths, Pinterest, tiktok, viral facebook posts",,,,, +3,,,,True,Arturo Garcia,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/art/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/peyo-horse-hospital/,A French hospital allows terminal patients and patients dealing with cancer to receive visit from a horse named Peyo.,2021-07-26,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged facebook, Hassen Bouchakour, Les Sabots Du Coeur, Peyo, The Guardian, twitter","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/facebook/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/hassen-bouchakour/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/les-sabots-du-coeur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/peyo/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/the-guardian/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/twitter/",Does a Hospital in France Allow Terminal Patients to Meet With...,"facebook, Hassen Bouchakour, Les Sabots Du Coeur, Peyo, The Guardian, twitter",,,,, +4,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/rep-jack-kimble-i-find-it-very-suspicious/,"@RepJackKimble (Rep. Jack Kimble) tweeted, ""I find it very suspicious that the virus now all of a sudden seems to be targeting people who didn't get that ridiculous vaccine. Has anybody else noticed this? Hmm, why is the virus only targeting those who stand up to government vaccination all of a sudden?""",2021-07-23,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged @repjackkimble, decontextualized, out of context, parody, rep jack kimble, satire, satirical twitter, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/repjackkimble/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/decontextualized/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/parody/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rep-jack-kimble/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/satire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/satirical-twitter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",Rep. Jack Kimble: ‘I Find It Very Suspicious …’,"@repjackkimble, decontextualized, out of context, parody, rep jack kimble, satire, satirical twitter, viral facebook posts, viral tweets",,,,, +5,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/catholic-leader-who-wanted-to-deny-biden-communion-resigns-after-caught-using-gay-dating-app/,"A ""Catholic leader who wanted to deny Biden communion"" resigned after he was caught using a dating app.",2021-07-22,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, PoliticsTagged biden, biden communion, catholic, catholic church, church scandals, grindr, misleading, monsignor burrill, speculation, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/politics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/biden/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/biden-communion/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/catholic/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/catholic-church/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/church-scandals/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/grindr/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misleading/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/monsignor-burrill/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/speculation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",‘Catholic Leader Who Wanted to Deny Biden Communion Resigns After...,"biden, biden communion, catholic, catholic church, church scandals, grindr, misleading, monsignor burrill, speculation, viral facebook posts",,,,, +6,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/doc-and-marty-made-it-to-2021/,"""Doc and Marty made it to 2021.""",2021-07-22,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged back to the future, decontextualized, doc and marty made it to 2021, imgur, instagram, reddit comments, viral facebook posts, viral reddit posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/back-to-the-future/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/decontextualized/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/doc-and-marty-made-it-to-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/instagram/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/reddit-comments/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-reddit-posts/",‘Doc and Marty Made it to 2021’,"back to the future, decontextualized, doc and marty made it to 2021, imgur, instagram, reddit comments, viral facebook posts, viral reddit posts",,,,, +7,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/in-tthe-cayman-islands-there-is-a-modest-five-story-building-that-is-home-to-18857-companies/,"""In the Cayman Islands, there is a modest five-story building that is home to 18,857 companies.""",2021-07-21,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, PoliticsTagged barack obama, bernie sanders, cayman islands, imgur, mitt romney, ro khanna, tax evasion, tax shelter, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/politics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/barack-obama/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/bernie-sanders/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cayman-islands/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mitt-romney/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ro-khanna/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tax-evasion/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tax-shelter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/","‘In the Cayman Islands, There Is a Modest Five-Story Building That...","barack obama, bernie sanders, cayman islands, imgur, mitt romney, ro khanna, tax evasion, tax shelter, viral tweets",,,,, +8,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/abraham-lincoln-and-the-samurai-fax-machine/,"""There was a 22 year window in which a samurai could have sent a fax to Abraham Lincoln.""",2021-07-21,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged abraham lincoln, abraham lincoln samurai fax machine, fax machine, samurai, samurai sending a fax to abraham lincoln, technically true, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/abraham-lincoln/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/abraham-lincoln-samurai-fax-machine/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/fax-machine/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/samurai/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/samurai-sending-a-fax-to-abraham-lincoln/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/technically-true/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Abraham Lincoln and the Samurai Fax Machine,"abraham lincoln, abraham lincoln samurai fax machine, fax machine, samurai, samurai sending a fax to abraham lincoln, technically true, viral facebook posts",,,,, +9,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/snapchat-plant-identifier/,"""If you focus your Snapchat camera on ANY plant & hold the screen it will tell you EXACTLY what that plant is.. DOPE. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW THIS‼️🌳☘️🌵🌿🪴 (or maybe everyone already knew this & I’m just late & easily amused 🤔) PS: WORKS ON DOG BREEDS ALSO ‼️🤯""",2021-07-20,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged dog scanner, plantsnap, snapchat, snapchat plant identifier, snapchat plants, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dog-scanner/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/plantsnap/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snapchat/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snapchat-plant-identifier/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snapchat-plants/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Snapchat Plant Identifier,"dog scanner, plantsnap, snapchat, snapchat plant identifier, snapchat plants, viral facebook posts",,,,, +10,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/this-wenche-thikke/,"A Tumblr post includes an accurate excerpt from Canterbury Tales, including ""this wenche thikke"" and ""[I will not lie.]""",2021-07-20,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged canterbury tales, history memes, Tumblr, viral facebook posts, wenche thikke","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/canterbury-tales/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/history-memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tumblr/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/wenche-thikke/",‘This Wenche Thikke’,"canterbury tales, history memes, Tumblr, viral facebook posts, wenche thikke",,,,, +11,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/rep-matt-gaetz-says-if-democrats-pass-voting-bill-republicans-will-never-win-another-election/,"In July 2021, Rep. Matt Gaetz said if Democrats passed a voting rights bill, no Republicans would ever win an election again.",2021-07-19,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged for the people act, matt gaetz, matt gaetz republicans will never win another election, Rep. Matt Gaetz, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/for-the-people-act/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/matt-gaetz/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/matt-gaetz-republicans-will-never-win-another-election/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rep-matt-gaetz/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/","Rep. Matt Gaetz Says if Democrats Pass Voting Bill, Republicans...","for the people act, matt gaetz, matt gaetz republicans will never win another election, Rep. Matt Gaetz, viral facebook posts, viral tweets",,,,, +12,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/hundreds-of-cars-are-lined-up-along-hwy-18-into-mission-south-dakota-as-the-remains-of-native-children-were-returned-to-their-homelands/,"On July 16 2021, ""hundreds of cars lined up along Hwy 18 into Mission, South Dakota as the remains of Native children were returned to their homelands.""",2021-07-19,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged caravan for native children, residential school scandal, residential schools in the US, rosebud sioux children, sicangu, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/caravan-for-native-children/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/residential-school-scandal/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/residential-schools-in-the-us/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rosebud-sioux-children/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/sicangu/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/","‘Hundreds of Cars Are Lined Up Along Hwy 18 Into Mission, South...","caravan for native children, residential school scandal, residential schools in the US, rosebud sioux children, sicangu, viral facebook posts, viral tweets",,,,, +13,,,,Not True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/canadian-peanut-butter-packaging/,Image shows Canadian peanut butter sold in a styrofoam tray.,2021-07-16,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged amish peanut butter, canadian peanut butter, canadian peanut butter packaging, deleted tweets, miscaptioned, mislabeled, out of context, viral facebook posts, viral images, viral reddit posts, viral tweets, why is canadian milk in bags","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/amish-peanut-butter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/canadian-peanut-butter/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/canadian-peanut-butter-packaging/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/deleted-tweets/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/miscaptioned/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mislabeled/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-images/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-reddit-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/why-is-canadian-milk-in-bags/",‘Canadian Peanut Butter’ Packaging,"amish peanut butter, canadian peanut butter, canadian peanut butter packaging, deleted tweets, miscaptioned, mislabeled, out of context, viral facebook posts, viral images, viral reddit posts, viral tweets, why is canadian milk in bags",,,,, +14,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/captain-america-31-years-ago/,"A comic from 1990 contradicts actor Dean Cain's complaint about a newly ""woke"" Captain America.",2021-07-16,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged art out of context, captain america, captain america 31 years ago, daredevil 283, dean cain, drug war, imgur, latin america, viral clapbacks, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/art-out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/captain-america/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/captain-america-31-years-ago/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/daredevil-283/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dean-cain/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/drug-war/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/latin-america/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-clapbacks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",‘Captain America 31 Years Ago’,"art out of context, captain america, captain america 31 years ago, daredevil 283, dean cain, drug war, imgur, latin america, viral clapbacks, viral tweets",,,,, +15,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/were-cooks-the-largest-occupational-group-to-die-in-the-pandemic/,"""I wish Anthony Bourdain were alive today to articulate the insanity of living in a country where cooks were the largest occupational group to die in a pandemic and restaurant owners are pouting that nobody wants to work in restaurants anymore.""",2021-07-15,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged anthony bourdain, cooks excess mortality, excess mortality, imgur, largest occupational group to die cooks, ucsf, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/anthony-bourdain/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cooks-excess-mortality/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/excess-mortality/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/largest-occupational-group-to-die-cooks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ucsf/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",Were Cooks the Largest Occupational Group to Die in the Pandemic?,"anthony bourdain, cooks excess mortality, excess mortality, imgur, largest occupational group to die cooks, ucsf, viral tweets",,,,, +16,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/this-picture-was-taken-in-1925-of-a-girl-visiting-her-twin-sisters-grave/,"""This picture was taken in 1925. Its of a girl visiting her twin sisters grave. The twin sister had died the previous year in a house fire. Parents saw her many times talking and playing with her twin sister after she has passed away. They thought it was just part of the grieving process, that is until this was developed.""",2021-07-15,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged after death communication, afterlife, art out of context, creepy images, ghost, imgur, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/after-death-communication/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/afterlife/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/art-out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/creepy-images/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ghost/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/","‘This Picture Was Taken in 1925, Of a Girl Visiting Her Twin...","after death communication, afterlife, art out of context, creepy images, ghost, imgur, viral facebook posts",,,,, +17,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/national-kool-aid-day-2021-and-mike-lindells-trump-return-claim/,"""My Pillow guy Mike Lindell says August 13th [2021] is the date that Donald Trump will be 'reinstated.' Do you know what else is on August 13th? NATIONAL KOOL-AID DAY. For real. It's the second Friday in August every year. You can't make this up.""",2021-07-14,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged august 13 trump reinstated, election conspiracies, imgur, memes, mike lindell, national kool aid day 2021, viral facebook posts, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/august-13-trump-reinstated/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/election-conspiracies/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mike-lindell/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/national-kool-aid-day-2021/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",National Kool Aid Day 2021 and Mike Lindell’s ‘Trump Return’ Claim,"august 13 trump reinstated, election conspiracies, imgur, memes, mike lindell, national kool aid day 2021, viral facebook posts, viral tweets",,,,, +18,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/friendly-roast-in-2015-hrc-being-roasted/,"TikTok videos labeled ""Friendly Roast in 2015"" and ""HRC Being Roasted"" show then-candidate Donald Trump ""roasting"" Hillary Clinton in 2015.",2021-07-14,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged al smith dinner 2016, donald trump, hillary clinton, out of context, roasts, tiktok, viral facebook posts, viral tiktok posts, viral videos","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/al-smith-dinner-2016/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/donald-trump/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/hillary-clinton/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/roasts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/tiktok/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tiktok-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-videos/","‘Friendly Roast in 2015,’ ‘HRC Being Roasted’","al smith dinner 2016, donald trump, hillary clinton, out of context, roasts, tiktok, viral facebook posts, viral tiktok posts, viral videos",,,,, +19,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/jaleel-white-and-purple-urkel/,"Image depicts Jaleel White (the actor who played Steve Urkel on Family Matters) promoting a cannabis strain called ""Purple Urkel"" with Snoop Dogg.",2021-07-13,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Entertainment, Fact ChecksTagged cannabis, jaleel white snoop dogg, purple urkel, snoop dogg, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/entertainment/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cannabis/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/jaleel-white-snoop-dogg/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/purple-urkel/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/snoop-dogg/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Jaleel White and ‘Purple Urkel’,"cannabis, jaleel white snoop dogg, purple urkel, snoop dogg, viral facebook posts",,,,, +20,,,,Misattributed,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/finland-reindeer-reflective-paint-posts/,"A photograph Finland's reindeer with reflective antlers, painted to prevent roadway accidents.",2021-07-12,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged art out of context, finland, finland reindeer reflective paint, instagram, misleading, viral facebook posts, viral images","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/art-out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/finland/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/finland-reindeer-reflective-paint/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/instagram/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misleading/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-images/",Finland Reindeer Reflective Paint Posts,"art out of context, finland, finland reindeer reflective paint, instagram, misleading, viral facebook posts, viral images",,,,, +21,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/albert-einstein-lecturing-a-black-college-facebook-post/,"Albert Einstein spoke at Lincoln University in 1946, and said ""The separation of races is not a disease of colored people but a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it.""",2021-07-12,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged albert einstein, albert einstein quotes, albert einstein racism, einstein lincoln university, lost images, viral facebook posts, viral images","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/albert-einstein/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/albert-einstein-quotes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/albert-einstein-racism/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/einstein-lincoln-university/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/lost-images/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-images/",Albert Einstein Lecturing a Black College Facebook Post,"albert einstein, albert einstein quotes, albert einstein racism, einstein lincoln university, lost images, viral facebook posts, viral images",,,,, +22,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/ogx-dmdm-hydantoin-facebook-post/,"Consumers should avoid OGX products due to the presence of DMDM hydantoin, as the brand was sued over its formulations.",2021-07-09,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged cosmetics, dmdm hydantoin, dmdm hydantoin ogx, does dmdm hydantoin cause hair loss, facebook warnings, formaldehyde, ogx, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cosmetics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dmdm-hydantoin/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dmdm-hydantoin-ogx/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/does-dmdm-hydantoin-cause-hair-loss/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/facebook-warnings/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/formaldehyde/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ogx/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",OGX DMDM Hydantoin Facebook Post,"cosmetics, dmdm hydantoin, dmdm hydantoin ogx, does dmdm hydantoin cause hair loss, facebook warnings, formaldehyde, ogx, viral facebook posts",,,,, +23,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/biden-admin-hhs-secretarys-absolutely-the-governments-business-vaccine-remarks/,"Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said it is ""absolutely the government's business"" to know whether Americans are vaccinated.",2021-07-08,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged becerra knocking on doors, biden vaccine, cnn, decontextualized, misleading, out of context, steven crowder, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/becerra-knocking-on-doors/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/biden-vaccine/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/cnn/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/decontextualized/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/misleading/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/out-of-context/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/steven-crowder/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",Biden Admin HHS Secretary’s ‘Absolutely the Government’s Business’...,"becerra knocking on doors, biden vaccine, cnn, decontextualized, misleading, out of context, steven crowder, viral tweets",,,,, +24,,,,Decontextualized,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/sf-gay-mens-chorus-convert-your-children-song/,"San Francisco's (SF) Gay Men's chorus literally sang they'll ""convert your children"" or are ""coming for your children.""",2021-07-08,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Disinformation, Fact ChecksTagged basically an outright lie, dinesh d'souza, rumble.com, sf gay mens chorus, sf gay mens chorus coming for your children, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/disinformation/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/basically-an-outright-lie/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/dinesh-dsouza/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rumble-com/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/sf-gay-mens-chorus/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/sf-gay-mens-chorus-coming-for-your-children/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",SF Gay Men’s Chorus ‘Convert Your Children’ Song,"basically an outright lie, dinesh d'souza, rumble.com, sf gay mens chorus, sf gay mens chorus coming for your children, viral tweets",,,,, +25,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/darnella-fraziers-uncle-killed-by-minneapolis-police/,"Darnella Frazier, the girl who filmed the murder of George Floyd, disclosed via Facebook that her uncle was killed by Minneapolis police in July 2021.",2021-07-07,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged darnella frazier uncle, darnella frazier uncle MPD, imgur, leneal frazier, minneapolis, Minneapolis Police Department, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/darnella-frazier-uncle/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/darnella-frazier-uncle-mpd/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/imgur/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/leneal-frazier/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/minneapolis/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/minneapolis-police-department/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/",Darnella Frazier’s Uncle Killed by Minneapolis Police,"darnella frazier uncle, darnella frazier uncle MPD, imgur, leneal frazier, minneapolis, Minneapolis Police Department, viral facebook posts",,,,, +26,,,,Mixed,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/the-pledge-of-allegiance-was-adopted-in-1923-the-star-spangled-banner-was-adopted-in-1929/,"""The Pledge of Allegiance was adopted in 1923. The Star Spangled Banner was adopted in 1929. 'Under God' was added to the Pledge in 1954. 'In God We Trust' was added to our money in 1956. So no. They were not created by our Founding Fathers.""",2021-07-07,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged founding fathers, history memes, in god we trust, in god we trust 1956, pledge of allegiance, pledge of allegiance 1923, star spangled banner, star spangled banner 1929, under god, under god 1954, viral facebook posts","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/founding-fathers/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/history-memes/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/in-god-we-trust/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/in-god-we-trust-1956/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/pledge-of-allegiance/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/pledge-of-allegiance-1923/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/star-spangled-banner/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/star-spangled-banner-1929/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/under-god/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/under-god-1954/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/","The Pledge of Allegiance Was Adopted in 1923, the Star Spangled...","founding fathers, history memes, in god we trust, in god we trust 1956, pledge of allegiance, pledge of allegiance 1923, star spangled banner, star spangled banner 1929, under god, under god 1954, viral facebook posts",,,,, +27,,,,Not True,Arturo Garcia,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/art/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/shacarri-richardson-rebecca-washington-replacement/,"Sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson will be replaced by a Mormon athlete, Rebecca Washington, on the U.S. Olympic Team",2021-07-07,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged 2021 Summer Olympics, marijuana, olympics, running, Sha'Carri Richardson, twitter","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/2021-summer-olympics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/marijuana/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/olympics/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/running/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/shacarri-richardson/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/twitter/",Is Rebecca Washington Replacing Sha’Carri Richardson on the U.S...,"2021 Summer Olympics, marijuana, olympics, running, Sha'Carri Richardson, twitter",,,,, +28,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/u-s-quietly-slips-out-of-afghanistan-in-dead-of-night-onion-story/,"In 2011, ten years before July 2021 news about the United States leaving Afghanistan in the dead of night, satirical outlet The Onion published a headline predicting it.",2021-07-06,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged Afghanistan, associated press, not satire, ostension, satire, the onion, the onion 10 years ago AP today, US Quietly Slips Out Of Afghanistan In Dead Of Night, viral tweets","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/afghanistan/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/associated-press/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/not-satire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/ostension/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/satire/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/the-onion/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/the-onion-10-years-ago-ap-today/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/us-quietly-slips-out-of-afghanistan-in-dead-of-night/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-tweets/",‘U.S. Quietly Slips Out Of Afghanistan In Dead Of Night’ Onion Story,"Afghanistan, associated press, not satire, ostension, satire, the onion, the onion 10 years ago AP today, US Quietly Slips Out Of Afghanistan In Dead Of Night, viral tweets",,,,, +29,,,,True,Kim LaCapria,,,truthorfiction,https://www.truthorfiction.com/author/kim/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/donald-rumsfeld-and-mount-misery/,"Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld purchased Mount Misery, a house with a violent history.",2021-07-06,truthorfiction,,"Posted in Fact Checks, Viral ContentTagged donald rumsfeld, frederick douglass, mount misery, rachel maddow, rumsfeld mount misery, viral facebook posts, viral videos","https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/category/fact-checks/viral-content/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/donald-rumsfeld/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/frederick-douglass/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/mount-misery/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rachel-maddow/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/rumsfeld-mount-misery/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-facebook-posts/,https://www.truthorfiction.com/tag/viral-videos/",Donald Rumsfeld and Mount Misery,"donald rumsfeld, frederick douglass, mount misery, rachel maddow, rumsfeld mount misery, viral facebook posts, viral videos",,,,, diff --git a/output_sample_vishvasnews.csv b/samples/output_sample_vishvasnews.csv similarity index 100% rename from output_sample_vishvasnews.csv rename to samples/output_sample_vishvasnews.csv