Did the New England Journal of Medicine backtrack and admit the COVID-19 vaccine may not be safe for pregnant women? No, that's not true: An update posted by the Journal did not change the number of pregnancies a study found resulted in a spontaneous abortion after receiving the COVID vaccine; the number remained the same from the study published in…

Did a funeral director from Milton Keynes, England, make a case that the coronavirus pandemic is a hoax, or that it is caused by the COVID-19 vaccine? No, that's not true: O'Looney's conspiracy theories defy logic and are readily dismissed with publicly available information. His interview, dated September 16, 2021, has been mirrored on many video platforms. One example was…

Did a leading German medical doctor prove that 80% of those in the official tally of COVID-19 victims died of something else? No, that's not true: The claim relies on a newspaper interview in which Dr. Bertram Haussler was speculating about July and August of 2021 data collected for Germany's health officials. The newspaper has since revised its headline, but…

Is a meme correct in implying that there is no scientific proof behind the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of vaccines? No, that's not true: The FDA provides publicly available documentation on its website for each of the three COVID-19 vaccines that have already been widely distributed, including memoranda that detail scientific proof through clinical studies to support its…

Did the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) redact a COVID-19 vaccine ingredient because it's a mysterious substance that the public shouldn't know about? No, that's not true: The redacted ingredient is salt water. A spokesperson for the FDA told Lead Stories that if the company considers the ingredient a trade secret or a confidential commercial item, the ingredient gets redacted…

Does this video of an air quality monitor's danger signal prove it is unhealthy to wear one of the surgical masks recommended to slow the spread of COVID-19? No, that's not true: The screen on the gadget in the video, according to the user manual and an instructional video for the Honeywell device, indicates either a fault with the device…

Did a member of the Food and Drug Administration's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee say, "We are killing more people than we are saving with the shots"? No, that's not true: A member of the public said this. The comment was made during the public testimony portion of the advisory committee meeting. The person who said that, Steve…

Did the U.S. Census Bureau and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) share private data with county health officials in Kentucky to target individuals for COVID-19 vaccination? No, that's not true: the Census Bureau and the CDC responded to Lead Stories' inquiry to say it cannot and did not share personal census information with any other agency.The claim…

Does putting hydrogen peroxide in a nebulizer help the user's body fight pathogens? No, that's not true: Such a practice is not only ineffective, but dangerous, according to information from medical organizations. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on September 16, 2021. The post has a picture of a woman using a nebulizer, which is commonly used…

Did President Joe Biden order the Veterans Administration to withhold health benefits from unvaccinated military veterans? No, that's not true: This is a satirical article published by a self-described satire website. There have been no presidential orders or announcements that would cause the VA to stop health benefits for otherwise qualified veterans. We are pointing this out because the spoof…

Did the Romanian government close all vaccine centers because 70% of "epic" resistance from citizens? No, that's not true: The claim offers as proof a video taken at a 2017 political protest in Bucharest that had nothing to do with the virus or vaccines. The Romanian government released a statement saying that the vaccine centers were temporarily closed and would…

Did General Dynamics reject the vaccine mandate from the federal government after 40% of its employees threatened to walk away if the mandate was implemented? No, that's not true: A General Dynamics spokesperson said that the claim is untrue and the company has yet to make an announcement about a vaccine mandate for its employees. The spokesperson added that General…

Does a photo purportedly comparing pinewood from the early 1970s to pinewood from the early 2020s accurately describe genetically modified structural lumber used in 2021 versus wood from the 1970s? No, that's not true: These claims were made without substantial evidence, and a representative of the American Wood Council told Lead Stories that they are "patently false." These claims appeared…

Did U.S. Border Patrol agents use whips to round up Haitian migrants and refugees who were crossing a river at the Mexican border near Del Rio, Texas? No, that's not true: While photos and video circulating show mounted border patrol agents aggresively attempting to turn back people trying to cross a shallow portion of the Rio Grande, it does not…

Is Denmark getting rid of its COVID-19 restrictions? Yes, most of Denmark's previous COVID-19 restrictions are lifted; however, some preventive measures are still being implemented in the country, which has a high vaccination rate compared to the United States. The claim appeared in an Instagram post (archived here) published on August 22, 2021. It featured an image with text that…

Did an Idaho doctor trained in skin-test analysis prove his claims that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine weakens the immune system and seems to be causing cancer? No, that's not true: The claims are supported only by anecdotes, not by data and he has declined to provide data. Pfizer says it has seen no such pattern in studies conducted after hundreds of…

Is it illegal to scream an expletive about U.S. President Joe Biden? No, that's not true: According to First Amendment law experts, such an action would most likely not result in legal consequences and Supreme Court precedent protects most such expressions. The claim originally appeared in an Instagram post (archived here), and published on September 14, 2021. The meme appeared…

Did Delta Force arrest Chelsea Clinton and her husband for attempting to sell Haitian children to a child trafficking ring? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer and a spokesperson for the U.S. Army said that the whole claim was false. Also, the claim originated from a website that tells its readers, "This website contains humor, parody, and satire."…

Is the message some citizens received at one Los Angeles County voting center -- that a county computer indicated they had already voted -- evidence that Republican votes were stolen in California's gubernatorial recall election? No, that's not true: Election officials said iPads used by poll workers to check voter registrations held outdated information and had to be reset. Officials…

Does this photo accurately portray the appearance of Canadian Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam? No, that's not true: This photo, which originally appeared in the Toronto Star on April 23, 2020, has been digitally altered in several ways to change how she looks. Other public health officials, such as Dr. Barbara Ferrer, public health director of Los Angeles…