A memo being circulated online purports to be a secret document from the Imperial College describing a conspiracy involving the UN, WHO, and others to keep the United Kingdom on permanent lockdown through inventing fake virus variants and ‘rebranding’ hay fever as a new version of COVID-19. The memo also states that outbreaks will be
Footballer Christian Eriksen of Denmark collapsed on the field during the opening match of Euro 2020, which led to rumours that his cardiac arrest had been caused by COVID-19 or that it was due to receiving the vaccine. However, his club director at Inter Milan confirmed that the footballer neither had COVID nor was vaccinated. Reuters has
Online posts have asserted that the Greek letter names for COVID-19 variants are references to brain waves. Greek letters are used for naming throughout science and are not specific to brain waves. With regard to COVID-19 variants, this naming convention was established by the WHO as an alternative to place names, and thus avoid stigmatising
A recent article on a British website has claimed that taking the COVID-19 vaccine will exacerbate the disease’s effects through a phenomenon called ‘antibody dependent enhancement’, or ADE. This process is real and taken into account during clinical trials. There has been no evidence that ADE is a side effect of any of the COVID-19
A Canadian professor has spread a fringe theory on a radio programme stating that the COVID-19 vaccine causes the creation of spike proteins which he claims can damage internal organs. The claim that these spike proteins are harmful have been refuted by scientists as being ‘completely inaccurate’ and an attempt to spread fear about vaccine
Relying on reports from an open-source vaccine reaction database which hosts unverified claims, social media users have alleged that hundreds of women have miscarried after receiving the COVID-19 vaccination. No causal link has been established between miscarriages and vaccination. The claims have been fact-checked by Lead Stories. Read the full article at Lead Stories
Users on social media have been sharing videos purporting to show a link between receiving the COVID-19 vaccine and becoming catatonic. Most of these videos predate the pandemic. In addition, no link has been found between vaccinations and catatonia. These videos have been debunked by Reuters. Read the full article at Reuters
Rumours spread on social media allege that the variants of COVID-19, often informally named after where they were first encountered, are randomised hoaxes perpetrated by governments potentially to encourage bigotry. Virus mutations occur naturally as they are transmitted through a population. This claim has been debunked by Reuters. Read the full article at Reuters
A former Pfizer employee has made multiple false claims regarding the pandemic on social media, including that those who have had the common cold are immune to SARS-CoV-2, or COVID-19. The common cold is caused by several different types of viruses, not just coronaviruses. While research is being done on how different types of virus
A rumour is circulating on social media that women are receiving letters imploring them to get cervical cancer screenings, suggesting that cervical cancer is a side-effect of the COVID-19 vaccine. The letters are actually routine health check-up reminders. This rumour has been debunked by the AP Read the full article at the Associated Press