Skip to main content

PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Health & medicine fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about health & medicine. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

13,673 published reviews in this topic

dpaHealth & medicine

Coronapaspoort weg en testcentra dicht in Denemarken.

Publisher’s rating: Het bericht klopt niet. Om Denemarken binnen te komen is een coronapaspoort of negatief testbewijs vereist. In het land zelf gelden strengere maatregelen dan in Nederland. Restaurants, cafés en vrijwel alle toeristische attracties vereisen eveneens een coronapaspoort of negatief testbewijs voor toelating.

Pagella PoliticaHealth & medicine

«Se tutte le persone che possono vaccinarsi, lo facessero, avremmo la cosiddetta immunità di gregge»

Publisher’s rating: Nì

The review examines a statement Graziano Delrio made on Twitter on 4 August 2021: that vaccinating everyone who could receive a vaccine might achieve herd immunity. It treats the statement as plausible but not certain, because the proportion of the population needed to stop sustained spread depended on the virus’s transmissibility and the available estimates for the Delta variant varied. The article reports that experts’ estimates ranged from above 80 per cent and near 90 per cent to a more pessimistic calculation of 98 per cent.

APA - Austrian Presse AgenturHealth & medicine

In Spitälern in Niederösterreich häufen sich Fälle, bei denen Menschen mit grippeähnlichen Symptomen eingeliefert werden, die bereits doppelt gegen Covid-19 geimpft sind.

Publisher’s rating: Es handelt sich um Falschbehauptungen, wie aus Stellungnahmen der NÖ Landesgesundheitsagentur (LGA) sowie des Landesklinikums Hochegg hervorgeht. Die Corona-Impfung schützt nicht vor der Grippe oder grippalen Infekten. Impfreaktionen können Grippe-Symptomen aber ähnlich sein. Bisher ist das Nebenwirkungsprofil der Corona-Impfungen in Österreich unauffällig.

The review investigated social-media posts alleging that hospitals in Lower Austria were seeing a rise in admissions of people who had received two Covid-19 vaccine doses and were experiencing unusual flu-like symptoms. To check the reported hospital trend, the Austrian Press Agency asked the Lower Austrian Health Agency (LGA), which operates the region’s hospitals, and made inquiries at several hospital sites. The LGA spokesperson said those claims had no basis; while some people had visited a hospital after their second dose to have possible side effects checked, the agency had no information indicating increased admissions with flu-like symptoms and reported no significant difference from other comparison periods. (S1: “Eine Nachfrage in einigen Klinikstandorten habe ergeben, dass es fallweise Personen gebe, die nach der zweiten Impfung ein Klinikum aufsuchten, da sie Nebenwirkungen abklären lassen wollten.”; “Dem Sprecher liegen auch keine Informationen dazu vor, dass derzeit vermehrt Menschen mit „grippeähnlichen Symptomen“ in niederösterreichischen Spitälern aufgenommen würden: „Es gibt hier keine signifikanten Unterschiede zu anderen Vergleichszeiträumen.“”) The review distinguishes hospital visits to check possible reactions after vaccination from the posts’ broader assertion of increased admissions. It also explains that Covid-19 vaccination does not prevent influenza or other infections described as “summer flu,” so vaccinated people can still become ill. Conversely, some vaccine reactions can feel similar to flu. The article notes that Covid-19, influenza and summer flu are associated with different viruses, and says the symptoms alone do not establish that a person was admitted because of a vaccine effect. (S1: “Eine Covid-19-Impfung schützt nicht vor der Influenza oder der sogenannten „Sommergrippe“. Man kann also trotz Impfung erkranken.”; “Gleichzeitig können nach einer Covid-19-Impfung natürliche Impfreaktionen (7) wie Fieber, Abgeschlagenheit, Muskel- oder Kopfschmerzen auftreten, die sich ähnlich wie eine Grippe (8) anfühlen können.”) The review separately checked another allegation in the same posts: that staff at Landesklinikum Hochegg had to sign confidentiality declarations about how many vaccinated people were in the hospital. Hochegg told the agency no such declaration existed. The review also cited the Austrian medicines and medical devices authority’s report covering suspected vaccine side effects from 27 December 2020 to 23 July 2021; it said the reported types and frequency were consistent with expected reactions, which were generally mild to moderate and resolved within days. (S1: “Das Landesklinikum Hochegg sagte zudem der APA, dass es eine derartige Verschwiegenheitserklärung – von der in den Facebook-Postings die Rede war – nicht gebe.”; “Bisher entsprechen die gemeldeten vermuteten Nebenwirkungen nach Covid-19-Impfungen in ihrer Art als auch Häufigkeit den aus den Zulassungsstudien zu erwartenden Reaktionen, steht im aktuellsten Bericht (Berichtszeitraum 27. Dezember 2020 bis 23. Juli 2021) (9) des Bundesamts für Sicherheit im Gesundheitswesen (BASG).”)

dpaHealth & medicine

Geimpfte haben eine sechsmal höhere Todesrate bei Corona-Infektion als Ungeimpfte.

Publisher’s rating: Bei dem Text handelt es sich um einen Kommentar in den «Niederösterreichischen Nachrichten». Darin wird eine derzeit gängige Falschbehauptung aufgegriffen. Es gibt keinerlei Hinweise, dass Geimpfte ein höheres Sterberisiko bei einer Infektion haben.

The claim appeared in a commentary by Gudula Walterskirchen, publisher of the *Niederösterreichische Nachrichten*, and was also circulated online. The review identifies the screenshot as a text published in the newspaper’s opinion section, titled “Ein Weg in die Sackgasse?”, and explains that the commentary repeated a claim already circulating online. The sixfold comparison was derived from reported deaths and infections among people with and without full vaccination against the Delta variant in England. [S1]

dpaHealth & medicine

La Russie a découvert que le Covid-19 n'existe pas en tant que virus.

Publisher’s rating: Ces affirmations sont fausses. Le SARS-CoV-2, qui est responsable de la maladie Covid-19, est bel et bien un virus et non une bactérie. L’Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS) n’a jamais interdit de pratiquer des autopsies sur des personnes mortes du ou avec le Covid-19. L’OMS a en outre établi que le déploiement de la 5G n’avait pour l’instant montré aucun effet nocif sur la santé.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Dr. NK Arora, the head of Government’s vaccine advisory panel said that the initial batches of Covaxin administered to people were not of right quality

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim arose from a tweet by journalist Sreenivasan Jain describing comments from Dr. NK Arora, head of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group. It said the initial Covaxin batches “were not of the right quality,” and presented them as batches administered to people. The review distinguishes the quality issue from that added implication: Arora was referring to early batches made at Bharat Biotech’s Bengaluru plant, not saying they had been used in the vaccination campaign. Supporting the claim’s setting, the review says Jain’s tweet was based on an interview with Arora and identifies the facility as Bharat Biotech’s Bengaluru plant. (S1: “Dr. NK Arora, the Chief of National Immunization Technical Advisory Group, said that the new Bangalore plant of Bharat Biotech had initial hiccups in supplying Covaxin because the first couple of batches ‘were not of the right quality’. These were test batches that got rejected and were not administered as part of the vaccination campaign.”) The review reports that, when asked about a Covaxin production shortfall, Arora described the first couple of batches from the Bengaluru facility as not meeting the required quality, while saying later batches had progressed. It also reports that Arora did not state that the first two batches were part of the vaccination campaign or had been administered to people. This is the key distinction: the reported quality problem concerned rejected test batches, rather than doses given to the public. (S1: “When asked about the shortfall in production of Covaxin, Dr. Arora said that the first couple batches produced at Bharat Biotech’s Bengaluru facility ‘were not of the right quality’ but the ‘third and fourth batches have now come up which have moved forward’. Dr. NK Arora never said that the first two batches were part of the vaccination campaign or were administered to the people.”) The review also cites Arora’s remarks to ANI, which described the batches as test batches that were rejected, and reports that Jain later clarified his original tweet had not made clear that the substandard batches did not enter the vaccination programme. Together, these details explain why the tweet’s account of the quality issue was misleading about whether people received those batches. (S1: “Speaking to ANI, Arora said, ‘The test batches of that plant weren’t satisfactory and got rejected which led to delay in ramping up production, but now the batches have been approved by the competent authority and will be available for public consumption.”)

dpaHealth & medicine

Zorgverzekeraars in Nederland vergoeden kosten bijwerking coronavaccinatie niet.

Publisher’s rating: Het bericht is totale onzin. Iedereen die woont of werkt in Nederland heeft een verplichte basisverzekering voor de zorg. Zorgverzekeraars bevestigen aan dpa dat acute zorg, ongeacht oorzaak, gewoon onder de polis valt. Ook hebben zij zelf geen invloed op de inhoud hiervan: die wordt door de Rijksoverheid bepaald.

The Facebook post claimed that most Dutch health insurers had changed their policies and would no longer cover additional medical costs caused by coronavirus-vaccine side effects. The investigation explains that people living or working in the Netherlands must have basic health insurance, whose coverage is set annually by the government; insurers can decide what to include in supplementary insurance, but cannot alter the basic package. The review says hospital stays, operations and emergency hospital care are included in that package, and that the listed exclusions are unrelated to known vaccine side effects. To check the claim, dpa reports contacting Zorgverzekeraars Nederland (ZN), which represents insurers covering 85 percent of people required to have insurance, as well as CZ and Zilveren Kruis. ZN said acute care is covered under the basic package regardless of cause. CZ gave the same assurance, and Zilveren Kruis said its policy terms had not been changed regarding coronavirus vaccines. VGZ and Menzis referred dpa to ZN. The review also addressed a circulating video in which a purported CZ employee suggested that reimbursement depended on whether a link to vaccination could be established. CZ confirmed the speaker was an employee but said her response was incorrect: care covered by basic insurance is reimbursed regardless of cause. The video therefore did not establish the claimed policy change; the review reports that insurers’ statements and the rules for the basic package contradicted the Facebook post.

dpaHealth & medicine

Artikel van AD over belangenverstrengeling van Bill Gates bij coronavaccins.

Publisher’s rating: Het artikel is nep. Het Algemeen Dagblad heeft dit niet geplaatst. Ook inhoudelijk is het bericht flauwekul. Er is geen officiële verdenking van belangenverstrengeling op het gebied van coronavaccins tegenover Bill Gates.

The image shared on Facebook purported to show an Algemeen Dagblad article headed “Multimiljonair verdacht van belangenverstrengeling corona vaccins” and described a supposed legal case against Bill Gates. The review checked both whether the image came from the newspaper and whether its allegation was supported. It reports that the purported article could not be found on the AD website and identifies features suggesting the image had been manipulated. The review points to a “video” box that was blurrier than the surrounding text and positioned differently from the smaller box used in actual AD articles. It also notes multiple spelling, grammar and capitalization errors, including calling Gates a “miljonaire” and using inconsistent forms for “corona vaccines.” The text above the headline, about caretaker health minister Hugo de Jonge and freedom-of-information requests, was also described as misplaced and lacking punctuation. The review says its claim that many people were now receiving answers was inaccurate: it cites Nieuwsuur as still awaiting responses to requests after more than a year. On the underlying allegation, the review reports finding no reliable or official source confirming a serious suspicion of conflict of interest against Gates concerning coronavirus vaccines. It distinguishes that unsupported allegation from the Gates Foundation’s documented pandemic donations: the foundation had given more than $1.8 billion to pandemic response, including vaccine development. The review describes the foundation as a nonprofit and says it found no evidence for earlier claims that Gates was earning millions from coronavirus vaccines.