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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

Der bayerische Ministerpräsident Markus Söder (CSU) will Kinder zwangsweise gegen das Coronavirus impfen.

Publisher’s rating: Bayerns Ministerpräsident Markus Söder (CSU) hat keine Corona-Zwangsimpfung für Kinder gefordert. Schülerinnen und Schülern ab 12 Jahren soll in Bayern ein freiwilliges Impfangebot gemacht werden.

The allegation stemmed from a blog post circulated on Facebook, whose headlines described a “compulsory vaccination for children” before the start of school and claimed Söder was advancing a conference of state premiers for that purpose. The blog cited an Augsburger Allgemeine article. The dpa review examined what Söder’s reported statements and other evidence actually said, rather than treating the blog’s interpretation as proof of a demand for compulsory vaccination. [S1: “So suggeriert etwa ein Blog-Artikel, der auf Facebook verbreitet wird (hier archiviert), dass der bayerische Ministerpräsident Markus Söder (CSU) Kinder zwangsweise gegen das Coronavirus impfen wolle.”; “Als Beleg wird ein Artikel der «Augsburger Allgemeinen» mit Aussagen von Söder angeführt.”] In the newspaper interview, Söder called for federal and state governments to agree on a vaccination program for school pupils in August, independent of the standing vaccination commission’s recommendation. The review says that this statement does not establish that vaccination would be mandatory or imposed by force. It also reports that the Bavarian State Chancellery said Söder had never called for compulsory vaccination, for children or adults. [S1: “dass sich Bund und Länder bereits «für den August auf ein gemeinsames Impfprogramm für Schülerinnen und Schüler festlegen» sollten.”; “Daraus lässt sich nicht herauslesen, dass die Impfung für Kinder verpflichtend oder gar zwangsweise erfolgen solle.”; “dass Söder «noch nie» Zwangsimpfungen gefordert habe – «weder für Kinder noch für Erwachsene und dabei bleibt es auch».”] The review points to further evidence about how the proposed program was intended to work: a Söder tweet dated July 27, 2021, described voluntary offers at vaccination centers from mid-August and at schools from September. A statement following the same day’s cabinet meeting likewise described an offer for pupils aged 12 and older. Söder also said in an ARD interview that pupils could receive vaccinations at school “if they wanted,” and rejected both a vaccination obligation and pressure to vaccinate. These details distinguish offering access from requiring vaccination. [S1: “In einem Tweet von 27. Juli 2021 heißt es etwa: «Ab Mitte August wird es freiwillige Angebote in den Impfzentren und ab September auch mit Schulen geben.»”; “dass der Ministerrat sich dafür ausgesprochen habe, allen Schülerinnen und Schülern ab 12 Jahren in Bayern in den Impfzentren ein Impfangebot ab Mitte August 2021 zu machen.”; “«wenn man es möchte». Es gebe «keine Impfpflicht, auch keinen Impfdruck».”]

dpaHealth & medicine

Macron droht, den Franzosen das Essen und die Freiheit zu nehmen, wenn sie sich nicht impfen lassen.

Publisher’s rating: Die Aussage ist stark übertrieben und damit falsch. Der Zugang zu bestimmten öffentlichen Plätzen wird ab dem 1. August 2021 nur noch mit einem Covid-Zertifikat möglich sein. Diesen «pass sanitaire» erhält man nicht nur nach der vollständigen Impfung, sondern auch bei einem negativen Corona-Testergebnis oder bei einer bestätigten Genesung. Damit sind auch Freizeit- und Kulturstätten, Restaurants, Einkaufszentren, medizinisch-soziale Einrichtungen sowie der öffentliche Verkehr weiterhin für alle zugänglich. Wer weder geimpft noch genesen ist, kann sich testen lassen.

APA - Austrian Presse AgenturHealth & medicine

In Österreich gibt es aufgrund der Corona-Impfung eine „massive Übersterblichkeit”.

Publisher’s rating: Es gab im Juni 2021 in Österreich keine Übersterblichkeit. Daten zeigen, dass es in etwa so viele Todesfälle gab wie in den Monaten davor. Die Datenlage lässt derzeit keine Schlüsse auf die Ursachen der Sterbefälle zu. Es gibt aber keine Hinweise, dass die Corona-Impfung dafür verantwortlich ist.

The claim concerned social-media posts alleging “massive” excess deaths in Austria and attributing them to Covid vaccination. The review examined mortality in June 2021 and whether the data supported that characterization or the proposed vaccine link. It reports that EuroMOMO uses daily all-cause mortality data supplied by Statistics Austria, compares observed mortality with a baseline, and represents deviations as standardized Z-scores. Under the scale described in the review, a Z-score below two does not indicate excess mortality. Austria’s score did not exceed two during June, so the data did not show excess mortality for the month. The review notes that weekly death counts were above the average for the corresponding weeks in 2016–2020, but says that comparison alone does not establish excess mortality. The largest June readings were a Z-score of 1.96 in calendar week 25 (June 21–27) and 1.24 in week 24 (June 14–20), both below two. Statistics Austria described June as “not really remarkable.” The review also reports a prolonged heatwave from June 16 to 24, with temperatures averaging six degrees Celsius above the 1981–2010 comparison period; it says a connection to the higher deaths in those two weeks was plausible, not established. The evidence did not establish the causes of deaths in 2021: Statistics Austria said cause-of-death data took longer to process and were not yet ready for conclusions. But the review found no indication that vaccination explained the reported deaths. Of 146 deaths reported as occurring close in time to vaccination since vaccinations began in late December 2020, the cited safety report identified a connection with vaccination in only one case. Thus, the review’s evidence does not support either the description of June as a period of massive excess mortality or the asserted vaccine cause.

dpaHealth & medicine

Es gab im Juni 2021 in Österreich eine massive Übersterblichkeit. Diese ist auf die Corona-Impfung zurückzuführen.

Publisher’s rating: Es gab im Juni 2021 in Österreich keine Übersterblichkeit. Daten zeigen, dass es in etwa so viele Todesfälle gab wie in den Monaten davor. Die Datenlage lässt derzeit keine Schlüsse auf die Ursachen der Sterbefälle zu. Es gibt keine Hinweise, dass die Corona-Impfung dafür verantwortlich ist.

The claim concerned social-media posts alleging that Austria had “massive excess mortality” in June 2021 and attributing it to Covid-19 vaccination. The dpa review assessed mortality data for Austria, including EuroMOMO’s monitoring figures, and consulted representatives of AGES and Statistics Austria. It reports that EuroMOMO’s Z-score for Austria did not reach 2 at any point during June, the threshold below which the system does not classify mortality as excess. An AGES spokesperson likewise told dpa there had been no excess mortality that month. “Im gesamten Juni 2021 ging der Z-score nicht über zwei hinaus, es gab also gar keine Übersterblichkeit in Österreich.” The review also examined weekly death counts, which were above the average for the same weeks in 2016–2020. It cautioned that this comparison alone did not establish excess mortality. Statistics Austria described June as “nicht wirklich auffällig,” while EuroMOMO recorded a Z-score of 1.96 in the week of June 21–27—just below the threshold—and 1.24 in the preceding week. The review notes that a heatwave ran from June 16 to 24 and says a connection with the somewhat higher death counts in those two weeks was plausible, but that current summer 2021 heat-mortality analyses were not yet available. The review says the available data did not establish causes of death for 2021: Statistics Austria explained that cause-of-death records required further processing and evaluation. It also reports no evidence linking the higher death counts to vaccination. The review cites 146 deaths reported as occurring in temporal proximity to Covid-19 vaccination between December 27, 2020, and July 9, 2021; one case was then considered connected to vaccination. These reports do not, by themselves, show that vaccination caused the June mortality figures. The review adds that Austria’s highest excess-mortality readings in the period it discusses occurred in late 2020, before vaccination began.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Vaccine kills more people than COVID-19

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY’s review addresses a claim in a viral video in which a man identifying himself as Dr. Tarun Kothari argues that vaccination kills more people than COVID-19. For its comparison in India, the review contrasts more than 4.19 lakh reported COVID-19 deaths with the National AEFI Committee’s assessment, as of 19 July 2021, that one death among 179 assessed serious and severe adverse events was associated with a COVID-19 vaccine. It also reports that 34.18 crore people had received at least one vaccine dose in India by 26 July 2021. The review separately gives U.S. figures: 6,207 death reports submitted to VAERS after 339 million vaccine doses. It cautions that reports made after vaccination do not by themselves show that the vaccine caused a death. Thus the review distinguishes deaths reported after vaccination from deaths assessed as vaccine-associated; its central comparison is between the committee’s one associated death and the much larger reported COVID-19 death toll in India. FACTLY concludes that the video’s claim is false. Its account supports that conclusion with the committee’s assessment and the reported COVID-19 toll, while noting the limits of interpreting raw adverse-event reports as proof of causation.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

COVID-19 is a simple flu with minimal deaths

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a 1.30-minute video in which a man identifying himself as Dr. Tarun Kothari made several claims about COVID-19, including that it was “a simple flu” and caused minimal deaths. The review treated that statement as a distinct claim and compared COVID-19 with influenza, rather than relying only on the speaker’s characterization. The review says the illnesses are caused by different viruses: influenza viruses cause flu, while SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19. It reports that COVID-19 spreads faster and is more transmissible than flu. On mortality, it notes that COVID-19’s rate had not yet been determined accurately, but gives a crude estimate of 3–4 percent and contrasts this with a rate usually below 0.1 percent for flu. The review also cites more than 400,000 COVID-19 deaths in India at the time of its reporting. These comparisons are the stated basis for rejecting the idea that COVID-19 was simply flu with minimal deaths: the review describes differences in transmission and reported mortality, and says COVID-19 could involve longer incubation and recovery, complications associated with other health conditions, and hospitalization. The excerpt does not provide underlying datasets or a detailed calculation of the mortality estimates, so those figures are reported as the review presents them rather than independently recalculated here.

dpaHealth & medicine

Die Corona-Impfung enthält das Spike-Protein.

Publisher’s rating: Das ist falsch. In den Corona-Vakzinen sind keine Spike-Proteine des Virus enthalten.

The review addresses the claim that the coronavirus spike protein is already present in COVID-19 vaccines. It distinguishes the protein itself from the genetic instructions delivered by the vaccines: the account says those instructions lead a person’s cells to make the protein after vaccination, rather than the vaccine containing the viral protein.

FACTLYHealth & medicine

Wearing masks would deplete the oxygen levels leading to several diseases which require hospitalization

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY’s review addresses a claim attributed to Dr. Tarun Kothari in a 1.30-minute video: that wearing masks lowers oxygen levels, causes diseases, and can lead to hospitalization. The review says the video was circulating on social media and describes the claim as one of several arguments against masks and other COVID-19 measures. To assess the claim, the review points to recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) and guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It quotes the WHO describing masks as part of a broader strategy to reduce transmission and save lives, and says the CDC cited evidence that mask use reduces new infections and community exposure. These are the review’s cited grounds for rejecting the claim; the excerpt does not describe a new clinical test of oxygen levels or a study specifically measuring mask-related hospitalization. The review also notes that CDC guidance identifies situations in which wearing a mask may not be possible, including dining, water activities, and high-intensity exercise, as well as certain age, work, or disability circumstances. It cautions that these exceptions do not establish that masks cause respiratory illness. The supplied excerpt supports the review’s conclusion that the claim is false, but does not provide study details such as sample sizes or measurements for independently assessing the cited evidence.