Our list of the 10 most egregious falsehoods of the year.
The Whoppers of 2020
Issues: coronavirus
Alabama Officials Debunk False Claim of COVID-19 Vaccine Death
A false claim that an unidentified nurse died after getting the COVID-19 vaccine in Alabama has been feeding into the anti-vaccine disinformation online. The Alabama Department of Public Health reported that no one who has received the vaccine has died.
Instagram Post Distorts Facts on COVID-19 Death Reporting
An Instagram post falsely claims that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting all pneumonia and influenza deaths as caused by COVID-19. That’s wrong and is based on a misreading of one type of monitoring the agency conducts.
COVID-19 Vaccines Don’t Have Patient-Tracking Devices
A video circulating on social media falsely claims that vaccines for COVID-19 have a microchip that “tracks the location of the patient.” The chip, which is not currently in use, would be attached to the end of a plastic vial and provide information only about the vaccine dose. It cannot track people.
Vaccine Recipient Targeted With Baseless ‘Crisis Actor’ Claim
Social media posts are peddling the baseless claim that the first recipient of a COVID-19 vaccine in the United Kingdom was actually a “crisis actor.” There is no evidence for that conspiracy theory.
A Guide to Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 Vaccine
A primer on the first COVID-19 vaccine to receive authorization and approval in the U.S.
Primer on Trump’s Visit to Georgia
In advance of President Donald Trump’s visit to Georgia, we recap our fact-checking reports on the Georgia Senate races and Trump’s false, misleading and unfounded statements about alleged election fraud in that state.
Flawed Analysis Leads to False Claim of ‘No Excess Deaths’ in 2020
An economics professor’s flawed interpretation of U.S. mortality data has prompted a viral, false claim that COVID-19 hasn’t led to more deaths than normal this year. In fact, multiple analyses have found there to be a higher-than-normal number of deaths during the pandemic — as much as 20%, according to some studies.
Danish Study Doesn’t Prove Masks Don’t Work Against the Coronavirus
Q: Did a recent study in Denmark show that face masks are useless for COVID-19?
A: No. The study found that face masks did not have a large protective effect for wearers — not that masks provide no protection at all or don’t offer benefits to others.
Meme Distorts Facts on Annual Death Statistics
An image circulating on social media erroneously claims that the total number of deaths in the U.S. this year is significantly down compared to previous years. The meme — which implies COVID-19 restrictions weren’t needed — actually uses an incomplete figure for 2020 and makes a flawed comparison.