As of January 2020, California had a little more than one-quarter of all the homeless people in the United States, according to the most recent federal estimates of homelessness.
A viral headline shared on social media falsely asserts that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed testing thresholds to “virtually eliminate” COVID-19 cases among vaccinated individuals. That’s wrong. The threshold in question simply applies to whether or not there is enough virus present in a sample for further analysis.
The COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna uses an ingredient called SM-102 to deliver the mRNA that carries instructions for how to develop antibodies against the novel coronavirus. A widely shared video is now spreading the falsehood that SM-102 is harmful, but the warning label it shows is for chloroform, not SM-102.
Insurance companies do not deny claims when someone dies after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the American Council of Life Insurers. But a viral social media post has falsely claimed that beneficiaries of a person who dies after getting the vaccine cannot collect life insurance payments.
China has been rapidly closing the gap with the United States when it comes to research and development investments, experts tell us. But President Joe Biden left the impression in a Michigan speech that the U.S. has already fallen far behind China.
More than 400 people have been charged in relation to the Jan. 6 events at the U.S. Capitol, and there is ample evidence that many protesters defied and assaulted Capitol Police officers that day. Yet viral social media posts are falsely claiming a video clip proves that “Capitol Police gave protesters OK” to enter the building. The video clip does not depict that.
Federal health officials testified at a Senate committee hearing that about 60% of their employees have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. But viral online posts have distorted their comments to misleadingly claim that half of the employees “are refusing” the vaccines. The officials did not say anyone had refused to get vaccinated.
In a May 16 interview, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director said the agency knew of 223 breakthrough fatalities among fully vaccinated individuals, but “not all … died of COVID.” That is not an admission that “many, many hospitals” previously “overcounted” COVID-19 deaths, as conservative websites have reported.
A disagreement between Republican Sen. Rand Paul and Dr. Anthony Fauci has put $600,000 of U.S. grant money to the Wuhan Institute of Virology back into the spotlight, while making “gain-of-function” research a household term — all amid calls for more investigation into the origins of SARS-CoV-2.
Animal testing and clinical trials were conducted before the COVID-19 vaccines were authorized for use in the U.S. But a Texas state senator falsely claimed at a hearing that animal tests were “stopped” because the “animals were dying.”