The U.S. indirectly funded some bat coronavirus research at a lab in Wuhan, China. But those experiments could not have led to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, because the viruses used were very different. Yet former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro repeated a false claim that Dr. Anthony Fauci “killed a lot of people” by funding the lab.
A fund backed by Bill Gates has invested in a startup working to develop lab-manufactured breast milk, but it won’t reach the market for several years. Yet, social media posts make baseless claims that Gates is behind the current baby formula shortage — which stems from supply-chain issues and the shutdown at a major manufacturing plant.
Proposed legislation in Tennessee and Missouri would not regulate Plan B contraception pills, and experts say state “trigger laws” that would take effect if Roe v. Wade were overturned will not ban methods of birth control. But social media posts falsely claim that both states have banned Plan B – the morning-after pill.
A late attack ad from a super PAC supporting one of Kathy Barnette’s opponents in the Pennsylvania Senate Republican primary makes several misleading claims about Barnette, who has surged in the polls.
The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine showed a final efficacy of 91% against symptomatic illness in its phase 3 trial. Social media posts wrongly claim recently released Pfizer documents show the vaccine is “12% effective.” That appears to be a misreading of data released more than a year ago.
Once scarce, Paxlovid, an antiviral pill that is the preferred treatment for non-hospitalized high-risk COVID-19 patients, is no longer in such short supply. Here, we explain what the drug does, how well it works and what questions remain.
When Joe Biden was sworn in as president, two COVID-19 vaccines had already been authorized and millions of people nationwide had been vaccinated against the disease. But in a May 12 tweet touting economic progress made under Biden, the White House falsely claimed that “there was no vaccine available” at the time he was inaugurated.
A shortage of baby formula has provoked misleading partisan claims that suggest President Joe Biden is responsible for the “bare shelves.” But the shortage has been caused by a recall and plant shutdown by a major manufacturer and ongoing supply-chain issues due to the pandemic.
In a footnote of a draft opinion on abortion access, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito quoted from a 2008 government report on the demand for adoption in the U.S., which used the phrase, “domestic supply of infants.” Posts on social media critical of the opinion have misleadingly suggested that Alito himself came up with the phrase.
In a speech on inflation and the economy, President Joe Biden made some misleading claims and used political spin to criticize Republicans and promote his policies.