Moderna’s mRNA vaccine is the second COVID-19 vaccine to be authorized and fully approved for use in the U.S. Here, we give a rundown of basic facts about the vaccine and an overview of how it works.
A Guide to Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine
SciCheck
FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy. It was launched in January 2015 with a grant from the Stanton Foundation. The foundation was founded by the late Frank Stanton, president of CBS for 25 years, from 1946 to 1971.
Q&A on COVID-19 Vaccines
Three COVID-19 vaccines are now authorized in the U.S. In this story, we answer some common questions about the shots.
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.
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.
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.
Paul Misleads on Natural Infection and COVID-19 Vaccines
In a tweet, Sen. Rand Paul misleadingly suggested that immunity from “[n]aturally acquired” COVID-19 was better than that from a vaccine. But it’s not known how immunity from the two sources compares — and the entire point of a vaccine is to offer immunity without the risk of getting sick.
Trump Baselessly Alleges COVID-19 Vaccine Announcement Was Delayed
In a series of tweets, President Donald Trump claimed — without evidence — that the pharma company Pfizer and his own FDA purposely held off on releasing positive interim results about a COVID-19 vaccine candidate until after the election.
Trump Spins ER Statistic to Claim U.S. Is in ‘Great Shape’ on COVID-19
President Trump has made the misleading boast that the U.S. is in “great shape” because 97% of emergency room visits were for something other than COVID-19. Trump could have boasted of similar percentages — 93% to 96% — during the worst periods of the pandemic.
FactChecking Trump’s Immunity Claims
President Trump said that once he came down with COVID-19, people for partisan reasons shifted from saying immunity was lifelong to saying it lasted only a few months. Experts haven’t changed their estimates.
Trump Distorts WHO’s Lockdown Comments
At campaign rallies and in tweets, President Trump falsely said the World Health Organization changed its position and “admitted that Donald Trump was right” about lockdowns. But the agency has said no such thing.