Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here.
Daily Debunk
Claim: “[V]accines are not safe during pregnancy … there’s no research on COVID vaccines during pregnancy because it's unethical to do so."
While Moderna has advised male and female COVID-19 vaccine trial participants to abstain "from all activities that could result in pregnancy" — the exclusion of pregnant women from clinical research is not atypical as they are viewed to be medically complex, potentially complicating research studies.
Verdict: Misleading
Read the full story at: USA Today
Social Media Disinfo
Circulating on social media: A social media post attributed to Rob Oswald, “a PhD in virology and immunology,” claims that positive COVID-19 samples sent to university labs found no SARS-CoV-2, but flu instead. It says that there is no such thing as COVID-19.
Verdict: False
Read the full story at: KHOU 11
Factual Reads on Coronavirus
Covid: What do we know about China's coronavirus vaccines?
As the global race to produce a COVID-19 vaccine continues, China appears to have made huge strides. But what do we know about China's vaccines and how do they compare to those developed elsewhere?
— BBC, December 30
