Do all coronaviruses cause symptoms that are no more dangerous than "the sniffles?" No, that's not true: The claim is based on a medical text published in 2003 before the deadlier strains of coronavirus were fully known to medical science. The COVID-19 coronavirus is responsible for one of the most lethal pandemics in living history. The claim appeared in a…

Are airplanes spraying toxic streams known as "chemtrails" on people as part of a "genocidal plot"? No, that's not true: Scientists who investigated this claim turned up no evidence that chemtrails exist. The social media post making the claim attempts to prove it with photos that purportedly show aircraft carrying huge barrels of noxious compounds - but these are actually…

Does vegan food production inflict greater damage on the environment than the production of traditional fare? No, that's not true: Numerous scientific studies show that vegan production, which excludes all foods derived from animals, emits far less greenhouse gas (GHG) than livestock or other common food sources. The claim appeared in a Hungarian-language video (archived here) on TikTok on July…

Was Hungarian television star István Vágó killed by an adverse reaction to Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine? No, there is no evidence to support this claim: Vágó's widow told Hungarian media that he died from an aortic rupture. While doctors say mRNA jabs such as Pfizer's may be linked to cardiac complications in rare cases, there is no proof that Vágó's condition…

Is Ambrosia artemisiifolia, a.k.a Ragweed, a jolly joker plant that cures every illness, including cancer? No, that's not true: Scientific research proved that the plant itself is toxic, and the usage of ragweed in food products is banned in Hungary. It has been included in the list of plants not recommended for food products by the Hungarian National Institute of…

Does the World Health Organization's (WHO) draft accord on pandemic preparedness include an obligation for governments to disclose the names of people who question WHO pandemic policy? No, that's not true: The text contains no such language. In fact, it guarantees that personal data will be protected in any information exchanges that take place under the proposed accord. The claim…

Are Hungarian medical authorities barring doctors from prescribing ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19, even though it's known to be effective? No, that's not true: Medical science has never verified that the antiparasitic drug helps alleviate COVID-19 symptoms and has never approved it as an alternative to vaccination. Clinical trials on ivermectin's potential for combatting COVID-19 infection have so far…

Is Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine almost completely composed of graphene oxide, and is this part of a plot to carry out a "mass poisoning?" No, that's not true: The claim was featured on the Stew Peters Show, an internet-based program that distorted the findings of a Spanish scientist to support its mass-murder theory. Pfizer's COVID-19 shot does not contain graphene oxide.…

Did a woman claim Pfizer-BioNtech's COVID-19 vaccine had triggered an incurable rash on her face? No, that's not true: The social media video in which the claim appears has been edited. In a longer version of the clip, the woman explains she had been suffering from eczema, an incurable skin condition, before she was vaccinated. She says she does not…

Did a Portuguese court in 2020 find that PCR tests were an unreliable method of determining COVID-19 infection, based on a "scientific study"? No, that's not true: The claim mischaracterizes the finding of the Portuguese court and the nature of an informal letter to the editor of a scientific journal that was not a "study," as well as the letter's…

Is Pfizer being sued for $3 billion for using graphene oxide in their COVID-19 vaccines? No, that's not true: Pfizer's COVID vaccines do not contain any kind of metals. Pfizer was fined for a similar amount in 2009 for illegal promotion of some of its pharmaceutical products. The claim appeared in a Hungarian TikTok video (translated into English by Lead…

Is COVID-19 a bioweapon? No, that's not true: There is no evidence proving that anyone developed COVID as a bioweapon. The origin of the virus is still not confirmed but the World Health Organization (WHO) is investigating possible sources. The claim appeared in several Hungarian language TikTok videos. One simply stated: Covid is a bioweapon. (Source: TikTok screenshot taken on…

Are COVID-19 vaccines a form of experimental gene therapy that German medical authorities needlessly recommended for children? No, that's not true: None of the COVID-19 vaccines authorized in Germany alters a patient's DNA, as gene therapy does, and none is classified as experimental. And while it is true that Germany's Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) did advise under-18s to get…

Did Pfizer mutate the COVID-19 virus so that they could produce and sell vaccines? No, that's not true: Pfizer denied the claim and there is no credible evidence to prove it. The claim appeared in a video on TikTok, published on February 9, 2023, by the account @pstv_official2/ (archived here). The video shows Zsolt Jeszenszky, a Hungarian conservative pundit and…

Do mRNA vaccines given to livestock get passed on to humans who eat their meat? No, that's not true: There are no commercial mRNA vaccines for animals, a virology expert told Lead Stories. Even if there were, there is no way the vaccines could be transferred to humans through digestion: The mRNA would be destroyed during the cooking process or…

Did World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus say that countries are trying to "kill children" by giving them COVID-19 booster shots? No, that's not true: Tedros stumbled over the word "children," briefly uttering a syllable that sounded like "kill," while speaking at a press conference in 2021. He immediately corrected himself and continued with his presentation. The claim…

Did Jacques Attali, an adviser to the late French President Francois Mitterrand, call for a pandemic that would target "weak" human beings for elimination in 1981? No, that's not true: The claim is a fabrication that has been circulating on social media since at least April 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. A new iteration has now…

Did Hungarian doctors accept "blood money" for every patient they vaccinated against COVID-19, even though they knew the jab was killing people? No, that's not true: The claim stems from a series of posts by U.S. antivax bloggers about a Kentucky health insurer's plan to incentivize COVID-19 vaccinations in 2021. There is no evidence any Hungarian doctor ever participated in…

Did the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) rule that mothers are women and fathers are men? No, that's not true: The ECHR's decision in O.H. and G.H. v. Germany addressed the narrow question of whether Germany had the right to identify a transgender parent as "mother" on a child's birth certificate, even though authorities had already confirmed the parent's…