Coronavirus

Did France adopt a new law that allows for any criticism of the mRNA technology to be criminalized? No, that's not true: The bill has nothing to do with mRNA technology, but with a bill aimed at strengthening the fight against "sectarian tendencies." Article 4 of the bill criminalizes the incitement to abandon or to abstain from medical treatment, which…

Did the World Health Organization change the definition of a pandemic by removing the criterion "infectious disease with high mortality"? No, that's not true: Similar claims surfaced online in 2009 during the declaration of the H1N1 influenza pandemic by the Health Organization. The declaration was based on criteria revolving around the incidence and spread of the virus across various World…

Did the Croatian government warn health care workers against the side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines but hide them from the citizens? No, that's not true: The Croatian Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices (HALMED) has published news about vaccines against COVID disease and other topics from a meeting of the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee (PRAC) on its…

Was a relatively recent variant of COVID-19 given its name because of 5G mobile phone signals? No, that's not true: New COVID strains are given names according to defined classification systems. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on September 27, 2023, with a text overlay (translated from Croatian to English by Lead Stories staff) that read:…

Does a picture being shared on social media prove that COVID-19 tests are being used to cause cancer in the general population? No, that's not true: The image just shows a list of different COVID-19 diagnostic tests available, with the names of their manufacturers. No elements in the list or the picture indicate that they have been used to harm…

Do PCR tests and COVID-19 vaccines contain the enzyme luciferase? No, that's not true: Luciferase, an enzyme that produces bioluminescence and is widely used in biotechnology, is not contained in PCR tests used to detect COVID-19 infection, nor in COVID-19 vaccines approved by the FDA. The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) on September 9, 2023. It opened…

Are PCR tests only designed to study DNA samples, making the tool unsuitable to show whether an infectious disease is present? No, that's not true: the tests search for a match to the RNA/DNA of an infectious disease. While scientists report that the tests sometimes return false positive and false negative results, the tests are regarded as effective. The claim…

Did US Vice President Kamala Harris intend to say the population should be reduced so more of our children can breathe clean air? While it is true that during a speech about climate change Harris said the words "reduce population", it's understood that the vice president misspoke and meant to say "reduce pollution". Now Croatian politician Marin Miletić has labeled…

Is the World Health Organization planning to dictate when governments worldwide should impose new lockdowns with its Pandemic Preparedness Treaty? No, that's not true: the draft treaty does not give the health body any powers over sovereign governments. The claim reappeared as a video (archived here) published by TikTok on 06/06/2023 by a user from the Balkans under the title…