Misinformation continues to spread about COVID-19 & vaccines, almost 2 years into the pandemic.
As the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines & booster shots continues around the world, misleading, miscaptioned or completely false claims continue to spread online.
This page highlights false claims we've seen shared multiple times online, with facts to debunk them.
We'll continue to update this page with any further false or misleading claims we see regarding the virus or the vaccine.
We strongly encourage you to share the link to this page if you see a false claim that we've debunked, or head here for more unbiased fact-checking.
What we've fact-checked:
Christian Eriksen's collapse
One viral video that has circulated online purports to show a compilation of athletes collapsing, linking it back to the COVID-19 vaccine.
The very first clip in the video shows soccer player Christian Eriksen collapsing during the Euro 2020.
The incident happened in the 43rd minute of Denmark's match against Finland, held in June 2021.
As ABC News reported at the time, "(he) was given urgent medical attention on the field near the end of the first half, as worried players and spectators watched on."
Giuseppe Marotta, the director of Inter Milan (the team Eriksen is a midfielder for) said this at the time:
"He didn't have COVID and wasn't vaccinated either."
CONCLUSION: The vaccine was not linked to Eriksen's collapse, as he had not had the jab.
Annastacia Palaszczuk's "fake" flu shot
In April 2020, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, then-Health Minister Steven Miles and then-Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young received the flu shot in front of cameras as part of a bid for more people to do the same.
Footage from Channel 7's bulletin of the Premier receiving the injection was widely shared on social media, with people observing that the cap of the syringe was still attached after being broadcast on television and online.
But not only was the clip unrelated to the COVID-19, the footage aired was actually a re-enactment at the media’s request, moments after her actual injection, as members of the press pack did not believe they captured it adequately.
Footage posted on Channel 7's website confirms this.
The misleading claims have continued to spread over a year later, including from UAP Chairman Clive Palmer, while others have linked it to the COVID-19 vaccine.
CONCLUSION: The footage of Palaszczuk was a re-enactment at the request of the media, and she was not receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.
Man collapses on Austrian TV
A video showing a man collapsing on live TV has also been linked to the COVID-19 vaccine online, with examples found here, here & here.
But the video was uploaded to YouTube in 2016, under the title "Mann wird bewusstlos im Fernsehinterview," or, when translated, "Man passes out in a television interview."
The man in the video is Alois Dambachmayr, the head of the Church Contribution Department of the Diocese of Linz, according to 'KirchenZeitung' which roughly translates to 'Church Newspaper.' In a page released on their website in May 2014, this was said:
"Alois Dambachmayr, head of the church contribution department of the Diocese of Linz, would like to thank everyone who contacted him or who accompanied him in their thoughts. He had collapsed on Saturday, May 17th, during a live performance on the ORF program “OÖ heute” due to a poor circulation. He recovered quickly and feels good, says Alois Dambachmayr."
While this is a rough translation from Google Translate, it gives a pretty good idea as to what happened - not in 2021, but on May 17, 2014.
For some additional context, ORF is a public broadcaster in Austria, and the program title roughly translates to "Upper Austria today."
CONCLUSION: The footage was from May 2014 & not linked to the COVID-19 vaccine.
Australian surgeon 'randomly collapses'
Keeping with the theme of collapsing, a tweet containing a video of a surgeon collapsing has been linked to the vaccine by dozens.
But the video - with over 50 thousand views - is actually from China, not Australia, and was from January 2020.
At the time, France24 fact-checked claims that the collapse was due to COVID-19 - here's a link to their article.
CONCLUSION: The video is from China in January 2020.
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