NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week.
CLAIM
Workers with the Federal Emergency Management Agency are not required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but are being used to replace health care personnel who are refusing to comply with vaccination mandates.
THE FACTS
The claims are spreading across social media platforms, gaining thousands of likes and shares, but both assertions are false. FEMA workers are considered federal employees and are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by Nov. 8 under an executive order issued by President Joe Biden. Also, the agency is not sending its workers to replace unvaccinated health care personnel. “FEMA employees are required to be vaccinated as determined by the president,” FEMA’s director of public affairs, Jaclyn Rothenberg, told the AP, adding: “The social media posts that claim FEMA workers are replacing unvaccinated health care workers are unequivocally false.” FEMA coordinates within the federal government to prepare for and respond to disasters. While the agency has supported states and health care systems throughout the pandemic, it has mainly done so by providing resources and coordination assistance, such as setting up mobile vaccination units and reimbursing states for some inoculation efforts, Rothenberg said.
CLAIM
Vaccine-related strokes in pilots have caused an “epidemic of plane crashes.”
THE FACTS
A video circulating widely on Facebook and various video-sharing websites this week spreads a bogus claim that vaccine-linked medical ailments in pilots have caused numerous recent plane crashes. The nearly 30-minute video uses fake news banners and fear-mongering narration to baselessly suggest recent plane accidents, including an Oct. 11 small plane crash in a San Diego suburb, happened because pilots had strokes caused by COVID-19 vaccines. “There’s a silent epidemic of plane crashes happening around the country and nobody’s connecting the dots,” the video’s narrator says. “By listening to the audio from the cockpit of this latest crash, it’s clear that the pilot was having a stroke. The pilot was a doctor from a hospital. He was required to get the vaccine.” It’s true the pilot in the Oct. 11 crash was a cardiologist, but the claim that he suffered a medical condition after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine is not supported by any evidence to date. The National Transportation Safety Board, which said it is investigating the crash, has not yet stated a cause.
CLAIM
An official government poster from Ireland’s Health Products Regulatory Authority says sudden death is a side effect of the COVID-19 vaccines.
THE FACTS
The poster was fabricated. Ireland’s agency in charge of regulating medicines and devices has not listed “sudden death” as a COVID-19 side effect. Siobhan Molloy, a spokesperson for Ireland’s Health Products Regulatory Authority, said in an email that the poster was not produced by the country’s regulatory authority. “I can categorically state this is not an HPRA produced poster — or indeed a piece of communication produced by the Health Service Executive (HSE) who on behalf of the Irish Department of Health produce advice information,” she said. The Health Products Regulatory Authority is responsible for regulating medicines and devices that are used on people and animals. While the poster was designed to look official, Molloy said the “‘people of Ireland” logo does not exist and is not representative of the authority either. Death is not listed as a side effect from the vaccine by the Ireland Health Service Executive agency.
CLAIM
A video shows aboriginal people in Australia defending themselves with bows and arrows against authorities trying to forcibly administer COVID-19 vaccines.
THE FACTS
The video was filmed in Brazil nearly a year before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. It shows a March 2019 demonstration in Sao Paulo by a group of Guarani Indigenous people who were protesting changes to health care infrastructure and resources. But social media users are falsely claiming it shows Indigenous people in Australia staving off coronavirus vaccination efforts.
CLAIM
Photo of empty grocery shelves shows impact of President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” policies.
THE FACTS
A photo circulating widely on Instagram on Tuesday shows near-empty grocery store shelves in Houston, which the caption falsely suggested was a result of Biden’s “Build Back Better,” an agenda that focuses on social policy and programs. “Supply chain issues. Terrible job numbers. People quitting their job because the government is essentially forcing them to put a needle in their arm or lose their job. Crumbling economy, terrible inflation, and the list goes on. This is Joe Biden’s ‘Build Back Better!’” the Instagram caption stated. But the post, which received more than 135,000 likes on Instagram, left out that the photo was taken during a severe winter storm. The photo was taken on Feb. 20, 2021.
