What was claimed
Covid-19 is a lie.
Our verdict
This is false. There is ample evidence that proves that Covid-19 is a real, deadly disease.
Covid-19 is not ‘a lie’
What was claimed
Covid vaccines are killing people.
Our verdict
While a small number of deaths have been attributed to the vaccines, it’s estimated that they have saved millions of lives.
A post on Instagram shows a man sitting at a table behind a sign that reads: “Covid was a lie. The shots are killing.”
The implication appears to be that Covid-19 is not a real disease and that receiving a Covid vaccine can be fatal.
There is plenty of evidence to show that Covid-19 exists. While a small number of deaths have been directly attributed to the vaccines, they are estimated to have saved millions of lives.
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Evidence of Covid-19
According to the World Health Organisation: “Covid-19 is the disease caused by a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. WHO first learned of this new virus on 31 December 2019, following a report of a cluster of cases of ‘viral pneumonia’ in Wuhan, People’s Republic of China.”
As we have written before, many scientists have isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease and determined its entire genetic makeup by sequencing its genome.
Since the first cases of Covid-19 emerged, the WHO has identified different variants of concern, including Omicron.
We also have evidence the disease is real because of how many people have died from it. There have been over 208,000 deaths in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate as one of the causes, as of 17 November 2022.
In addition to those deaths, we also know that more there have been more than 993,000 admissions to hospital in the UK among people who have tested positive for the virus.
Covid vaccines have saved lives
The post also claims “the shots are killing”, implying that Covid-19 vaccines are responsible for deaths. There is good evidence to show that the use of Covid-19 vaccines has saved millions of lives.
According to the Office for National Statistics, as of September there were 47 cases in England and none in Wales in which a Covid-19 vaccine has been listed as the underlying cause of death. In Scotland there have been nine up to the end of September 2022. There has been one registered death in Northern Ireland up to the end of March 2022, according to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
It is possible that the UK total may rise, if there’s been a delay in registering some deaths due to the vaccines.
As of 17 November, more than 150 million doses of vaccine have been delivered in the UK.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency did find a specific link between the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and a particular type of blood clot. This has been linked to 81 deaths as of 26 October, though it is not clear how many of these are directly linked to the vaccine. Death certificates are the best source of data on deaths by cause.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because there is ample evidence to show that Covid-19 is a real disease.