Bogus anti-vaccine video goes viral, says a FactCheck.org report

By Heather Close Published December 5, 2022 CORONAVIRUS, FEATURED, HEALTH POLICY, YOUR HEALTH

By FactCheck.org

There have been more than 13 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines administered worldwide, including more than 600 million in the United States. The vaccines have saved an estimated tens of millions of lives. Yet, there seems to be no end to disinformation about these life-saving vaccines.

The latest example is an hour long video called “Died Suddenly” from the mind of Stew Peters, who once claimed that Covid-19 was caused by snake venom secretly injected into the water supply by the Catholic Church and government agencies. Spoiler alert: That’s not true.

Peters’ latest video is racking up millions of views across major social media platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube, and niche platforms, such as Rumble and Gab. It’s also been promoted by high-profile anti-vaccine campaigners, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Children’s Health Defense and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.

But the video provides no support for its theory that people are dying suddenly from Covid-19 vaccines, as FactCheck.org staffers Saranac Hale Spencer, Jessica McDonald and Catalina Jaramillo found out after teaming up to review the video.

A central claim in the video is that embalmers have been noticing unusual clots in dead people. But there is no evidence that the clots are related to vaccination, nor are they necessarily abnormal. Many of the clots shown, in fact, appear to be postmortem clots, or blood clots that form after death, which would have nothing to do with vaccination or why someone died.

The video also repeats numerous falsehoods that have been previously debunked, including claims that athletes are dropping dead and pilots are causing plane crashes because of Covid-19 vaccination.

Read the full story, “‘Died Suddenly’ Pushes Bogus Depopulation Theory.”

FactCheck.org is a nonpartisan, nonprofit that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. It is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania.