Archive - COVID-19 Watch

A text message about an alleged new wave of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila is circulating on Facebook and private messaging. This is not true.

A Filipina vlogger is falsely claiming that the WHO admitted in its website that COVID-19 vaccines can cause multiple sclerosis.

While Marcos did not extend the state of calamity which ended in 2022, he has yet to lift the state of public health emergency which remains in effect.

A Facebook Reel falsely implies that Metro Manila has been placed under Alert Level 3. The misleading Reel used an old news report.

While the Arcturus subvariant is “increasing in global prevalence,” health officials noted that current available evidence does not show any differences in the severity of its effect compared to the original Omicron variant.

A widely-circulated web article about a Philippine court ordering the arrest of American business magnate Bill Gates is fake.

A vlogger known for spreading COVID-19 disinformation took out-of-context the Pfizer CEO's recent statement.

A text post is spreading among Filipinos claiming the new COVID-19 subvariant XBB.1.5 is more lethal than the Delta variant. This is not true.

Data from the Department of Health COVID-19 vaccination dashboard shows that this target had been achieved with 70,147,235 Filipinos completing their primary vaccine series, but only after several adjustments since vaccination in the country began on March 1, 2021.

The baseless claims, which started circulating on April 28 and continued to be shared a few days before the polls get underway.

Early in the pages of Dr. Joseph Adrian L. Buensalido’s Mikrobyong Maliit, Pandemyang Pasakit: Ang Tinulang Salaysay ng Pandemyang COVID-19, there is a certificate attesting that the holder or owner of the slim volume of 72 pages has lived and survived during the time of the pandemic. In Filipino it states that “I am happy I went past this grim part of history. Many died and did not see the dawn on their native land.”

Presidential candidate Jose “Joey” Montemayor’s claim that the COVID-19 vaccine has a “reverse” effect and exposes people to infection has no basis.

Medical experts on Thursday said the Philippines has grown into a prime hub for health mis- and disinformation amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, misinformation that voters need to present a vaccination card or a negative RT-PCR test to be able to vote on May 9 has been making the rounds on social media.

Vaccinated individuals do develop immunity against the COVID-19 virus. This protection, however, is not perfect, as with other health interventions, according to the World Health Organization.

Two years into the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Duterte administration has signaled the country's "shift" from a "pandemic paradigm" to learning how to live with the virus in 2022.

Malacañang has noted that “clear evidence” shows the jabs provide added protection against the novel coronavirus.

Vice presidential candidate Willie Ong said in a health vlog that the common cold and the Omicron and Delta variants of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can be determined through the symptoms experienced by patients. This needs context.

The local laws that the ad cited to justify these arguments contradict these assertions.

The claim of Edsel Maurice Salvana, an infectious diseases doctor, that there is “science” behind the use of face shields as a defense against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), lacks context.

While it is true that COVID-19 vaccines have risks of complications, “severe or life-threatening reactions are extremely rare” according to the Department of Health’s (DOH) Frequently Answered Questions page.

The DOH affirmed there is no clear distinction in the symptom profiles of an earlier coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection from other virus variants and influenza.

VERA Files fact-checked each claim made in the erroneous Jan 3 post.

His group has also claimed that the pandemic is not real and alleged the vaccine is killing people

A former special adviser to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 shared a false graphic that lists different symptoms supposedly from an infection with the Omicron virus variant. It surfaced as the country grappled with a post-holiday surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

This post is fake. Don't believe it.

The government has not placed any part of the country under such a strict status recently.

As the Philippines ramped up coverage of COVID-19 vaccination in 2021, VERA Files fact-checked more than double of online disinformation about the vaccines, targeting safety and side effects.

The data is insufficient to establish a causal link between the vaccine and the reported adverse reactions.

According to the Department of Health and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. CDC), none of the approved vaccines against COVID-19 contains the live virus that causes the illness. Hence the vaccines cannot cause COVID-19 positive cases.