COVID-19 Watch Archives

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: WHO did NOT say COVID-19 vaccines cause multiple sclerosis

By VERA Files | Jun 22, 2023 12:25 PM

A Filipina vlogger is falsely claiming that the World Health Organization (WHO) admitted in its website that COVID-19 vaccines can cause multiple sclerosis (MS). The WHO itself has debunked this allegation. “It is in the WHO website na may pag-aaral na… ang tuklaw nagca-cause ng… ang vetsin nagca-cause ng sclerosis (The WHO’s website posted a […]

COVID-19, multiple sclerosis, vaccine

VERAFIED: Marcos’ statement on ‘emergency status’ in the country needs context

COVID-19 Watch FACT CHECK Health NED FC

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Marcos’ statement on ‘emergency status’ in the country needs context

By VERA Files | May 21, 2023 6:47 PM

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.

COVID-19, Department of Health, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, public health emergency

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VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Metro Manila NOT under Alert Level 3

By VERA Files | May 12, 2023 1:47 PM

A Facebook (FB) Reel currently circulating among thousands of netizens falsely implies that Metro Manila has been placed under a heightened alert level to combat COVID-19 transmission. The misleading Reel used an old news report. On May 2, an FB user reposted a short video originally published by TikTok user @niwrenewstv. It was captioned “#alertlevel3” […]

alert level, COVID-19

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VERA FILES FACT SHEET: What health experts know so far about ‘Arcturus’ Omicron subvariant

By VERA Files | Apr 28, 2023 9:02 PM

Getting updated vaccination “remains to be the most effective and best long-term protection” against the COVID-19 virus, according to the Department of Health, even as a new subvariant of Omicron was detected in the country earlier this month. What is the Arcturus subvariant? Should it be a cause for concern?

Arcturus Omicron, COVID-19

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VERA FILES FACT CHECK: There is NO Philippine arrest warrant vs Bill Gates

By VERA Files | Mar 09, 2023 7:55 PM

A widely-circulated web article about a Philippine court ordering the arrest of American business magnate Bill Gates is fake. Below, VERA Files Fact Check debunks two claims in a March 2 “fact-checked” article by News Punch, an alternative American news publication. Claim Rating A Philippine court issued an international arrest warrant for Bill Gates, as […]

Bill Gates, COVID-19, vaccine

COVID-19 Watch FACT CHECK FB FC Health

VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Vlogger TWISTS Pfizer CEO’s statement on COVID vaccines

By VERA Files | Jan 30, 2023 11:28 AM

A vlogger known for spreading COVID-19 disinformation took out-of-context the Pfizer CEO’s recent statement. She used his remarks to falsely insinuate that two major vaccine manufacturers are creating conditions that will lead to more severe disease and hospitalizations and that their vaccines will be sold as “cure.” “They have a proposal: [Pfizer and Moderna] will […]

Pfizer, vaccine

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VERA FILES FACT CHECK: NO data supporting Omicron XBB variant is ‘5x’ deadlier than Delta

By VERA Files | Jan 10, 2023 11:18 PM

With the rise of COVID-19 cases overseas, a text post is spreading among Filipinos on social media and private messaging platforms claiming the new COVID-19 subvariant XBB.1.5 is more lethal than the Delta variant. This is not true. The text, which started to circulate after New Year’s day, cited as its source an unspecified “Singaporean […]

COVID-19

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VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Galvez claim that PH hit vaxx target needs context

By VERA Files | Jul 01, 2022 3:47 PM

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr., head of the National Task Force Against COVID-19, claimed that the government had achieved its goal of fully vaccinating 70 million Filipinos against the coronavirus disease before the end of President Rodrigo Duterte’s term on June 30. This claim needs context.

CARLITO GALVEZ JR., covid-19 vaccination

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VERA FILES FACT CHECK: Posts claiming DOH to bloat COVID cases before elections NOT TRUE

By VERA Files | May 08, 2022 11:11 AM

Netizens on Facebook (FB) and Twitter have falsely claimed that the Department of Health (DOH) will artificially increase the number of COVID-19 cases in the country two days before the May 9 elections. The baseless claims, which started circulating on April 28 and continued to be shared a few days before the polls get underway, […]

COVID-19, Department of Health, PHLVOTE2022

Arts & Culture COVID-19 Watch

Health frontliner’s verses on the pandemic hit reader where they matter

By Elizabeth Lolarga | Apr 09, 2022 4:21 PM

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.”

COVID-19, Dr. Joseph Adrian Buensalido