NHS Test and Trace has not spent £37bn so far
A post on social media uses the total two-year Test and Trace budget to make misleading claims about where the money is going. Read
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Leo Benedictus
Journalist
Leo joined Full Fact in January 2020. For 15 years, he worked freelance as a feature writer for the Guardian, Prospect, the New Scientist and others, making maps of immigration, explaining citizens’ assemblies and debunking superfoods. He has a fondness for science and statistics. He also writes novels.
Health
Side effects from the Oxford and Pfizer vaccines are about the same
An article in the Express is misleading when it says that the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine has ‘more adverse side effects’. Read
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Health
It’s not clear if antidepressants cause hair loss
Research reported in the Express does not establish any link between the medication and losing your hair. Read
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Tests can detect the Covid-19 virus
The false positive rate is not 100%, which would mean they gave a positive result, wrongly, every time. Read
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Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine will not change your DNA
This is a common myth about mRNA vaccines, which give instructions to cells, but do not change their DNA. Read
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There is no evidence that people are dying from the Covid-19 vaccine
Some deaths and serious events have been recorded after vaccination, but none because of it so far Read
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A fake Metro cover shares false vaccine information
The real front page of the Metro on 16 February was completely different. Read
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We can’t say if Test and Trace has cost more than the Channel Tunnel—yet
£22bn is the budget for the first year of NHS Test and Trace, but we don’t know how much has actually been spent. Read
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A surprisingly large rat is really just surprisingly close
This widely shared photograph uses a technique called forced perspective. Read
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Many more than 3,000 people have died of Covid-19
The true death toll is currently more than 100,000 in England and Wales. Read
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