Find out why Dr. Vicky Jennings – a fully-vaccinated trauma surgeon, did not die suddenly from the COVID-19 vaccine!
Claim : Dr. Vicky Jennings Died Suddenly From Vaccine Heart Attack!
Right after news broke that Dr. Vicky Jennings died suddenly, some people immediately claimed or suggested that the South African trauma surgeon suffered a heart attack caused by the COVID-19 vaccine!
Erin Elizabeth Health Nut News : Vicki was a trauma surgeon & bikini model who mocked “anti vaxxers” liked us. She was extremely young and reportedly healthy when she #DiedSuddenly of a reported #HeartAttack
The People’s Voice : A doctor and trauma surgeon who mocked the unvaccinated on social media, attempting to frame anyone who rejected the vaccine as a conspiracy theorist, had died suddenly.
Dr. Vicky Jennings died after suffering a heart attack, her family revealed.
William Makis MD : DOCTOR DEAD, South Africa – Dr.Vicky Jennings, a trauma surgeon, died unexpectedly on Mar.3, 2024.
“VAXXED. Waiting to grow my unicorn horn now and maybe Bill Gates can start tracking my fascinating life”
Never understood taking an experimental jab so lightly #DiedSuddenly
TheTexasOne : A prominent doctor, who used social media to pressure the public into taking Covid mRNA vaccines, has died suddenly at just 43 years old, according to reports. Dr. Vicky Jennings, from South Africa, was an internationally recognized trauma surgeon. The mother of two passed away unexpectedly last week after reportedly suffering a fatal heart attack. Jennings’ death was announced by Netcare, the healthcare company that she worked for. “Dr. Jennings, Clinical Head of Trauma Surgery at Netcare Milpark Hospital, was the personification of selfless, caring, and dedicated service,” said Dr. Richard Friedland, the CEO of Netcare.
Slay News : Pro-Vax Doctor Drops Dead of Heart Attack at 43
A prominent doctor, who used social media to pressure the public into taking Covid mRNA vaccines, has died suddenly at just 43 years old, according to reports.
According to an entry on Facebook, Jennings, the mother of two young children, had a heart attack
While there has been no official explanation of why a young doctor would drop dead suddenly, many have been pointing to her past social media posts as an indication of what led to her heart attack.
Jennings often posted pro-vaccine propaganda that urged people to take Covid mRNA injections.
According to Jennings, raising concerns about the safety of the shots is “deadly” and considered “disinformation.”
Truth : Dr. Vicky Jennings Did Not Die From Vaccine / Heart Attack!
This is yet another example of fake news created or promoted by anti-vaccine activists, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Dr. Vicky Jennings Died After Celebrating Her Birthday
Let me start by giving you a summary of what led to Dr. Vicky Jennings’ sudden death on Sunday, 3 March 2024.
The night earlier, Dr. Vicky Jennings and her boyfriend went out to celebrate her 45th birthday. They had dinner and stayed overnight at a hotel. At 2 AM, when her boyfriend wanted to give her his birthday present, he could not wake her up.
Dr. Vicky Jennings’ death was officially announced by Netcare Limited – the South African hospital network at where she worked.
Dr Vicky Jennings was the embodiment of selfless, caring and committed service, dedicating her life as a surgeon to her patients in the public and private sector.
Dr Jennings was the clinical lead in trauma surgery at Netcare Milpark Hospital and the Netcare Milpark Academic Trauma Centre. She also worked as the Deputy Head of Trauma Surgery at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital.
She loved her work and what she described as her privileged life, often praising her colleagues, patients, friends and loved ones for making her journey an extraordinary one. She will forever hold a place in our hearts and memories.
Dr. Vicky Jennings was 45 years old when she died. Not 43 years old, as claimed by some people.
Fact #2 : Dr. Vicky Jennings’ Cause Of Death Was Not Publicly Revealed
Netcare never revealed her cause of death as a heart attack. So it is odd that so many people are claiming that Dr. Vicky Jennings died from a heart attack, with some even attributing it to Netcare!
Dr. Jennings’ family also did not publicly reveal her cause of death. Even her mother-in-law, Geraldine Gilbert, only stated what a shock it was. She too did not reveal her cause of death, never mind blame it on the COVID-19 vaccines!
Thank you Val for those sweet words.💔 Such a shock to the system!
So why would anyone claim that she died from a heart attack caused by the COVID-19 vaccine??? Where is the evidence???
Fact #3 : Dr. Vicky Jennings Did Not Die From Vaccine / Heart Attack
Dr. Vicky Jennings was fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, like most responsible doctors and healthcare workers. However, she did not die from the COVID-19 vaccine, or even a normal heart attack.
I know this because I reached out to a close family friend who revealed that an autopsy was conducted on Dr. Vicky Jennings. The autopsy and toxicology test reports have determined that Dr. Vicky Jennings did not die from a heart attack, and her death was not vaccine-related.
Her grieving family does not wish to publicly reveal her official cause of death, and I can understand why. All I can publicly confirm, with the help of this close family friend, is that Dr. Vicky Jennings died from an unrelated cause of death that had nothing to do with a heart attack, or the COVID-19 vaccine.
I should point out that none of those who claimed that Dr. Vicky Jennings died from a heart attack caused by the COVID-19 vaccine have ever offered any evidence, or even bothered to find out what really happened.
If, and when, her family decides to publicly reveal her cause of death, you will see that Dr. Vicky Jennings indeed did not die suddenly from a heart attack, or the COVID-19 vaccines. Until then, please respect their wish for privacy.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did researchers discover that COVID-19 vaccines were “causally linked” to 17 million deaths?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2024-01-09 : Refreshed for the revival of this claim on social media Originally posted @ 2023-10-03
Claim : COVID-19 Vaccines Caused 17 Million Deaths!
People are sharing an article by The Epoch Times which claims or suggests that COVID-19 vaccines did not save lives, but instead, resulted in 17 million deaths in 17 countries!
Here is an excerpt of The Epoch Times article. Feel free to skip to the next section for the facts:
Researchers Find COVID Vaccines Causally Linked to Increased Mortality, Estimate 17 Million Deaths
Data suggest COVID-19 vaccines haven’t saved lives, but instead, have resulted in 17 million deaths and increased all-cause mortality in 17 countries.
A new scientific report challenges the idea that COVID-19 vaccines have prevented deaths after researchers assessed all-cause mortality in 17 countries and found COVID-19 vaccines did not have any beneficial effect on reducing mortality. Instead, researchers found that unprecedented peaks in high all-cause mortality in each country—especially among the elderly population when COVID-19 vaccines were deployed—coincided with the rollout of third and fourth booster doses.
The report, published Sept. 17 by Correlation Research in the Public Interest (pdf) (not yet peer-reviewed), quantified the vaccine-dose fatality rate (vDFR) for all ages—which is the ratio of inferred vaccine-induced deaths to vaccine doses delivered in a given population. After analyzing mortality data, the researchers calculated a mean all-ages fatal toxicity by injection of vDFR of one death per 800 injections across all ages and countries. This equates to 17 million COVID-19 vaccine-related deaths worldwide from 13.25 billion injections as of Sept. 2, 2023.”This would correspond to a mass iatrogenic event that killed (0.213 ± 0.006) % of the world population (1 death per 470 living persons, in less than 3 years), and did not measurably prevent any deaths,” the authors said. The overall risk of death induced by COVID-19 vaccines is 1,000 times greater than previously reported in data from clinical trials, adverse event monitoring, and cause-of-death statistics obtained from death certificates.
All-cause mortality is the death rate from all causes of death for a population in a specific time period. This is the most reliable data for detecting and epidemiologically characterizing events driving death and for measuring the population-level impact of any surge or collapse in deaths from any cause.
“All-cause mortality is a good feature to use in statistical medical analyses since there is no ambiguity in whether someone has died or not,” Stephanie Seneff, a senior research scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), told The Epoch Times in an email. “It is highly disturbing that these authors have found a consistent trend among seventeen countries showing a significant increase in all-cause mortality coinciding with extensive COVID vaccine rollout. Their estimate of one death for every 800 injections globally is alarming.”
Ms. Seneff said her investigations into potential mechanisms of vaccine injury have led her to believe that it is plausible that these injections are “extremely toxic” and should not have been approved by regulatory agencies.
Key findings from the 180-page report include: In all countries included in the analysis, all-cause mortality increased when COVID-19 vaccines were deployed.
Nine of 17 countries had no detectable excess deaths following the World Health Organization’s March 11, 2020, declaration of the pandemic until the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
Unprecedented peaks in all-cause mortality were observed in January and February 2022, during the summer season of Southern Hemisphere countries coinciding with or following the rollout of boosters in 15 of 17 countries studied.
Excess all-cause mortality during the vaccination period beginning January 2021 was 1.74 million deaths, or one death per 800 injections, in the 17 countries studied.
The vDFR increased exponentially with age, reaching almost 5 percent among those 90 years and older who received a fourth vaccine dose.
“There is no evidence in the hard data of all-cause mortality of a beneficial effect from the COVID-19 vaccine rollouts. No lives were saved,” Denis Rancourt, co-director of Correlation Research in the Public Interest with a doctorate in physics, told The Epoch Times in an email. “On the contrary, the evidence can be understood in terms of being subjected to a toxic substance. The risk of death per injection increases exponentially with age. The policy of prioritizing the elderly for injection must be ended immediately.”
Truth : COVID-19 Vaccines Did Not Cause 17 Million Deaths!
In this article, I will go through some of their points, and show you what the facts really are!
Fact #1 : It Was A Self-Published Report
First, let’s start by pointing out that the paper in question (PDF download) is not a published scientific report, but a self-published report by Correlation Research in the Public Interest.
As far as we can tell, it has not been submitted to any scientific or medical journal for publication. Even if a scientific report has not been peer-reviewed, it would be available as a pre-print.
Fact #2 : It Has Not Been Peer-Reviewed
There is also no indication that this report has undergone even the basic peer review process. In fact, The Epoch Times confirmed this at the end of their very long article.
It’s important to note the scientific report has not yet been peer-reviewed. Articles that are ultimately accepted by peer review are often revised prior to publication, indicating potential for improvement.
In other words – subject matter experts have yet to inspect their data and findings, never mind verify and authenticate them. Perhaps this should have been mentioned right from the start?
Fact #3 : World Mortality Dataset Covers 103-124 Countries
The World Mortality Dataset (WMD) is a public database maintained by two researchers – Ariel Kaplinsky and Dmitry Kobak, that has been tracking the mortality rates of 103 countries since January 2021. They later expanded their data to cover 124 countries.
It is peculiar that Correlation Research in the Public Interest would focus only on 17 countries, out of 103-124 countries in the World Mortality Dataset. Why not look at ALL countries covered by the WMD data?
The World Mortality Dataset is a big and critical tool for tracking all cause mortality for many countries around the world. However, it is ultimately just a database of all-cause mortality.
There is no way it can be used to demonstrate the causality of any particular cause of death. After all, it only tracks all-cause mortality! It doesn’t differentiate between death from a car accident or a fall, from death from COVID-19, or death from a vaccine injury.
Hence, if you go through the long Correlation Research report (180 pages!!), you don’t see an actual causal link between those spikes in deaths, and COVID-19 vaccines (or any other potential cause of death).
Fact #5 : Eurostat Data Shows Vaccination Reduced Excess Mortality
Perhaps the reason why the European countries were left out of this Correlation Research report is because the Eurostat data showed a strong correlation between high COVID-19 vaccination rates and low excess mortality.
In this chart provided by @dobssi, you can see that the 2021 excess mortality is much lower in countries with high vaccination rates, than countries with low vaccination rates.
Interestingly, two of those highly-vaccinated countries are Australia and New Zealand, both of which had low excess mortality rates in 2021.
The Eurostats data appear to show that Australia has only a small spike in excess death, while New Zealand actually had LOWER excess deaths after vaccinating its population. Imagine that…
The report claim to look at 17 equatorial and Southern Hemisphere countries because they have “no summer and winter seasons”, so there won’t be “seasonal variations” in their mortality patterns.
But the truth is – countries in equatorial and southern hemispheres have at least two seasons, instead of four seasons typically seen in the Northern Hemisphere.
Take Thailand, for example – a tropical country that evokes images of sandy beaches and warm weather. Well, Thailand actually has three seasons:
a wet season that runs from May to October,
a cool season that runs from November to February, and
a hot season that runs from March May
Its capital, Bangkok, itself experiences wide variations in temperature throughout the year – from as low as 21°C in the winter, to as high as 37°C in the summer.
And how exactly does proximity to the equator affect the SARS-CoV-2 virus or the COVID-19 vaccine??
Fact #7 : Those Countries Have Different Vaccination Rates
It is hard to understand why those 17 countries were chosen out of 103-124 countries in the World Mortality Dataset. Especially when they have different vaccination rates.
Yes, the report states that these countries comprise 9.1% of the global population and 10.3% of all COVID-19 vaccine injections. That gives us the impression that they are all highly-vaccinated countries.
That’s really not the case. These countries have very different vaccination rates, ranging from 44% to 97%!
Country
1 Dose
≥ 2 Doses
Argentina
14%
77%
Australia
2%
95%
Bolivia
60%
Brazil
6%
82%
Chile
2%
90%
Colombia
12%
72%
Ecuador
85%
Malaysia
2%
84%
New Zealand
1%
95%
Paraguay
56%
Peru
6%
83%
Philippines
79%
Singapore
1%
92%
South Africa
46%
Suriname
3%
44%
Thailand
5%
78%
Uruguay
5%
83%
If they did not select those countries for their high vaccination rate, then why choose those countries and not the dozens of other countries located near the equator?
Why not pick large countries like Indonesia or India? Why not pick small countries like Brunei or Maldives? Why pick South Africa when there are many other African countries much closer to the equator?
Did they cherry-pick those countries because their data fitted the narrative, or was it something else?
Fact #8 : World Mortality Dataset Study Identified COVID-19 As Cause
The two researchers who maintained the World Mortality Dataset (WMD) actually published a peer-reviewed study in the eLife journal, on 30 June 2021.
Unlike this Correlation Research report, this was an actual peer-reviewed study, published in a journal and the NIH National Library of Medicine. It was also written by the two people who knows the WMD database best – the very people maintaining and updating it!
Both Ariel Kaplinsky and Dmitry Kobak used their WMD data to look at the impact of COVID-19 on the all-cause mortality from 103 countries, and here was what they found:
We found that in several worst-affected countries (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Mexico) the excess mortality was above 50% of the expected annual mortality (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Mexico) or above 400 excess deaths per 100,000 population (Peru, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia). At the same time, in several other countries (e.g. Australia and New Zealand) mortality during the pandemic was below the usual level, presumably due to social distancing measures decreasing the non-COVID infectious mortality
Summing up the excess mortality estimates across all countries in our dataset gives 4.0 million excess deaths. In contrast, summing up the official COVID-19 death counts gives 2.9 million deaths, corresponding to the global undercount ratio of 1.4.
In other words – many people were likely being killed by COVID-19 infections, which appear to be undercounted by some 40%.
To be clear – their data do not show COVID-19 vaccines causing those deaths, never mind 17 million deaths!
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Take a look at the viral confrontation between Nelson Mandela and Professor Peters, and find out what really happened!
Claim : Nelson Mandela Schooled Professor Peters On Wisdom + Money!
This viral confrontation between Nelson and Professor Peters have gone viral on WhatsApp, and social media platforms, for many years. It’s very long, so feel free to skip to the next section for the facts…
When Nelson Mandela was studying law at the University, a white professor, whose last name was Peters, disliked him intensely.
One day, Mr. Peters was having lunch at the dining room when Mandela came along with his tray & sat next to the professor.
The professor said, “Mr Mandela , you do not understand, a pig & a bird do not sit together to eat.”
Mandela looked at him as a parent would a rude child & calmly replied, “You do not worry professor. I’ll fly away,” & he went & sat at another table.
Mr. Peters, reddened with rage, decided to take revenge.
The next day in class he posed the following question: “Mr. Mandela , if you were walking down the street & found a package, & within was a bag of wisdom & another bag with money, which one would you take ?”
Without hesitating, Mandela responded, “The one with the money, of course.”
Mr. Peters , smiling sarcastically said, “I, in your place, would have taken the wisdom.”
Nelson Mandela shrugged & responded, “Each one takes what he doesn’t have.“
Mr. Peters, by this time was about to throw a fit, seething with fury. So great was his anger that he wrote on Nelson Mandela’s exam sheet the word “IDIOT” & gave it to the future struggle icon.
Mandela took the exam sheet & sat down at his desk trying very hard to remain calm while he contemplated his next move.
A few minutes later, Nelson Mandela got up, went to the professor & told him in a dignified polite tone,
“Mr. Peters, you signed your name on the sheet, but you forgot to give me my grade.”
Don’t mess with intelligent people… pass it on to your intellectual friends…
Truth : Mandela + Professor Peters Confrontation Did NOT Happen
As hilarious as the viral confrontation between Nelson Mandela and Professor Peters is, it never happened, and here are there reasons why…
Fact #1 : Nelson Mandela Studied Law From 1943-1949
Nelson Mandela studied at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, from 1943 to 1949.
At that time, Mandela was the first African law student at Wits, which only recently opened its doors to students of all races.
Fact #2 : There Is No Record Of Professor Peters
There is no record of a Professor Peters teaching law at the University of Witwatersrand. Neither were there any Mr. Peters, or even a student named Peters in his class.
In the following 1949 photo of Nelson Mandela’s final year law class, we can see that none of them are named Peters:
Back: A.K.I. Vahed, Nelson Mandela, Norbert Magzamen, Max Levenberg
Third Row: Henry Nathanson, R.N. Bhoolia, Johann Möller, J.A.E. ‘Balie’ de Klerk, Harry Schwarz
Second Row: Julian Phillips, Mrs Stutzen, Unity Ann Victor
Front: Daphne de Klerk (née Clark), Ellison Kahn, F.R. Hahlo, J.E. Scholtens, Exton M. Burchell
Nelson Mandela at University of the Witswatersrand, 1944
Fact #3 : There Is No Record Of Such A Confrontation
Mandela’s authoritative autobiography – Long Walk to Freedom, did not mention any confrontation with a white professor called Mr. Peters. Neither do the many biographies written about Nelson Mandela.
Nelson Mandela only recounted his interactions with the Dean of Law – Professor H.R. Hahlo at University of Witwatersrand (Wits). However, those interactions were nowhere along the lines of the viral Mr. Peters confrontation.
In 1943, Nelson at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, which only recently opened its doors to students of all races. Mandela was treated as “an alien”, rather than with the respect and consideration shown to other students.
He recounted how the Dean of Law, Professor H.R. Hahlo, said that the African mind was “not suited to the study and practice of law”.
His view was that law was a social science and that women and Africans were not disciplined enough to master its intricacies. – Nelson Mandela in his autobiography
Nelson Mandela sat for the final LLB examinations on three occasions, from 1947 to 1949, but failed to qualify for the degree, because the stringent rules was applied particularly stringently. On his last try, Mandela was refused to write three supplementary examination papers on the grounds that the rules only allowed for two.
We also know that Mandela applied to Wits to write his final LLB examinations in late 1974 while he was imprisoned on Robben Island. His application form was intercepted by the Department of Prisons, which had earlier obstructed his attempt to complete a London University LLB.
Only in 1989, a year before his release, did Nelson Mandela qualify for his LLB through the correspondence university, the University of South Africa (UNISA) – 46 years after he started his legal studies at the University of Witwatersrand.
However, Nelson Mandela never mentioned a Professor Peters, Mr. Peters, or such a confrontation with any of his lecturers.
Fact #4 : Gandhi Had Same Confrontation With Professor Peters!
Amazingly, Mahatma Gandhi who studied at the University College London (UCL) in October, 1888, had the exact, same viral confrontation with Professor Peters!
Needless to say – that is because this story was completely made up, and people are just swapping out the name of the “genius” with whoever they want.
It was Gandhi earlier, Mandela today, and probably tomorrow, it will be Albert Einstein confronting the same Professor Peters the exactly same way!
This is ultimately just an inspirational but FAKE STORY misappropriating a dead famous person’s name to make it go viral, while ensuring he is not around to dispute it.
It is good for a chuckle or two, but always with the understanding that this incident never happened, and is a complete lie.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS, by sharing this fact check out, so other people won’t be fooled by it!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did Russia and Ukraine sign a peace agreement in Spring 2022, as Vladimir Putin claimed?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Vladimir Putin : Russia + Ukraine Signed Peace Agreement In 2022!
People are sharing a video of Russian President Vladimir Putin showing South African President Cyril Ramaphosa a document, claiming that Russia signed a peace agreement with Ukraine in the spring of 2022!
Robert F. Kennedy Jr : Looks like the Biden Administration deployed Boris Johnson to scuttle a tentative peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine in spring 2022. This was never about the Ukrainian people. It was always about engineering a war against Russia. #Kennedy24
@onlydjole : 🇷🇺‼️Putin: “Peace was signed between Ukraine and Russia in the spring of 2022.”‼️
#Putin publicly showed the previously unpublished document in front of South African President Ramaphosa.
(Nato reportedly sent disgraced US puppet Boris Johnson to force Kiev to back down.)
Richard Medhurst : BREAKING: Putin holds up a peace agreement that Ukraine & Russia signed over a YEAR ago, in spring 2022.
Not one word of this in mainstream media.
Russians are signalling they want a diplomatic settlement. Why isn’t this welcomed? How can they claim Russia sabotaged the talks?
Truth : Russia + Ukraine Never Signed Peace Agreement In 2022
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created by Vladimir Putin himself, and propagated by his supporters to diminish support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Russia + Ukraine Held Multiple Peace Talks In 2022
Russia and Ukraine held multiple rounds of peace talks during the 2022-2023 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The first round occurred within days of Russia’s invasion on the Belarus-Ukraine border – on 28 February, 3 March, and 7 March. More talks were held in Turkey on 10 March, and more negotiations started on 14 March.
Fact #2 : Sergei Lavrov Dismissed Ukrainian Peace Deal In April 2022
On 7 April 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Moscow rejected a draft peace deal from Ukraine, saying that it contained “unacceptable” elements that deviated from proposals that both sides’ negotiators had earlier agreed on.
The new draft, according to Lavrov, said that the status of Crimea should be raised at a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. It also said that Ukraine can hold military drills with other countries without Russia’s permission.
He also said that peace talks with Ukraine were not progressing as quickly as Russia would like, and accused the West of trying to derail negotiations by accusing Russian troops of war crimes in Ukraine.
Such inability to agree once again highlights Kyiv’s true intentions, its position of drawing out and even undermining the talks by moving away from the understandings reached.
Fact #3 : Russia + Ukraine Peace Talks Failed By July 2022
By July 2022, both Ukraine and Russia announced that peace talks had failed:
July 13 : Ukrainian foreign minster Dmytro Kuleba said that peace talks are frozen for the time being
July 19 : Dmitry Medvedev said that “Russia will achieve all its goals. There will be peace – on our terms”
In other words – both Russia and Ukraine did not sign any peace agreement in the spring of 2022, as claimed.
Fact #4 : Vladimir Putin Rejected Ukrainian Peace Deal
On September 14, 2022, Reuters reported that Vladimir Putin rejected a provisional deal, in which Ukraine agreed to stay out of NATO.
His own chief envoy on Ukraine, Dmitry Kozak, told him that the deal would remove the need for Russia to pursue a large-scale occupation of Ukraine, and recommended that Putin adopt the peace deal.
However, Putin decided to reject the provisional peace agreement Kozak hammered out with the Ukrainians, and pressed ahead with his “special military operation”.
According to sources close to Russian leadership, Putin changed his mind and decided that any peace deal must include the newly-annexed Ukrainian territory.
Fact #5 : Russia + Ukraine Said Peace Deal Was Impossible
It is funny for Vladimir Putin to now claim that Russia and Ukraine had earlier signed a peace agreement in 2022, when Russia continued its invasion of Ukraine.
On top of that, both Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said that for any peace plan to be acceptable, Ukraine must recognise Russia’s September 2022 annexation of its territory.
After that, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine would not hold peace talks with Russia, while Putin remained Russian president, and even signed a decree to ban any further peace talks.
Then in January 2023, Putin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that “there is currently no prospect for diplomatic means of settling the situation around Ukraine”.
Up till Putin’s remarkable claim in June 2023, both Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly said that they cannot come to an agreement. Needless to say – no peace agreement was ever signed.
This is just another example of fake news created to reduce support for Ukraine during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Here are other examples you may have seen on social media:
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is Sweden going to host the first European Sex Championship, after officially recognising sex as a sport?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Sweden Is Hosting First European Sex Championship!
The Internet is abuzz with media outlets claiming that Sweden just recognised sex as a sport, and is going to host the first European Sex Championship on June 8, 2023, in the city of Gothenburg.
The Times of India, one of the most popular and reputable newspapers in India, even claimed that knowledge of the Kamasutra will help determine the winner!
Sweden will soon host the European sex championship
Sweden has formally recognised sex as a sport and will stage its first-ever sex tournament the following week. The contestants in the sex tournament will have daily sexual encounters that might last up to six hours.
A panel of judges will select the winners of the sex competition, and the audience will also weigh in on the choices.The European Sex Championship will begin on June 8 and last for six weeks.
Participants will engage in sexual activity everyday for 45 to one hour depending on the length of their bouts. The couple’s chemistry, their understanding of sex, their degree of endurance, etc. will all be taken into account when deciding who will win in the end.
The Sanskrit text “Kamasutra,” which deals with sex and sexuality, will also be taken into consideration while making decisions, and participants will receive points based on their understanding of it.
Even South Africa’s IOL media outlet reported breathlessly about how the sex matches will last 45 to 60 minutes, and span several weeks!
Sex tournament: Sweden becomes the first country to make sex a sport
While other countries may regard sex as a taboo subject, Sweden has become the first country in the world to register sex as a sport.
It is also revealed that under the supervision of the Swedish Sex Federation, there will be a European Sex Championship scheduled to take place on June 8.
The matches will reportedly last 45 to 60 minutes and span several weeks.
It is revealed that the contestants will be from different European countries and will compete in 16 different disciplines to show their talents.
Radio Mirchi reports that the judges will look at seduction, body massages, exploring erotic zones, prelude, oral sex, penetration, endurance, physical appearance, pose execution, creativity in position changes, and the number of orgasms within a given time to determine who wins.
Truth : Sweden Is Not Hosting First European Sex Championship!
This is another example of FAKE NEWS circulating on social media platforms, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Sweden Did Not Officially Recognise Sex As Sport
Anna Setzman, spokesperson for the Swedish Sports Confederation called the claim that Sweden officially recognised sex as a sport, or that Sweden is hosting the first European Sex Championship as “false”.
The Swedish Sports Confederation has drawn attention to the fact that in some parts of the international media news is currently being spread that a sex federation has become member of the Swedish Sports Confederation. It is false information with the aim of smearing Swedish sports and Sweden. These are vigorously denied.
Fact #2 : Swedish Man Applied For Sex To Be A Sport
All this drama about Sweden officially recognising sex as a sport started with a Swedish man called Dragan Bratic, who owns several strip clubs. He wanted sex to be classified as a sport, and submitted an application to the Swedish Sports Confederation in January 2023.
Dragan Bratic claimed that he had already registered a sex sports organisation called Swedish Sex Federation, and is calling for Sweden to host a sex championship that will last for six weeks.
We are registered, have an organisation number and it’s perfectly okay to train and compete in sex, then it’s a sport like any other.
The incorporation of sexual orientation as a part of sporting tactics will be a ground-breaking development among European countries.
Fact #3 : Swedish Sports Confederation Rejected His Application
The Swedish Sports Confederation confirmed that an individual who claimed there was a sex federation and applied for membership. However, his membership was rejected in May, as the Chief of the Swedish Sports Confederation Björn Eriksson explained:
It [The application] doesn’t meet our requirements and I can inform you that this application has been rejected. We have other things to do.
But don’t lose heart, if you are a sex sports enthusiast. Eriksson left the door open for Bratic to try again:
Due to the fact that the application was incomplete, the applicant association was instructed to supplement the application and thus remedy the deficiencies.
The applicant association has not complied with the order and the deficiencies are such that the application cannot be examined in substance [and] the application must therefore be rejected without examination on the merits.
Fact #4 : Swedish Sex Federation To Continue With Competition
Even though Sweden did not officially declare sex as a sport, and is not going to host the first European Sex Championship, the Swedish Sex Federation is still going to go ahead with its sex competition.
This year they accept e-sport as a sport. Is sitting in front of computer and playing video games more sport than healthy physical activity that prolongs life? We will let you to make your own conclusion.
European Championship in Sex exists, and it is starting on June 8th in Sweden. Is it a sport or not… it is not that important. Euro-vision is also a competition, but it is not a sport.
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Can the hydrogen and methane in your fart catch fire or explode if your phone rings?!
Take a look at the viral claim, and find out what the facts really are!
Claim : Your Phone Can Explode / Catch Fire If You Fart!
People are sharing a video on WhatsApp and social media platforms, claiming that it shows a phone exploding or catching fire after its owner farted!
Be Careful! ⛔ Never fart with your cell phone in your pocket ! Gases are flammable ! 😱🤣
Human fart contains Hydrogen and methane both can combust with a spark ,please be careful when you fart with your phone in your back pocket. Funny but so true😅😅
Presumably, the phone triggered the fire when it rang after the man farted… but is that really possible?
Truth : Your Phone Won’t Explode / Catch Fire If You Fart!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and shared on WhatsApp and social media, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : This Is An Old Video From South Africa
The viral video isn’t new. This video of a CCTV recording was recorded in South Africa in March 2020.
Fact #2 : It Was Not A Phone, But A Power Bank
The video does not show the man’s phone exploding or catching fire. Rather, it was a power bank that caught fire.
Fact #3 : Flatulence Is Combustible
Farts, or flatulence, is combustible, because it contains methane and hydrogen sulphide which are produced by bacteria digestion of our food. However, the power bank did not catch fire because the man farted.
Even if the man farted a great deal of combustible gas, there needs to be a spark for there to be any fire. Power banks don’t generate sparks. Phones, even when they are ringing, do not generate sparks – that is just an urban legend.
So flatulence may be combustible, but neither a phone or a power bank will set it off, because neither produce sparks or an open flame.
Fact #4 : Power Bank Apparently Overheated
At the time the incident happened, 29 year-old Lwando Mashiamahle was waiting for his girlfriend to buy a plane ticket at the OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa.
While sitting down to wait, he realised that the power bank in his pocket felt warm. But he didn’t think anything of it, until it suddenly burst into flames.
It felt quite hot in my pocket but I thought it was normal, like sometimes your phone heats up when you’re using it, but I never thought it could explode,
I was so shocked, I didn’t know what to do, I automatically just lost my mind. I was very, very scared.
Mashiamahle was not injured when his power bank burst into flames, because he was able to quickly take off his trousers, and avoid getting burnt.
Fortunately I have no injuries but my pants were burnt and I had to quickly find the nearest shop to buy a new pair.
He is very fortunate, as lithium battery fires are very strong and hard to put out.
Fact #6 : Phone / Power Bank Batteries Are A Fire Risk
Despite claims our phone or smartphone can spark flames in petrol / gas stations, or even cause a gas stove explosion, there is simply no scientific evidence for those urban legends.
The electrodynamic speakers in your phone vibrate to produce sound waves. They do not generate sparks. Without a source of sparks or an open flame, even a gas leak wouldn’t catch fire and explode.
The lithium ion battery in our phone and power bank, however, are a fire hazard. Roughly one in every 10 million lithium-ion batteries will fail and catch fire. That sounds like very low risk, but not when there are BILLIONS of lithium-ion batteries in use around the world!
That is why it is forbidden to pack any device with a lithium-ion battery into luggage that needs to be checked into an aircraft cargo hold. Everyone must carry their phone, computer and power bank using these lithium-based batteries into the cabin, so that if they catch fire, the crew are aware and can quickly put them out.
Please help us fight fake news – SHARE this article, and SUPPORT our work!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did South African rapper Costa Titch die suddenly from COVID-19 vaccine SADS while performing on stage?!
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2023-03-18 : Added speculation about his epilepsy and death from SUDEP. Originally posted @ 2023-03-17
Claim : Costa Titch Died Suddenly On Stage From Vaccine SADS!
People are sharing a video of Costa Titch collapsing on stage, as evidence that the South African rapper died suddenly from COVID-19 vaccine SADS!
Died Suddenly : These are not your average deaths.
What has this mRNA technology done to people? 💉
RIP Costa Titch Time for us to have an uncomfortable conversation about the deaths and injuries caused by the vaccine. It’s a silent genocide. #RIPCostaTitch
Vacciné trois fois contre le Covid le rappeur Costa titch est mort sur scène lors de son show samedi #COVID19
Vaccinated three times against Covid, rapper Costa titch died on stage during his show on Saturday #COVID19
No Evidence Costa Titch Died Suddenly From Vaccine SADS!
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created by anti-vaccination activists, and here are the reasons why…
Fact #1 : Costa Titch Collapsed Twice On Stage
Costa Titch (born Constantinos Tsobanoglou on January 26, 1995) was a South African Amapiano rapper and dancer, who released his debut album Made In Africa in 2020 to critical and commercial success.
On Saturday, 11 March 2023, Costa Titch was performing at the Ultra South Africa music festival in Johannesburg, when he reached out to one of his backup singers, before falling to the ground.
He quickly got back up, and finished his song, but then stopped and fell again, this time off the stage. In another viral video, he appears to be twitching from seizures on the floor below, and was quickly carried away.
His team and first responders tried to resuscitate him, but they were unable to save him. Costa Titch was 28 years old when he died.
Fact #2 : Costa Titch’s Cause Of Death Was Not Revealed
Costa Titch’s family released a statement on Instagram, confirming his death, and thanking first responders.. However, they did not reveal his cause of death.
If they believed that the COVID-19 vaccines caused his death, they would have said so. But they notably did not mention the COVID-19 vaccine as his cause of death.
Death has tragically knocked at our door.
Robbing us of our beloved son, brother and grandson, Constantinos Tsobanoglou (28), who South Africa had come to love and idolize under his stage name “Costa Titch”. It is with deep pain that we find ourselves having to acknowledge his passing at this time.
We are thankful for the emergency responders and all those present in his last hours on this earth. As a family we are faced with a difficult time as we try to make sense of what has befallen us and ask that we be afforded the time and space to gather ourselves.
The Tsobanoglou family thanks you for the love and support you have given to our son and may you continue to uplift him even in spirit. Please keep us in your prayers and uplifted in the Lord.
The local police said that Costa Titch’s cause of death will be determined by a post-mortem examination – an autopsy, following an inquest into his sudden death.
We can confirm that the police in SAPS Booysen have registered a case of inquest following the death of 28-year-old Mr Costa Tsobanoglou on 12 March 2023.
It is reported that Tsobanoglou collapsed while he was performing at the Ultra South Africa concert at Nasrec.
Until the police and/or his family decides to reveal the autopsy results, it would be wrong for anyone to claim that Costa Titch died from any particular cause.
Fact #4 : Unknown If Costa Titch Has Epilepsy
Many websites have speculated that Costa Titch may have suffered a seizure triggered by flashing lights at the concert, and claimed that the rapper was known to suffer from epilepsy. Some even “diagnosed” his death as caused by Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).
While SUDEP is real, it is not well-understood. It is certainly not possible to diagnose SUDEP from video clips, even though Costa Titch appeared to be having a seizure on those videos.
In the meantime, some websites say that his family has allegedly refuted claims that Costa Titch has a history of epilepsy. Unfortunately, that claim is not backed by an actual statement by the family.
So it is possible that Costa Titch suffered a seizure on stage, it is currently unknown if he has a history of epilepsy. It is certainly not know if he suffered SUDEP, or may have been fatally injured falling off the stage, or died from some other cause.
Fact #5 : Unknown If Costa Titch Was Vaccinated Against COVID-19
It is currently unknown if Costa Titch was vaccinated against COVID-19, as he has never publicly mentioned her vaccination status. There is certainly no evidence he was triple-vaccinated against COVID-19.
For all we know – he may not even be vaccinated! The COVID-19 vaccine is not mandatory in South Africa. In fact, less than half of its population (just 46%) received a single dose of any COVID-19 vaccine!
Until and unless his family reveals his COVID-19 vaccination status, anyone who claims that Costa Titch received the COVID-19 vaccine is likely lying to you.
Fact #6 : Claims Of Celebrities Injured By COVID-19 Vaccine Proven False
So far, claims of sudden deaths / injuries due to the COVID-19 vaccine have been proven false at every instance. Here is the latest dozen of other false sudden death claims!
Will these anti-vaccination activists apologise for lying to you? Nope! They will just move on to the next celebrity tragedy…
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did Triangle of Sadness star Charlbi Dean Kriek die from COVID-19 vaccine Sudden Adult Death Syndrome?!
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2022-12-23 : Added Charlbi Dean’s official cause of death Originally posted @ 2022-08-31
Claim : Charlbi Dean Kriek Died From Vaccine SADS!
Almost immediately after news broke that Charlbi Dean Kriek died suddenly, anti-vaccination activists started claiming that the model and star of the movie, Triangle of Sadness, died from vaccine-induced Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS).
Here are just some examples circulating on social media :
Just another sad covid 19 vaccine death. I’m so sorry for her. She had her whole life to live.
🇫🇷🇿🇦 RIP Charlbi Dean – Décède subitement d’une maladie inconnue et inattendue. Vaccin?
🇫🇷🇿🇦 RIP Charlbi Dean – Dies suddenly of an unknown and unexpected illness. Vaccine?
The shocking, sudden death of actress Charlbi Dean, age 32 Most likely a covid Vaccination death. The Vaccine is more deadly than Covid was. These sudden deaths will be happening more frequently and downplayed by The World Health and Big Pharma, but the truth is obvious.
Fact : Charlbi Dean Kriek Did Not Die From Vaccine SADS!
It’s becoming a tradition for anti-vaccination activists to immediately blame all celebrity deaths or injuries on the COVID-19 vaccine.
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS created and propagated by anti-vaccination activists, and here are the reasons why… and the current facts that we know so far.
Fact #1 : Charlbi Dean Died Within A Day
Charlbi Dean Kriek, a 32-year old model and actress from South Africa – passed away on Monday, August 29, 2022, at a New York City hospital.
Her representatives confirmed her death on Tuesday, saying that , Charlbi Dean had been unwell and was being treated for an “unexpected, sudden illness” when she passed away.
On Wednesday, August 31, 2022, her brother – Alex Jacobs Kriek explained to Rolling Stone that Charlbi Dean died from a lung infection that may have been complicated by the loss of her spleen from an earlier accident.
According to Jacobs, Charlbi experienced some “minor” symptoms that concerned her enough that she asked her fiancé, Luke Chase Volker, to take her to the emergency room. She then died in a matter of hours – on the same day.
This happened literally within the span of a day: getting a headache, going to sleep, waking up her boyfriend and saying please take me to the hospital.
Her boxing trainer, Gary Stark Jr, shared that she sparred with him just three days before she died. At that time, she appeared to be in good physical health.
However, on the day she died, she cancelled her boxing lesson at the last minute. This confirms what her brother said – she did not die suddenly, but suffered some kind of illness on the day she died.
Fact #2 : Charlbi Dean’s Cause Of Death Was Sepsis
Her brother was told that she likely died from a viral infection in her lungs, but her cause of death would be confirmed by an autopsy.
We still aren’t entirely sure (what happened). There’s an autopsy being done which we know might take quite a while. But what we have heard it that there was a viral infection in her lungs.
On Thursday, December 22, 2022, the New York City Medical Examiner officially revealed the cause of death for the Triangle of Sadness actress.
After conducting an autopsy on Charbli Dean, the medical examiner listed her cause of death as “bacterial sepsis“, that was “a complication from asplenia” caused by “remote blunt trauma to her torso“. Her death was ruled an accident.
The bacterial sepsis that killed Charlbi Dean was confirmed to be caused by a Gram-negative bacteria known as Capnocytophaga, which are commonly found in the mouths of humans and other mammals like cats and dogs.
Capnocytophaga bacteria generally do not pose any danger to people, but can cause illness, including sepsis, in immunocompromised people – like Charlbi Dean who lacks a spleen, or people on certain medications or have an autoimmune disease.
Fact #3 : She Had Her Spleen Removed Earlier
The autopsy results and coroner findings confirm what her brother, Alex Jacobs Kriek revealed earlier – Charlbi Dean had her spleen removed in 2009, after a “very, very bad car accident” that left her with a broken back and ribs.
They removed her spleen. It’s involved in fighting off infections, and that could have had something to do what happened. Her spleen not being there just added on to the reason why she perhaps couldn’t fight it off.
Fact #4 : Charlbi Dean Kriek Was Likely Vaccinated
While there is no direct evidence that Charlbi Dean Kriek was vaccinated against COVID-19, she was residing in New York City when she fell sick and passed away.
The United States currently requires non-residents to be fully-vaccinated to travel to the US. While it is possible to travel to the United States with a vaccine exemption, it is more than likely that Charlbi Dean was fully-vaccinated.
Fact #5 : Vaccine Side Effects Appear Within Hours / Days
Even if Charlbi Dean was fully-vaccinated against COVID-19, she would have received all of her doses many months ago.
She cannot possibly have died from a vaccine side effect, because they appear within hours or days, not months later.
Mild side effects like injection site pain, fever, muscle ache, headache, lethargy develop within minutes to hours of the vaccination.
Anaphylaxis develops within minutes, while other severe adverse reactions like myocarditis and VITT develop within days.
The spike proteins produced by the COVID-19 vaccines also do not stick around for months. If these spike proteins are permanent (as antivaxxers claim), we would have lifelong immunity.
Your own immune system will identify the spike proteins as foreign, and destroy them within a matter of days, although some may last for up to a few weeks. This is part of how vaccines teach your immune system to identify the enemy and destroy it.
Fact #6 : Deaths / Injuries From COVID-19 Vaccines Can Be Proven
Despite anti-vaccination activists chalking up celebrity deaths to the vaccine; death or injury from rare vaccine adverse effects like anaphylaxis, myocarditis and TTS can be proven.
If Charlbi Dean died from any vaccine side effects, they would have been picked up in the autopsy.
Anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) from Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines happens within minutes. That’s why people are asked to wait for 15-30 minutes after getting the vaccine. People who get an anaphylactic shock will require an epinephrine shot to quickly relieve it.
Vaccine-induced myocarditis has distinct histopathology findings that are different from typical myocarditis, so a pathologist will be able to determine if the myocarditis was caused by the vaccines or otherwise.
Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) is very specific to the AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. It is also easily differentiated by its unique combination of blood clots in large veins of the brains, abdomen and lungs, together with low platelet counts leading to bleeding tendencies.
COVID-19 vaccines underwent massive clinical trials, and were only approved after they were proven to be safe and effective.
In addition, they were constantly monitored after they received their approvals, which picked up rare side effects after they were administered to billions of people.
Anti-vaccination activists have often claimed that those who received the vaccine would die. Yet, the opposite was true – the vaccines are not only safe, they are effective in protecting people from getting hospitalised or dying from COVID-19.
Even prominent antivaxxer Steve Kirsch is healthy and well, despite being fully-vaccinated against COVID-19!
Fact #8 : Claims Of Celebrities Dying From COVID-19 Vaccine Proven False
This is yet another example of anti-vaccination activists abusing celebrity deaths / injuries to create and propagate FAKE NEWS about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
So far, claims of celebrity deaths / injuries due to the COVID-19 vaccine have been proven false at every instance. Here is merely the latest dozen claims that have been proven false!
Will these anti-vaccination activists apologise for lying to you? Nope! They will just move on to the next celebrity death or tragedy…
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The New York City Medical Examiner has confirmed the cause of death for Charlbi Dean Kriek who died suddenly after filming Triangle of Sadness.
Brother : Autopsy Was Conducted On Charlbi Dean
Almost immediately after news broke that Charlbi Dean Kriek died suddenly after filming Triangle of Sadness, anti-vaccination activists claimed that the model and actress died from vaccine-induced Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS).
Her brother, Alex Jacobs Kriek, came out to rubbish those claims, calling them “completely out of question” and saying that it was “completely ridiculous and extremely naive” for people to claim Charlbi Dean died from the COVID-19 vaccine.
He also revealed that Charlbi Dean’s cause of death was a lung infection that may have been complicated by the loss of her spleen from an earlier accident.
Alex also explained that his sister was in a “very, very bad car accident” in 2009 that left her with a broken back and ribs. She eventually had to have her spleen removed, which may have contributed to her death in 2022.
Charlbi Dean : Autopsy Confirms Her Cause of Death!
On Thursday, December 22, 2022, the New York City Medical Examiner officially revealed the cause of death for the Triangle of Sadness actress, who was born Charlbi Dean Kriek on February 5, 1990.
After conducting an autopsy on Charbli Dean, the medical examiner listed her cause of death as “bacterial sepsis“, that was “a complication from asplenia” caused by “remote blunt trauma to her torso“. Her death was ruled an accident.
This confirms what her brother, Alex Jacobs Kriek revealed earlier – Charlbi Dean had her spleen removed in 2009, after a very bad car accident.
The bacterial sepsis that killed Charlbi Dean was confirmed to be caused by a Gram-negative bacteria known as Capnocytophaga, which are commonly found in the mouths of humans and other mammals like cats and dogs.
Capnocytophaga bacteria generally do not pose any danger to people, but can cause illness, including sepsis, in immunocompromised people – like Charlbi Dean who lacks a spleen, or people on certain medications or have an autoimmune disease.
The coroner did not make the full autopsy report public, so it is unknown if the Capnocytophaga bacteria came from another animal, or from Charlbi Dean herself – different species are present in the mouths of humans, versus the mouths of cats and dogs.
But one thing is for sure – Charlbi Dean did not die from the COVID-19 vaccine!
Charlbi Dean’s death occurred quickly – she died hours after getting hospitalised. Her brother explained how her condition deteriorated that day.
According to Jacobs, Charlbi experienced some “minor” symptoms that concerned her enough that she asked her fiancé, Luke Chase Volker, to take her to the emergency room. She then died in a matter of hours – on the same day.
This happened literally within the span of a day: getting a headache, going to sleep, waking up her boyfriend and saying please take me to the hospital.
We still aren’t entirely sure (what happened). There’s an autopsy being done which we know might take quite a while. But what we have heard it that there was a viral infection in her lungs.
Charli Dean joins a long list of celebrities whose deaths or injuries have been misused to create and propagate FAKE NEWS about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
So far, claims of celebrity deaths / injuries due to the COVID-19 vaccine have been proven false at every instance. Here is merely the latest dozen claims that have been proven false!
Will these anti-vaccination activists apologise for lying to you? Nope! They will just move on to the next celebrity death or tragedy…
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Charlbi Dean Kriek’s brother just revealed her cause of death, and it’s not from COVID-19 vaccines!
Take a look at the viral claims, and find out what the facts really are!
Updated @ 2022-12-22 : Added Charlbi Dean’s official cause of death Originally posted @ 2022-09-02
Claim : Charlbi Dean’s Cause Of Death Was COVID-19 Vaccine!
Almost immediately after news broke that Charlbi Dean died suddenly, anti-vaccination activists started claiming that the model and actress died from the COVID-19 vaccine. Here are just some examples circulating on social media :
Surely it was due to the Vaccine? Actress Charlbi Dean dies
Just read that Charlbi Dean is dead at 32 ‘sudden unexpected illness’. The number of young sudden deaths and ‘young people not waking up’ is extremely disturbing. I will never use this mRNA garbage and 90% of people are FN sheep. (is there a nice way to say that?) #Covid #Vaccine
Actress Charlbi Dean dies aged 32 after ‘sudden illness’ Just another young persons sudden death that`s been on the increase since the Vax rollout, but nothing to see here hey?
Charlbi Dean’s Brother Reveals Her Cause Of Death!
On 31 August 2022, Charlbi Dean’s brother – Alex Jacobs Kriek spoke out publicly against claims that his sister died from COVID-19 vaccines.
That is completely out of the question, from our point of view. That’s not the first bandwagon you need to jump on. I think that’s completely ridiculous and extremely naïve.
He shared that Charlbi Dean’s cause of death was a lung infection that may have been complicated by the loss of her spleen from an earlier accident.
According to Jacobs, Charlbi experienced some “minor” symptoms that concerned her enough that she asked her fiancé, Luke Chase Volker, to take her to the emergency room. She then died in a matter of hours – on the same day.
This happened literally within the span of a day: getting a headache, going to sleep, waking up her boyfriend and saying please take me to the hospital.
We still aren’t entirely sure (what happened). There’s an autopsy being done which we know might take quite a while. But what we have heard it that there was a viral infection in her lungs.
Alex explained that his sister was in a “very, very bad car accident” in 2009 that left her with a broken back and ribs. She eventually had to have her spleen removed, which may have contributed to her death in 2022.
They removed her spleen. It’s involved in fighting off infections, and that could have had something to do what happened. Her spleen not being there just added on to the reason whey she perhaps couldn’t fight it off.
An autopsy was being conducted on Charlbi Dean Kriek, to determine the exact cause of her death, and on December 22, the coroner revealed her official cause of death.
New York City Medical Examiner officially announced that Charlbi Dean died from “bacterial sepsis“, that was “a complication from asplenia” caused by “remote blunt trauma to her torso“.
Her death was ruled an accident, and had nothing to do with the COVID-19 vaccines!
Charlbi Dean cannot possibly have died from a vaccine side effect, because they appear within hours or days, not months later.
Mild side effects like injection site pain, fever, muscle ache, headache, lethargy develop within minutes to hours of the vaccination.
Anaphylaxis develops within minutes, while other severe adverse reactions like myocarditis and VITT develop within days.
The spike proteins produced by the COVID-19 vaccines also do not stick around for months. If these spike proteins are permanent (as antivaxxers claim), we would have lifelong immunity.
Your own immune system will identify the spike proteins as foreign, and destroy them within a matter of days, although some may last for up to a few weeks. This is part of how vaccines teach your immune system to identify the enemy and destroy it.
Charli Dean joins a long list of celebrities whose deaths or injuries have been misused to create and propagate FAKE NEWS about the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.
So far, claims of celebrity deaths / injuries due to the COVID-19 vaccine have been proven false at every instance. Here is merely the latest dozen claims that have been proven false!
Will these anti-vaccination activists apologise for lying to you? Nope! They will just move on to the next celebrity death or tragedy…
Please help us FIGHT FAKE NEWS by sharing this fact check article out, and please SUPPORT our work!
Don’t forget to protect yourself, and your family, by vaccinating against COVID-19!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is there a gang of robbers pretending to be Home Affairs officers from the government?!
Find out what’s going on, and what the FACTS really are!
Claim : Robbers Are Pretending To Be Home Affairs Officers!
People are sharing messages warning of a gang of robbers pretending to be Home Affairs officers, together with a picture purportedly of one of these robbers.
Here are two versions of the viral warnings being shared on WhatsApp and Facebook :
High Security Alert:
Beware, one group is going from house to house pretending to be a Home Affairs Officer. They have the documents and the letterhead of the department of the home ministry and claim they have to confirm that everyone has a valid identity card for the upcoming census.
They are looting houses. Note that there is no such initiative from the government. Send this to your neighborhood group chat. They are everywhere, and they look presentable. Please alert your family and friends.
A person comes to your home and says I want to take your photo / thumbprint under some schemes. They have a laptop, a biometric machine and a list of all the names. They are showing a list and asking for all this information. It has been pointed out that all this is bogus. Don’t give them any information.
Everyone should be alert and BE AWARE‼️
Security Alert from Police: Be warned, there is a group going to homes and pretending to be officials from home affairs.
They have documents with the letterhead Department of Home Affairs and claim to be confirming that everyone has a valid ID for the upcoming elections.
They are robbing homes. Take note there is no initiative like that from the government.
Send this on your neighbourhood group chat. They are everywhere and they look presentable.
Makluman Keselamatan dari pihak Polis:
Berhati-hatilah, ada sekumpulan penyangak pergi ke rumah dan berpura-pura menjadi pegawai dari urusan rumah.
Mereka mempunyai dokumen dengan surat dari kementerian dalam negeri dan mengaku mengesahkan bahawa setiap orang mempunyai kad pengenalan yang sah untuk pilihan raya akan datang.
Mereka sebenarnya ingin merompak rumah. Perhatikan bahawa tidak ada inisiatif seperti itu dari pemerintah.
Hantar ini pada group whatsapp kejiranan anda. Mereka berada di mana-mana dan kelihatan kemas rapi seperti seorang pegawai.
安全警告：警察局警告說，有一群人逐家逐戶拍門，假裝是 「Department of Home Affairs] [內政部]官員。他們持有[內政部】 信箋的文件，並聲稱 要確認每個人都有一個有效的身份證件，為即將舉行的選舉預備。他們其實是入屋打劫。注意，政府沒有没有這個行動。請轉發到您的鄰居，朋友群聊。這班人無處不在，看起來好大方得體。請小心。
Home Affairs wishes to warn members of the community of a group of individuals visiting homes and pretending to be officials from the Department.
They carry with them documents with letterheads purportedly from Home Affairs and claim to be confirming the validity of IDs for the upcoming elections. These individuals are criminals who rob households once they gain entry. There is no such initiative from the Department.
Home affairs officials are clearly identifiable by name tags. We will announce household visits through official government channels
This warning was only issued in South Africa. No government agency from other countries issued similar warnings.
Fact #2 : Warning Transformed Into Fake News
The genuine warning by the South African Department of Home Affairs spread globally, and became fake news in other countries.
Many countries do not have a Department of Home Affairs. Neither do they have government officials going around verifying citizens’ identification cards ahead of any elections.
Even worse – some people took the initiative to modify the warning, and even added pictures of genuine government officials to make the warning look genuine.
Government agencies in many countries – United States, United Kingdom, India, Singapore, Malaysia – have labelled this warning as fake news.
Fact #3 : Malaysian Immigration Officer Was Victimised
In July 2021, a Malaysian immigration officer bore the brunt of netizen outrage when he was falsely identified as a fake Home Affairs officer – his picture was shared on social media and WhatsApp together with the warning.
The Malaysia Immigration Department and the Royal Malaysia Police announced on 13 July 2021, that the man in the photo was a genuine Immigration officer.
According to Ampang District Police Chief, ACP Mohamad Farouk Ishak, the Immigration officer was conducting an official investigation into an individual staying at a house in Pandan Indah, Ampang.
The Immigration officer introduced himself and inform the residents of the purpose of his visit. The 60 year-old Malaysian homeowner who hosted the Immigration officer during his inspection also lodged a police report over the matter.
From the picture, you can clearly see that the officer was wearing a t-shirt with the Immigration Department HQ logo, and carried an Immigration Malaysia badge as well.
Fact #4 : Fake Story Circulating Again With New Photo
In September 2022, the same fake warning went viral again on WhatsApp, this time with a new photo of two Malaysian officers who appeared to have served some kind of official paper to a homeowner.
While I cannot yet trace the provenance of this photo, or the context behind it, these officers are definitely not attempting to gain entry to the person’s home by falsely identifying themselves as Home Affairs officers.
Again, the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has repeatedly announced that this story of robbers posing as Home Affairs officers is fake news.
Fact #5 : No Actual Robbery Cases Were Reported
Even though the South African Department of Home Affairs issued the warning twice, it is unknown if there are really robbers pretending to be their officers to gain entry into homes.
Ironically, acting Director-General Thulani Mavuso claimed that the South African Department of Home Affairs never actually received any complaint about such crimes :
Home Affairs has not received any complaint of this nature from members of the public. People who are aware of such an activity, depending on it veracity, are advised to report it to the police.
We reiterate our message that Home Affairs officials do not and will not come to your homes to validate IDs.
It sounds like the South African Department of Home Affairs were proactively warning people about the possibility, not reporting on actual cases.
Fact #6 : Safer For Robbers To Rob Empty Houses
Robbers generally prefer NOT to rob homes while their occupants are still inside. Not only could the occupants fight back, they would become witnesses to the crime and help the police identify them!
It would be much safer to gain entry into a house after its occupants have left.
Fact #7 : There Are Other Ways To Gain Entry
Robbers who prefer to gain entry through this method do not need to pretend to be Home Affairs officers.
They can pretend to be other government officials, like a police officer or an immigration officer. They can also pretend to be utility workers, the mailman or a deliveryman.
There is no particular advantage in pretending to be a Home Affairs officer.
Please help us fight fake news – SHARE this article, and SUPPORT our work!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
The WHO has convened an emergency meeting on the monkeypox outbreak that has spread to 56 countries!
Here is what you need to know…
WHO Convenes Emergency Meeting On Monkeypox Outbreak!
On 23 June 2022, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convened an emergency committee meeting under Article 48 of the International Health Regulations to discuss the current monkeypox outbreak.
Chaired by Dr. Jean-Marie Okwo-Bele and Dr. Nicola Low, this emergency WHO meeting on monkeypox is only open to members and advisors of the Emergency Committee.
The findings of this emergency meeting would be conveyed to the Director-General of WHO, on whether the outbreak should be classified as a public health emergency of international concern, and also on potential recommendations on how to address it.
This meeting comes as an NGO called World Health Network (unrelated to WHO) issued a press release describing the current monkeypox outbreak as a “pandemic”, urging “immediate and effective action” from country and global health authorities.
This led to a bit of confusion, as their names and acronyms were similar (WHO vs WHN). To be clear, WHO has not declared a monkeypox pandemic.
Over 4,000 Monkeypox Cases Confirmed In 56 Countries!
Discovered in 1958, the first human infection was only reported in 1970, and there were only like 400 cases from 1970 to 1986.
Monkeypox became more common over time, with 2000 cases per year reported between 2011 and 2014, and several outbreaks in the US (2003 and 2021), UK (2018 and 2021), and Singapore (2019)..
However, nothing has come close to the 2022 monkeypox outbreak which has now affected at least 56 countries outside of endemic African countries, with over 4,000 cases!
Country
Confirmed
Cases
Suspected
Cases
Total
Spain
918
100
1,018
United Kingdom
793
–
793
Germany
676
–
676
France
330
–
330
Portugal
328
–
328
Canada
223
45
268
United States
173
–
173
Netherlands
167
–
167
Italy
85
–
85
Belgium
77
1
78
Switzerland
52
–
52
Ireland
28
–
28
Ghana
18
–
18
Brazil
11
6
17
Israel
16
–
16
Australia
13
–
13
Denmark
13
–
13
Sweden
13
–
13
UAE
13
–
13
Austria
12
–
12
Poland
12
–
12
Mexico
9
–
9
Slovenia
9
–
9
Hungary
7
–
7
Czech Republic
6
–
6
Uganda
–
6
6
Romania
5
–
5
Argentina
4
–
4
Finland
4
–
4
Malta
4
–
4
Norway
4
–
4
Somalia
–
4
4
Chile
3
–
3
Colombia
3
–
3
Greece
3
–
3
Iceland
3
–
3
Bulgaria
2
–
2
Latvia
2
–
2
Morocco
1
1
2
Bahamas
–
1
1
Cayman Islands
–
1
1
Fiji
–
1
1
Georgia
1
–
1
Gibraltar
1
–
1
Haiti
–
1
1
Libya
–
1
1
Lebanon
1
–
1
Luxembourg
1
–
1
Serbia
1
–
1
Singapore
1
–
1
South Africa
1
–
1
South Korea
1
–
1
Uruguay
–
1
1
Venezuela
1
–
1
Zambia
–
1
1
TOTAL
4,049
170
4,219
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Did female parishioners go down on an evangelical pastor in Brazil, for his holy milk?
Find out what’s this holy milk business all about, and what the FACTS really are!
Parishioners Go Down On Pastor For Holy Milk?
This viral news has been circulating in several forms over the years. And it keeps getting shared as something new.
Many people just share the pictures, with some comments about the pastor offering his female parishioners his holy milk.
This is the “full version” that some are sharing, and is being posted on various “viral websites”.
Pastor Makes Females Give Oral In Church, Says To Get Holy Milk
Sao Paulo: An evangelical pastor has been arrested for raping his faithful, after convincing them that his reproductive organs contained “holy milk” which they need for holy healing.
Sobrino Valdeci Picanto, an evangelical pastor from Brazil, persuaded his followers that he practiced his strange beliefs because it was the way he preached the word, saying that his ‘milk’ was sacred.
And this pastor said his reproductives was blessed and that “the Lord had consecrated with divine milk of the Holy Spirit” and of course, had to go around evangelizing.
“He convinced us that only God could come into our lives through the mouth”, a follower said,
“Often, after worship, Pastor Valdeci asked us to do perform oral acts on him until the Holy Spirit came through seed and delivered funds to the church.”
“He gave as an excuse that his reproductive organs had been consecrated with “divine seminal fluid of the Holy Spirit.” Valdecir came to abuse some elderly, and defends himself by saying that ‘he had an encounter with Jesus in a brothel and gave him the mission of spreading the sacred semen throughout the state, beginning with the faithful Apore Assembly, of which he is responsible’.
Denise Pinheiro, delegate of the region, said, “Valdecir was caught red-handed while rubbing his reproductive units in the face of a local merchant, which promised to make more sales in her business due to the divine liquid.”
“When we acted Valdecir offered no resistance and even asked if I wanted to be part of the kingdom of heaven on the way to the police station.”
The truth is this is just a fake story, created by a “satire” website, and reposted by many viral websites for the purpose of getting page views.
Here are the reasons why this is just another fake story…
Fact #1 : Sobrino Valdeci Picanto Does Not Exist
There is no Brazilian named Sobrino Valdeci Picanto as far as we can tell, much less an evangelical pastor called Sobrino Valdeci Picanto. For an evangelical priest, he seems to have an extremely focused and limited digital footprint.
There are over 4,300 references to “Sobrino Valdeci Picanto” in Google and every single one of them referred to the same fake story.
More importantly, none of them were from a credible source like O Globo, The Rio Times, or even tabloids like Super Notícia.
Fact #2 : That Lady Ate Grass, Not Holy Milk
The picture showing a lady about to puke her guts out, is actually a picture of a South African lady who just ate grass on the orders of her pastor.
In January 2014, Pastor Lesego Daniel ordered his congregation to get on their knees and eat grass to “be closer to God”.
“God is at work and His people are testifying right now at the farm. TO GOD BE THE GLORY.”
After they ate the grass outside Rabboni Centre Ministries in Garankuwa (just north of Pretoria), he stomped on them until they vomited.
Fact #3 : The Lady In Screenshot Is A Porn Star
The “leaked video” does not exist, and the lady in the “screenshot” is actually a porn star called Tiffany Six.
The picture was a crop from a screenshot from one of her porn movies.
Fact #4 : It Was Created By Jesus Manero
This fake story was created by Victor Berriel, who posted it on the Brazilian satire blog, Jesus Manero on 11 January 2012.
The pastor in the original version was actually called “Valdecir Picanto Sobrinho“, not “Sobrino Valdeci Picanto”.
Here is a screenshot of the original Jesus Manero article, in Portuguese.
Please help us fight fake news, by sharing this fact check with your family and friends!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Please note that the new travel ban by Malaysia on 23 countries with high COVID-19 cases is FAKE NEWS!
Here is what you need to know!
Claim : Malaysia Travel Ban On 23 Countries!
On 7 January 2022, people started sharing a screenshot of a travel advisory by the Embassy of Malaysia in Berlin, Germany.
Please skip to the next section for the facts…
Embassy of Malaysia, Berlin
TRAVEL ADVISORY ENTRY RESTRICTIONS ON FOREIGN TRAVELERS TO MALAYSIA
Effective from 08 January 2022, the Government of Malaysia is imposing travel restrictions into Malaysia on foreign travellers who are travelling from countries that have recorded over 150,000 COVID-19 cases as listed below:
United States of America
The United Kingdom
Brazil
Bangladesh
India
Saudi Arabia
Russia
Pakistan
Peru
France
Colombia
Turkey
South Africa
Italy
Mexico
Germany
Spain
Iraq
Argentina
The Philippines
Chile
Indonesia
Iran
The entry restrictions include travellers who are citizens of/holders of long-term passes of the countries listed above who are residing in or travelling from those countries.
The latest decision is part of continuing efforts by the Government of Malaysia to contain the spread of COVID-19 and in view of the recent increase in the number of imported COVID-19 cases detected at international points of entry to Malaysia among travellers coming from the listed countries. The restriction is a temporary measure and will be reviewed regularly.
This is yet another example of FAKE NEWS being created and circulated on WhatsApp and social media, and here are the facts…
Fact #1 : This Travel Advisory Was Forged
This travel advisory was forged from the original September 2020 travel advisory.
Back then, the government of Malaysia announced the temporary travel ban on those 23 countries, that would start on 7 September 2021.
The original travel advisory was edited, with the new date added to make it look like it’s new. But it was a very poor photo-editing job.
If you look carefully, the 08 January 2022, date is not only in bold , but of a different type of font and a much larger size.
Note : Here is the screenshot that went viral. I added a FAKE overlay to prevent further abuse.
Fact #2 : Embassy of Malaysia In Berlin Confirms It Is Fake
The Embassy of Berlin in Malaysia confirmed that the viral travel advisory is FAKE.
ANNOUNCEMENT
The Embassy of Malaysia, Berlin would like to warn the public that there has been a fake news being circulated regarding travel advisory by the Embassy of Malaysia, Berlin on entry restriction on foreign travelers [sic] to Malaysia.
We condemn the actions of those who maliciously spread fake news which can have an adverse effect and concern to the public. The public is advice [sic] to validate the source before circulating any news.
Thank you.
Embassy of Malaysia, Berlin
7 January 2022
Fact #3 : Malaysia Currently Has No Travel Ban
There is currently no travel ban in Malaysia.
In fact, Malaysia just ended a temporary travel ban of 8 countries, on 27 December 2021, due to the risk of Omicron variant.
There is currently only a list of 18 countries that are considered high-risk due to the Omicron variant.
Australia
The United States of America
The United Kingdom
Norway
France
Denmark
Canada
Nigeria
India
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Botswana
Eswatini
Lesotho
Mozambique
Namibia
Zimbabwe
Malawi
Travellers from those 18 high-risk countries can still travel to Malaysia, but they must comply with the following additional restrictions :
Negative COVID-19 PCR test within 2 days before departure
COVID-19 PCR test on arrival in Malaysia
Wear a digital tracker on arrival in Malaysia
Mandatory quarantine of 7 days or 10 days, depending on vaccination status, either at home or at a quarantine centre, subject to approval.
Additional PCR test on Day 5 (for 7-day quarantine) or Day 8 (for 10-day quarantine).
Risk assessment on the last day of quarantine, which may be extended if you are symptomatic.
You will only be free from the quarantine on Day 8 or Day 11, if there is no quarantine extension and the Day 5 or Day 8 PCR test is negative.
Travellers from the United Kingdom have the additional requirement of conducting daily RTK-Ag tests during their quarantine, which must be reported in MySejahtera.
Now that you know the truth, please SHARE this fact check with your family and friends, so they won’t get fooled by it!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
How well do the Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines work against the Omicron variant? Not very well, I’m afraid.
Take a look at what a small HKU study just revealed!
Pfizer / Sinovac vs. Omicron : How Was HKU Study Conducted?
The University of Hong Kong recently conducted a small lab study to investigate how well the Pfizer and Sinovac vaccines work against the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Before I go into the study results, it is important that you understand how they conducted their study. You can also read their preprint.
The HKU team took blood samples from two groups of people who received their first dose 56 days earlier :
25 people who received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COMIRNATY vaccine
25 people who received two doses of the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine
They removed all cells and clotting factors from the blood samples, to derive the serum which would contain neutralising antibodies.
The HKU team then used the 50 serum samples to assess their ability to neutralise :
Omicron variant from South Africa (HKU691)
Omicron variant from Nigeria with additional R346K mutation (HKU344-R346K)
Alpha, Beta and Delta variants (as controls)
They basically mixed the serum with the virus sample for an hour, and then added the mixture to a Vero cell culture for 3 days, before examining them to see if the cells were infected and destroyed.
Pfizer / Sinovac vs. Omicron : What HKU Study Just Revealed!
The problem with most of the reporting I’ve read is that – the writers did not actually read the preprint, only the HKU press release.
Not only did they miss a ton of details, they also missed some important points. So let me start by first summarising what the HKU team found in this table :
COVID-19
Variant
Seropositive Rate
MN Titer (GMT)
Pfizer
Sinovac
Pfizer
Sinovac
HKU691 Omicron
20%
0%
5.43
Min.
HKU344-R346K
Omicron
24%
0%
6.42
Min.
Delta
100%
68%
124.7
10.3
Beta
100%
0%
25.7
Min.
Alpha
100%
100%
229.4
21.7
Also, take a look at the geometric mean titre (GMT) of Microneutralisation (MN) antibodies provided by the HKU team :
So what does this HKU study tell us? Let me summarise the key takeaway points :
Pfizer-BioNTech COMIRNATY Vaccine
Pfizer vaccine antibodies were able to bind to the Omicron variant in 20% to 24% of samples.
Pfizer vaccine antibodies were able to bind to Alpha, Beta and Delta variants in 100% of samples.
Pfizer neutralisation antibody titres were highest against Alpha and Delta variants.
The results suggest that mutations in its spike protein are allowing the Omicron variant to significantly block Pfizer vaccine antibodies.
There is some protection from the Pfizer vaccine antibodies, but a third dose is necessary to boost the neutralising antibody response against the Omicron variant.
The good news is that the study shows that the Pfizer vaccine is excellent at neutralising the Alpha and Delta variants.
Sinovac CoronaVac Vaccine
Sinovac vaccine antibodies were completely unable to bind to both Omicron variants, as well as the Beta variant.
Sinovac vaccine antibodies were able to bind to 100% of the Alpha variant samples, but only 68% of the Delta variant samples.
Sinovac neutralisation antibody titres were highest against Alpha and Delta variants, but were 10.5X to 12X lower than the Pfizer titres respectively.
The results suggest that the Omicron variant can completely evade neutralising antibodies produced by the Sinovac vaccine.
That’s why the HKU study authors concluded that “whether a third dose of the present CoronaVac vaccine will enhance the neutralising antibody response against the Omicron variant remains to be determined.”
The results also confirm yet again that the Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine is far less efficacious than the Pfizer-BioNTech COMIRNATY vaccine across the board.
CAVEATS
As interesting as the HKU study results are, there are a few caveats we should be aware of :
This is a very small study
This is an in vitro (laboratory) study, and not a real world study
It only assessed neutralising antibodies in the serum, and does not assess T cell immunity
Pfizer / Sinovac vs. Omicron Results : What Should You Do?
For scientists, these alarming results suggest a need for the COVID-19 vaccines to be tweaked or updated to cover the Omicron variant.
For the rest of us, it means we need to take a booster dose as soon as we are able to. The HKU team ended their study with the same advice :
[B]efore the availability of these next generation vaccines, booster doses of currently available vaccines will likely render most people having protective levels of neutralizing antibody titers.
But it is also not just getting a third dose, but a booster dose of a better vaccine. This is especially important if you earlier received a less efficacious COVID-19 vaccine like the Sinovac CoronaVac.
Those who had earlier received the Sinovac vaccine should heed these results, and opt for a Pfizer or Moderna booster dose, as recommended by many health authorities.
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
With the Omicron variant rapidly spreading across the globe, Malaysia has initiated new measures to block it from reaching our shores.
Here is what you need to know…
New Measures To Block Omicron Variant From Malaysia!
On 1 December 2021, the Malaysia Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin announced a series of new measures to block the Omicron variant from reaching our shores.
This decision came after 20 countries reported over 200 cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 :
Country
Omicron
Cases
Country
Omicron
Cases
South Africa
128
Austria
4
Botswana
19
Brazil
2
Portugal
13
Canada
2
The Netherlands
12
Japan
2
United Kingdom
9
Denmark
2
Australia
6
Spain
1
Hong Kong
5
Reunion Island (France)
1
Germany
5
Belgium
1
Italy
4
Czech Republic
1
Israel
4
Sweden
1
How Malaysia Intends To To Block Omicron Variant!
Temporary Travel Ban
Malaysia will no longer allow flights from or transiting through countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high risk countries, will be blocked.
These are the eight (8) countries that the Malaysia Ministry of Health (KKM) has listed under the travel ban :
South Africa
Botswana
Eswatini
Lesotho
Mozambique
Namibia
Zimbabwe
Malawi
There is also a temporary travel ban for non-Malaysian citizens from those countries, including travellers who have been in those countries during the last 14 days prior to arrival.
Malaysian citizens and holders of long-term passes (PR status, spouse visa, MM2H and resident pass) are still ALLOWED to return to Malaysia, subject to these restrictions :
Irrespective of their vaccination status, they must undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine at a quarantine station.
They must undergo three RT-PCR COVID-19 tests :
– within 72 hours before departure,
– on arrival in Malaysia, and
– on the 10th day of the mandatory quarantine
A risk assessment will be conducted on the 14th day of quarantine, which may be extended if the traveller is symptomatic.
Malaysian citizens who are planning to visit the listed countries are NOT ALLOWED to continue with their travel plans.
Vaccinated Travel Lane
Arrangements to create a Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) with countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high risk countries, have been postponed.
In addition, the Malaysia-Singapore VTL programme for both air and land travel has been amended to require travellers to undergo additional COVID-19 self-tests on the 3rd and 7th day after arrival.
They must then report their test results in MySejahtera.
Monitoring Of Countries With Omicron Variant Cases
The Ministry of Health (KKM) will monitor and provide the other government ministries with a DAILY LIST of countries with Omicron variant cases, or at high risk.
Strengthening Of International Gateways
The Immigration Department of Malaysia has immediately STOPPED the use of the Autogate system.
Flights carrying passengers from the listed countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high risk countries, are only allowed to enter Malaysia through KLIA.
Airlines are responsible for identifying passengers travelling from countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high-risk countries. This information must be submitted to the KLIA Health Office for easier handling of the arrivals.
MAHB is required to create a special “gate” and path for travellers from countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high-risk countries, to undergo a health screening before undergoing their special quarantine.
International Students + Foreign Workers
International students and foreign workers from countries with Omicron variant cases, or high-risk countries, will be temporarily BANNED from entering Malaysia.
Langkawi International Tourism Bubble
Tourists from countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high-risk countries; or those with history of travel to those countries in the past 14 days, are NOT ALLOWED to participate in the Langkawi International Tourism Bubble.
Malaysian citizens (Langkawi residents) returning from countries with Omicron variant transmission, or high-risk countries, are ALLOWED to return to Malaysia, but only through KLIA and must undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine in a special quarantine station.
Foreign tourists who are confirmed to be positive with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will be isolated and treated in a private hospital, at their own cost.
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
A warning about the new Omicron COVID-19 variant by the RSA Doctors Group has gone viral!
Take a look at the viral message, and find out what the FACTS really are!
Viral Warning : Omicron Variant Warning By RSA Doctors Group!
This warning on the new Omicron COVID-19 variant by the RSA Doctors Group has gone viral on WhatsApp and Facebook.
It’s quite long, so just skip to the next section for the facts!
New variant B.1.1.529 is named as OMICRON
From A Doctors’ group RSA
The virus is back, this time with more energy, tactics and camouflage.
We don’t cough, No fever, it’s joint pain, weakness,
Loss of appetite and Covid pneumonia!
Of course, the death rate is higher, it takes less time to get to the extreme. Sometimes no symptoms … let’s be careful …
The strain is not domiciled in our nasopharyngeal region!
It directly affects the lungs, which means window periods are shortened.
I have seen a number of patients without fever, but an x-ray report shows moderate chest pneumonia!
The nasal swab is often negative for COVID19!
There are more and more false pharyngeal nasal tests COVID19) … which means that the virus spreads directly to the lungs causing acute respiratory distress due to viral pneumonia! This explains why it has become acute and more fatal !!!
Be careful, avoid crowded places, wear a face mask, wash your hands often.
WAVE more deadly than the first. So we have to be very careful and take every precaution.
Please become an alert communicator among friends and family …
____
DO NOT keep this information to yourself, share it with your family and friends.
Please take care and stay safe !
The viral message is a modification of the opinions of Dr. Taiwo Obembe – a public health specialist at the College of Medicine of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
It has nothing to do with the unnamed “RSA Doctors Group”. RSA refers to the Republic of South Africa.
Fact #5 : Omicron Variant Appears To Be Mild
While there are signs that the Omicron variant is more transmissible, that has NOT been confirmed.
However, there are NO SIGNS that the Omicron variant causes more severe disease, or is more fatal.
In fact, the South African doctor who first alerted the authorities to the new variant, Dr. Angelique Coetzee, said that people with the Omicron variant had “unusual but mild symptoms“, compared to other COVID-19 patients.
Fact #3 : COVID-19 Variants Do Not Skip The Nasopharynx
The Delta variant has “greater affinity” for lung tissues, which means it will more readily attach to and “invade” lung tissues. It is unknown if the Omicron variant has the same affinity for lung tissues.
However, even if that’s the case – it does not mean the SARS-CoV-2 virus of any variant actually skips the nasopharynx as the viral message claims.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is immobile, and travels through droplets and aerosols that we breathe in. It is not a homing missile that goes in search of a particular target.
As the air we breathe passes through the nasopharynx before it reaches the lungs, that is where most of the virus ends up, and that is why we swab the nasopharynx to detect COVID-19.
Fact #4 : Nasopharyngeal Swab Still Picks Up Omicron Variant
The current standard of obtaining a nasopharyngeal swab to detect the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus still works for the Omicron variant.
In fact, genomic testing to confirm the Omicron variant is performed on nasopharyngeal swab samples.
As explained in Fact #3, the coronavirus is carried by droplets and aerosols that has to pass through the nasopharynx before reaching the lungs.
Unless the patient breathes exclusively through the mouth, the nasopharynx is the best place to obtain samples of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Fact #5 : Current PCR Tests Can Detect Omicron + Delta
Dr. Obembe’s comments were very controversial as scientists around the world confirmed that both the gold standard rt-PCR and Rapid Antigen Tests worked well in detecting the Delta variant.
The rt-PCR test continues to detect the Omicron variant infections, and is how the new Omicron variant patients are being detected.
While Rapid Antigen Test may deliver more false negative results, it is rare for the “gold standard” rt-PCR test to deliver a false negative result, and extremely rare to deliver two false negative results.
Studies are underway to determine if rapid antigen detection tests are impacted in any way by the Omicron variant.
Fact #6 : COVID-19 Precautions Apply To All Variants
The COVID-19 precautions mentioned in the viral message are NOT unique to the Omicron variant. They apply to all COVID-19 variants.
Please SHARE this fact check article with your family and friends, so they won’t get fooled by COVID-19 fake news!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Several experts are warning that ivermectin can cause liver damage.
Find out why it is so dangerous to self-medicate with ivermectin!
Can Ivermectin Cause Liver Damage?
Ivermectin is generally a well-tolerated drug. However, it has NOT been extensively used in human beings, because it has only been used to treat parasitic diseases which are not common in most parts of the world.
Even in countries where it is available for use in human beings, it is often prescribed as a single dose, and is not used over a long period of time.
Hence, its safety profile outside of the typical use cases in past decades is UNKNOWN.
Unfortunately, evidence is mounting that ivermectin can cause liver damage.
Some experts have started speaking out about this risk, and a few recent examples of liver damage caused by ivermectin.
Switzerland : Acute Liver Damage From Ivermectin
In 2006, a 20 year-old woman from Cameroon living in Switzerland developed severe hepatitis from a single dose of ivermectin.
She had no history of liver disease or viral hepatitis, and did not drink alcohol or take any other medications, over-the-counter products or herbals.
But after a month of receiving a single 15 mg dose of ivermectin, she complained of abdominal pain.
A liver biopsy was taken, and showed “acute hepatocellular necrosis, apoptotic bodies and lymphocytic lobular infiltrates“.
Her liver function tests showed markedly elevated serum aminotransferase, although she had no jaundice.
Lab Test
Taken
ALT
(U/L)
Alk P
(U/L)
Bilirubin
(mg/dL)
Medication
Given
Pre
21
58
0.6
Albendazole 600 mg
for 21 days
0
35
40
0.5
Ivermectin 15 mg
single dose
1 month
907
61
1.3
2 months
111
57
1.0
3 months
54
43
1.2
6 months
13
38
0.8
Normal
< 42
< 126
< 1.2
Fortunately, she recovered and her liver function normalised within 3 months.
However, the acute liver damage she suffered was only caught because she received routine monitoring in Switzerland.
Without similar routine monitoring, such liver damage from ivermectin is likely to go unrecognised as mere “abdominal pain”.
Brazil : Liver Transplant + Hepatis From Ivermectin
Ivermectin was heavily used in Brazil, especially after it was heavily promoted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
However, Brazilian experts are speaking out about the damage caused by use of ivermectin to treat or prevent COVID-19 in Brazil.
In February 2021, pulmonologist Frederico Fernandes, who is also President of the São Paulo Society of Pulmonology and Tisiology (SPPT), shared about his young patient who needed a liver transplant after self-medicating with 18 mg of ivermectin every day for a week.
Me solicitaram avaliação para uma paciente com hepatite medicamentosa.
Está a um passo de precisar de um transplante de fígado.
Ganha um troféu quem adivinhar qual medicação foi a culpada.
Hepatologist Paulo Bittencourt, who is President of the Brazilian Liver Institute of the Brazilian Society of Hepatology, stated that 27% of acute hepatitis or fulminant acute hepatitis in Brazil occurred as a result of medications, likely from the indiscriminate use of ivermectin.
He warned that taking ivermectin, chloroquine or azithromycin can lead to acute hepatitis. Even though it’s relatively rare, large-scale use by millions of people will lead to many cases of hepatitis.
Bittencourt himself recounted about a patient who used ivermectin every 15 days to prevent COVID-19. Even limited to bi-weekly use of ivermectin, his patient still developed nausea.
Raymundo Paraná, an expert in drug-induced liver injury and head of gastro-hepatology at the Federal University of Bahia in northeast Brazil, described how one of his patients came in with “clear symptoms of liver toxicity, with high levels of liver enzymes, yellowed eyes and dark urine” after taking “ivermectin, nitozoxanide and hydroxychloroquine“.
I’ve seen people taking pills once a week, three times a week, every day, three times a day.
Today, I saw a prescription recommending a dose 12 times higher than the dose that has been studied in humans.
South Africa : Liver Damage In 90% Of People Taking Ivermectin!
Dr. Emmanuel Taban – a leading pulmonologist in South Africa, recently wrote that two out of three COVID-19 patients who were admitted to his hospital were taking ivermectin.
Despite self-medicating with ivermectin, their condition worsened to the point they had to be hospitalised.
Even more worrying – he shared that some “90% of the patients using the drug presented with liver damage“.
Specifically, his patients were presenting with “deranged liver function tests“, which is a sign of liver damage.
He also shared examples of the type of ivermectin that his patients were using before they were admitted to his hospital for treatment.
Ivermectin is currently being investigate in a number of clinical trials, to ascertain its safety and efficacy against COVID-19.
These trials are being conducted in hospitals, where volunteers are under constant monitoring. If they develop liver damage, doctors can quickly treat them.
This is not possible for those who are self-medicating at home using ivermectin.
So please don’t put your life at risk by taking ivermectin. Wait for clinical trials on ivermectin to complete, to determine its safety and efficacy against COVID-19.
There is already a proven way to protect yourself against COVID-19 –vaccines. Instead of self-medicating with ivermectin, GET VACCINATED!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
A leading pulmonologist in South Africa is warning that 90% of his patients who took ivermectin had liver damage.
Find out what’s going on, and why it is dangerous to self-medicate with ivermectin!
SA Pulmonologist : Liver Damage In People Taking Ivermectin!
Dr. Emmanuel Taban – a leading pulmonologist in South Africa, recently wrote that two out of three COVID-19 patients who were admitted to his hospital were taking ivermectin.
Even more worrying – he shared that some “90% of the patients using the drug, presented with liver damage“.
Specifically, his patients were presenting with “deranged liver function tests“, which is a sign of liver damage.
He also shared examples of the type of ivermectin that his patients were using before they were admitted to his hospital for treatment.
In another post, Dr. Taban reminded people that claims of ivermectin as a “miracle cure” are based on poor quality evidence.
In particular, he pointed out that the Elgazzar study from Egypt showed very positive outcomes for ivermectin against COVID-19, only to be retracted over allegations of “scientific fraud and plagiarism“.
He shared that both the Critical Care Society of Southern Africa (CCSSA) and the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA) concurred with the SAHPRA (South African Health Products Regulatory Authority) that :
Ivermectin should not be used routinely in the management of any stage of COVID-19, except in the context of sufficiently powered Randomised Clinical Trials (RCTs), with well-defined study endpoints intended for regulatory marketing authorisation.
Both CCSSA and SASA are also “deeply concerned that many patients and their families view treatment with ivermectin as an alternative to getting vaccinated“.
Can Ivermectin Cause Liver Damage?
Ivermectin is generally a well-tolerated drug. However, it has been known to cause liver damage.
In 2006, a 20 year-old woman from Cameroon developed severe hepatitis from a single dose of ivermectin.
In February 2021, pulmonologist Frederico Fernandes, who is also President of the São Paulo Society of Pulmonology and Tisiology (SPPT), shared about his young patient who needed a liver transplant after self-medicating with 18 mg of ivermectin every day for a week.
Me solicitaram avaliação para uma paciente com hepatite medicamentosa.
Está a um passo de precisar de um transplante de fígado.
Ganha um troféu quem adivinhar qual medicação foi a culpada.
Hepatologist Paulo Bittencourt, who is President of the Brazilian Liver Institute of the Brazilian Society of Hepatology, stated that 27% of acute hepatitis or fulminant acute hepatitis in Brazil occurred as a result of medications, likely from the indiscriminate use of ivermectin.
He warned that taking ivermectin, chloroquine or azithromycin can lead to acute hepatitis. Even though it’s relatively rare, large-scale use by millions of people will lead to many cases of hepatitis.
Bittencourt himself recounted about a patient who used ivermectin every 15 days to prevent COVID-19. Even limited to bi-weekly use of ivermectin, his patient still developed nausea.
There is already a proven prophylaxis for COVID-19 – vaccines. Don’t put your life at risk, by self-medicating with ivermectin. GET VACCINATED!
Please Support My Work!
Support my work through a bank transfer / PayPal / credit card!
Name : Adrian Wong
Bank Transfer : CIMB 7064555917 (Swift Code : CIBBMYKL)
Credit Card / Paypal : https://paypal.me/techarp
Dr. Adrian Wong has been writing about tech and science since 1997, even publishing a book with Prentice Hall called Breaking Through The BIOS Barrier (ISBN 978-0131455368) while in medical school.
He continues to devote countless hours every day writing about tech, medicine and science, in his pursuit of facts in a post-truth world.
Is it true that people who were vaccinated are MORE vulnerable to the South African variant of COVID-19 than unvaccinated people?
Find out what’s going on in the latest Israeli study, and what the FACTS really are!
Claim : Vaccinated People More Vulnerable To South African Variant!
This is the shocking claim, purportedly by a Singaporean doctor, and spurred by a ChannelNewsAsia article, that is going viral on WhatsApp :
Those who received 2 doses of the ‘vaccine’, have MUCH HIGHER chance of being INFECTED with COVID19 than those NOT vaccinated!
From a S’porean doctor:
“Oh dear! I have received 2 doses of Pfizer antiCovid vaccine 😱😱😱
One straightforward & logical conclusion could then be that the vaccine I was injected with predisposes my body to be ravaged by the South African variant of the virus compared to bodies who are not vaccinated 😱😱😱”
Article:-
“But among patients who had received two doses of the vaccine, the variant’s prevalence rate was eight times higher than those unvaccinated – 5.4 per cent versus 0.7 per cent..
“We found a disproportionately higher rate of the South African variant among people vaccinated with a second dose, compared to the unvaccinated group..””
No! Vaccinated People Are NOT More Vulnerable To South African Variant!
Like 95% of viral messages on COVID-19 – this is yet another piece of FAKE NEWS based on some facts.
Let’s examine each claim and find out what the facts really are!
Fact #1 : CNA Article Is Genuine, But…
The Channel News Asia article is genuine, and so are the quotes.
However, it appears they used the original Reuters almost ad verbatim, but “spiced up” the title – removing “but vaccine highly effective“.
They also replaced “the vaccine remains highly effective” with “the research has not been peer reviewed“.
Why would CNA do that? Why, CNA?
We should also point out that the proper naming for the South African variant is B.1.351, not B1351 as printed in the CNA article.
Fact #2 : Pfizer Vaccine Cannot Make You More Vulnerable
It is unlikely that the comment was written by any doctor, because no doctor would call the Pfizer vaccine an “antiCovid vaccine”.
In any case, the “logical conclusion” that the Pfizer vaccine would predispose those vaccinated to be “ravaged by the South African variant” is nonsensical.
COVID-19 vaccines are basically training bootcamps for your immune system. They mimic the SARS-CoV-2 virus, so your immune system can learn to identify and defeat it, before you get infected by the real virus.
At the very most, the vaccine is ineffective against a new variant, because it is so different that the “training” provided by the vaccine does not help.
However, it is impossible for any COVID-19 vaccine to actually make you more vulnerable to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Photo Credit :Reuters
Fact #3 : Vaccinated People Are NOT More Vulnerable To South African Variant
The person who created this fake news shared that the “prevalence rate was eight times higher than those unvaccinated – 5.4 per cent versus 0.7 per cent“.
Shocking, right? But the truth is that is a misunderstanding of what the study found.
The study, which you can read here, is called “Evidence for increased breakthrough rates of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in BNT162b2 mRNA vaccinated individual“.
Everyone in the study was already infected with COVID-19. The purpose of the study was to identify COVID-19 variants that could potentially “breakthrough” the Pfizer vaccine.
They looked for 396 people who were infected after partial or full vaccination a) Full effectiveness : 1 week or more after 2nd dose b) Partial effectiveness : 2 weeks or more after 1st dose, or less than 1 week after 2nd dose
They paired them with 396 people who were infected, but not vaccinated (as controls).
They sequenced their viral genomes to determine the COVID-19 strains that infected them. a) the vast majority of cases had the UK B.1.1.7 variant b) only 1% of all cases had the South African B.1.351 variant
If the vaccine was equally effective on both variants, their prevalence would remain roughly the same whether the person was vaccinated or not.
But in the full effectiveness cohort, you can see that the B.1.351 variant has a markedly higher prevalence – 5.4% versus 0.7% in the control (unvaccinated).
That basically means that the Pfizer BNT162b2 vaccine is more effective against the UK B.1.1.7 variant, than it is against the South African B.1.351 variant.
You can “confirm” that by looking at the partial effectiveness cohort, where the prevalence of the B.1.351 variant was similar to that of the control.
What that means is when you are not fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, you are vulnerable to both the B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 variants.
But after you are fully vaccinated, you gain more protection against B.1.1.7, vis-à-vis the B.1.351 variant.
In short, the South African B.1.351 variant has a greater ability to “breakthrough” the Pfizer vaccine than the B.1.1.7 vaccine after you gain full protection.
If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
Did Pfizer design their vaccine to turn the COVID-19 pandemic into an endemic, so they can make A LOT MORE money?
Find out what’s going on, and what the facts really are!
Was Pfizer Vaccine Designed To Make COVID-19 Endemic?
A WhatsApp message linking to a Kim Iversen video posted on 17 March 2021 has gone viral on WhatsApp, with this alarming warning :
The truth is out. Pfizer Executive admits that they their vaccine is not designed to end the pandemic but to turn it into an endemic so that the demand of their vaccines will continue forever and give them the opportunity to make a lot of money selling their vaccine. Once the pandemic becomes an endemic, just like the flu, all those who have already been vaccinated will need to continue to receive a booster every year or so.
Now that you are up to speed, let’s see what the facts really are!
Pfizer Vaccine Designed To Make COVID-19 Endemic? Bullshit!
We watched the Kim Iversen episode where she made those claims, so you wouldn’t have to.
Now, let’s address the claims in the viral message and her video one by one, so you have the FACTS.
Claim #1 : Pfizer Caught Saying COVID-19 Will Turn Endemic
Verdict : FALSE
Caught? Pfizer CFO and Executive VP of Global Supply, Frank A. D’Amelio openly said this in a virtual global healthcare conference, and it was reported publicly.
The company anticipates a “significant opportunity” for its vaccine “from a demand perspective” and “from a pricing perspective” as it shifts “from pandemic to endemic”.
How is that the definition of “caught” when he publicly made those comments?
That’s just Kim Iversen trying to hoodwink you into thinking that there is something nefarious afoot.
The truth is scientists across the world believe that SARS-CoV-2 will likely become an endemic virus, as this Nature survey from February 2021 shows.
Claim #2 : Pfizer Excited COVID-19 Will Turn Endemic
Verdict : FALSE
Kim Iversen also claimed that Pfizer is excited that COVID-19 will turn endemic.
Nowhere in the article (which you can read here) was it mentioned that Pfizer executives were excited about the pandemic becoming an endemic situation.
The truth is he was merely telling an analyst that there is an opportunity for Pfizer to increase their vaccine prices as demand drops when COVID-19 pandemic shifts into an endemic situation.
And while Kim Iversen makes it sound like an endemic situation is what Pfizer is aiming for, it is not something any pharmaceutical company is capable of.
The truth is our refusal to quickly vaccinate ourselves will be the reason why COVID-19 could end up becoming endemic.
Claim #3 : Pfizer COMIRNATY Was Developed At The Behest Of The US Government
Verdict : FALSE
Kim Iversen claimed that the Pfizer COMIRNATY (BNT162b2) vaccine was developed at the behest of the US government.
The truth is the BNT162b2 vaccine was developed by BioNTech SE – a German company, long before the Trump Administration came up with Operation Warp Speed.
And here is the zinger – Pfizer and BioNTech declined to join Operation Warp Speed, and BioNTech was funded by the German government to a tune of $445 million.
The BionTech COMIRNATY vaccine was really created in Germany by Germans of Turkish descent, and funded by German money. The US government had ZERO involvement.
BioNTech founders – Uğur Şahin and Özlem Türeci
Claim #4 : Big Pharma Makes MORE Money In COVID-19 Endemic
Verdict : FALSE
At around the 5:53 mark, Kim claimed that Big Pharma hopes that COVID-19 doesn’t end, so that they can make money off these vaccines.
By preventing COVID-19 using vaccines, Big Pharma actually loses out on a lot of money that could be made treating patients with COVID-19.
Think of how much money we already spent on ventilators, and expensive drugs with very limited effect like baricitinib and remdesivir.
Big Pharma stands to make MORE MONEY if vaccines did not exist, or were delayed.
She also does not understand that there are far fewer infections in an endemic.
So yes, Big Pharma may make more money from their vaccines, but they will lose a lot more money that could have been made from treating COVID-19.
Claim #5 : Big Pharma Has No Desire To Cure COVID-19
Verdict : FALSE
In a rambling monologue, that goes off-the-rail at certain points, Kim claimed at around the 5:55 mark that Big Pharma has no desire to cure COVID-19, AIDS, and cancer.
She should stop talking about medicine since she knows so little about it.
Vaccines are NEVER designed to cure a disease. They are designed to PREVENT the disease from occurring in the first place.
That is why we take the COVID-19 vaccine before we get it, instead of after – so we have a better chance of preventing it!
Claim #6 : Big Pharma Didn’t Even Try To End COVID-19
Verdict : FALSE
In her rambling monologue, Kim then asked, did Big Pharma even try to end COVID-19?
Seriously? Did she not read the news, and see how many vaccine candidates were developed? Or how many potential therapeutics were investigated?
The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines were developed and certified for use in less than a year after the pandemic began, and they offered 94%~95% protection against COVID-19.
Why don’t Kim tell us what SHE did to end COVID-19? What did ANYONE ELSE do to end COVID-19? Who else does she believe would be better at ending COVID-19?
Claim #7 : You Can Still Spread COVID-19 After Vaccination
Verdict : MISLEADING
Kim then claimed that those who were vaccinated must continue to wear face masks and socially distance themselves because they can still spread COVID-19.
That’s misleading because the advice was based on 3 reasons :
it was partly precautionary in nature *,
it takes weeks to build up your immunity after vaccination,
the vaccine is not 100% efficacious, so a small number of people can still get COVID-19.
* The studies had not looked into whether the vaccines can prevent transmission, so they are advising vaccinated people to maintain the same precautions, JUST IN CASE.
It makes sense to tell people to continue taking precautions until herd immunity is achieved when the vast majority (80% or higher) of the population is vaccinated.
Claim #8 : Vaccinated People Have To Double Down On Precautions
Verdict : FALSE
At around the 8:50 mark, Kim surmised that the vaccines cannot protect others, and that people have to “double down” on precautions.
That is simply NOT TRUE. Those who are vaccinated against COVID-19 do NOT have to double down on their precautions.
I think it would be instructive at this point to share this picture of Jude Law in the movie, Contagion.
Claim #9 : Falling COVID-19 Cases Not Related To Vaccine
Verdict : FALSE
At 9:25, Kim claimed that no matter what the COVID-19 vaccination rate is like, the cases are falling.
She used the example of Israel with almost 100% vaccination rate, but has the same number of cases as Portugal, which only vaccinated 10% of their population.
She conveniently neglected to mention that Portugal has been under a nationwide lockdown since 15 January 2021! Probably because she earlier mocked lockdowns as useless…
On the other hand, Israel eased lockdown restrictions THREE TIMES since 7 February 2021, and the third stage easing even opened up tourist attractions and gatherings of up to 50 people!
Claim #10 : Test Vaccine Effectiveness By Jabbing People In Southern Hemisphere
Verdict : FALSE
At the 10:20 mark, Kim Iversen tells us that the only way to test the effectiveness of these vaccines is to start jabbing people in the Southern Hemisphere.
No, Kim. You perform what’s called a randomised, double-blind, placebo controlled trial, which was what ALL certified vaccines have undergone!
CoronaVac was tested in Brazil, and Novovax NVX-CoV2373 was tested in Australia.
There are also ongoing trials of those vaccines and even Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines as they are deployed in other Southern Hemisphere countries like Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
So Kim was either being extremely ignorant, or intentionally deceptive, about what’s being done to determine vaccine effectiveness.
Claim #11 : Australia + New Zealand Have Few / No Cases Because It’s Summer!
Verdict : FALSE
Kim Iversen apparently thinks that COVID-19 spread in Australia and New Zealand is super low or zero because it’s summer over there right now!
OMFG, the stupidity of her monologue on COVID-19 in summer and winter. Many tropical countries – where it’s hot and sunny most of the year – have been hit hard by COVID-19.
New Zealand has actually secured enough Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to fully vaccinate their population.
Australia, on the other hand, is vaccinating its population with the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines at the moment.
Claim #12 : New Zealand Stop Vaccinating Due To South African Variant
Verdict : FALSE
At 11:20, Kim claimed that New Zealand stopped vaccinating their population, because the vaccines won’t work on the South African variant.
That’s simply FALSE, because New Zealand continues to vaccinate its population using the Pfizer vaccine.
While the Pfizer vaccine appears to be less effective against the South African variant (B.1.351), it still offered “robust” protection against that variant.
She probably conflated New Zealand with South Africa, which halted their use of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a study showed “disappointing” results against the South African variant.
Claim #13 : Kim Iversen Is Not An Antivaxxer
Verdict : FALSE
Sorry, Kim, but you are an antivaxxer. You are actively telling people LIES about the COVID-19 vaccines!
You tell people that they should “know the data, know the research, know the reality“, when you yourself are either extremely IGNORANT about the data, research and reality, or are intentionally MISLEADING people about them.
Even when you talked people about your 94 year old grandmother, you point out that at her age, she isn’t concerned about “long term side effects”, suggesting that there are any.
Tell us, Kim – WHAT LONG TERM SIDE EFFECTS do these vaccines have???
Claim #14 : You Have To Keep Getting The COVID-19 Vaccine
Verdict : FALSE
At 13:30, she claimed that they are saying that you have to keep getting it again and again, like the flu shot.
That is a POSSIBILITY that health officials have said, due to the fact that COVID-19 has spread so far and wide, and the fact that it’s mutating to form new variants.
However, we call it false, because that was NOT what the Pfizer executives are saying. Nowhere in that article did any Pfizer executive say that the vaccine must be “taken again and again and again”.
The truth is the SARS-CoV-2 virus has the opportunity to mutate to form new variants every time it infects someone.
So the best way to prevent mutations and an endemic situation is to VACCINATE EVERYONE as quickly as possible!
Claim #15 : COVID-19 Is Not Dangerous For Many People
Verdict : FALSE
At around the 13:50 point, she claims that like the flu, COVID-19 is not dangerous for many people. So perhaps that’s why most people feel like they don’t need the vaccine.
We should point out that as of 20 March 2021, 2.71 million people have died from COVID-19, and that number will not abate for many more months to come.
In comparison, influenza – the flu – kills between 290~650,000 people per year.
Based on those numbers, COVID-19 is, on average, at least 4.8X more likely to KILL you than the flu.
If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
Global Citizen has partnered iflix for a live broadcast of Global Citizen Festival – Mandela 100, which will feature Beyoncé, JAY Z, Tiwa Savage, Cassper Nyovest! Get the full details here!
iflix To Broadcast Global Citizen Festival – Mandela 100!
Global Citizen announced that iflix will be a broadcast partner for the Global Citizen Festival – Mandela 100 which is scheduled for Sunday, 2 December 2018 at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Since the first Global Citizen Festival in New York in 2012, Global Citizen has grown into one of the largest platforms for people around the world to call on world leaders to honour their responsibilities in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and ending extreme poverty by 2030.
The December event is the culmination of Global Citizen’s “Mandela 100” campaign in partnership with the House of Mandela; a series of global events honouring the life and legacy of Nelson Mandela in his centenary year.
The broadcast partners will deliver the largest reach of any television broadcast of a Global Citizen event to date.
iflix will bring the festival to fans in 13 countries and territories including:
Indonesia
Malaysia
The Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam
Bangladesh
Pakistan
Cambodia
Sri Lanka
Nepal
Brunei
Myanmar
Maldives
Artists @ Global Citizen Festival – Mandela 100
Beyoncé , JAY-Z, Cassper Nyovest, D’banj, Ed Sheeran, Eddie Vedder, Femi Kuti,Kasey Musgraves, Pharrell Williams, Chris Martin, Sho Madjozi, Tiwa Savage, Usher, and Wizkidwill headline the first Global Citizen Festival to be held in Africa.
Trevor Noah will host the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 with co-hosts Naomi Campbell, Dave Chappelle, Sir Bob Geldof, Gayle King, Bonang Matheba, Nomzamo Mbatha, Tyler Perry, and Forest Whitaker.
Oprah Winfrey will deliver a special keynote address to remember Nelson Mandela and his legacy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X_An9eZRHg
Leaders @ Global Citizen Festival – Mandela 100
Leaders that are set to address the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 are among others:
Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa
Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
Heads up, music lovers! Spotify expands to four new countries! Yes, they just announced that Spotify is now available in four new countries – Vietnam, South Africa, Romania, and Israel. This brings the number of countries supported by Spotify to 37. Take a look at their official press release below.
Spotify Expands To Four New Markets
13th March 2018: We’re delighted to announce that Spotify launches today in Vietnam, South Africa, Romania, and Israel.
Offering an unrivalled mix of domestic and international music, discovery features and revolutionary personalised curation perfectly tuned to your taste, music fans across all countries can now enjoy instant access to Spotify’s free ad-supported and subscription services.
Cecilia Qvist, Global Head of Markets at Spotify, says: “We’re really excited to bring Spotify to these four markets, connecting their rich music cultures with millions of artists and users across the world.”
Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming subscription service with a community of over 159 million users, including over 71 million Spotify Premium subscribers, now across 65 markets worldwide.
If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
22 April 2016 – South Africa-headquartered technology company, Dimension Data, and worldwide leader in networking, Cisco, today announced an initiative aimed at dramatically reducing the number of rhinos being poached in South Africa.
The two companies have deployed some of the world’s most sophisticated technology in an unnamed private game reserve adjacent to the world-renowned Kruger National Park to monitor and track individuals from the time they enter the reserve gates, until they exit.
The goal is to proactively intervene and stop people entering the reserve illegally – whether it’s cutting fences, being dropped onto the ground by helicopters, or simply driving in through the entrance gates.
Over time, the technology will be replicated in other reserves in South Africa, Africa, and globally, to not only protect rhino, but conserve other endangered species including elephants, lions, pangolin, tigers in India and Asia, and even sea rays in the ocean.
According to the South African Department of Environmental Affairs’ Report 2015, a staggering 1,215 rhinos were killed by poachers in 2014 alone. This equates to three rhinos being killed every day. If the rate of poaching continues, rhino deaths could overtake rhino births by 2018, and the rhino could be non-existent in South Africa by 2025.
Dimension Data executive, Bruce Watson explains: “Every day, hundreds of staff, suppliers, contractors, security personnel, and tourists enter and exit game reserves. The human activity in these environments is not monitored because, typically, the reserve is in a remote location with basic IT infrastructure and access control, manual security processes, and very limited communication.”
“With our Connected Conservation technology, we don’t touch the animals by darting them with tranquilisers to insert sensors into their horns, or insert a chip under their skin. This can be extremely stressful and risky for the animal, and we’ve seen a number of rhinos either dying, or going blind, and having to be euthanased.”
[adrotate banner=”5″]
In phase one, Dimension Data worked closely with Cisco, to gather information from the game rangers, security personnel, technology, and control centre teams. The first step was to create a secure Reserve Area Network (RAN) and install Wi-Fi hotspots around key points, which is completed.
Phase two of the Connected Conservation project will incorporate CCTV, drones with infrared cameras; thermal imaging, vehicle tracking sensors, as well as seismic sensors on a highly secure intelligent network. Dimension Data has also deployed Cisco’s Reserve Area Networks (RANs) which will be one of the first installations of its kind in the world.
Chris Dedicoat, executive vice president of Worldwide Sales for Cisco said: “South Africa is currently home to about 70% of the remaining rhinos in the world, most of which are located in the Kruger National Park, which drove the decision to pilot Connected Conservation. In close collaboration with Dimension Data, the teams moved rapidly to study and build a highly secure digital solution that provides those who are protecting the rhinos with the valuable insights, transparency and visibility they need to make effective and informed decisions against poaching.”
Support Tech ARP!
If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
