A widely shared post on social media claims that Public Health England (PHE) has released a report revealing that two thirds of Covid-19 deaths are people who have been vaccinated. This is missing important context.
The risk of death with Covid is very much smaller after vaccination, but it is not zero, and the vaccine take-up has been very high among those most at risk. Most people dying are therefore already vaccinated, because there are very few high-risk people left unvaccinated in the UK.
What did the post say?
The text of the post reads: “Whilst you’ve been distracted by Hancock’s affair, PHE released a report revealing 62% of alleged Covid deaths are people who’ve been vaccinated.”
This claim comes from a longer article published by website The Daily Expose, which cites its source as a technical briefing on Covid-19 variants published by PHE on 25 June.
The article claims the briefing shows that, of the 117 Covid-19 deaths caused by the Delta variant that have occurred since 1 February, 60% of them were people who had received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines and, of this group of vaccinated people, 70% had received both doses.
These figures are roughly right. Of the 117 deaths, 3 involved people whose vaccine status was unknown, 70 were people who had received at least one dose of the vaccine (61% of the 114 known cases), and 44 were people who had not been vaccinated (39%). Fifty of the deaths (44%) were people who had received both doses.
However, this does not mean that the vaccines do not work, or are dangerous.
None of the current vaccines are 100% effective against Covid-19, but they do make a big difference. The same PHE briefing also reported that two doses of the vaccine are 96% effective against hospitalisation with the Delta variant.
The UK’s vaccination programme has prioritised ensuring that the elderly and vulnerable were vaccinated first, meaning these people are also the most likely to have received their second vaccine dose. However, this group is also the most at risk from Covid-19, and no current vaccine removes all risk.
Writing for The Guardian, statisticians Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters said that someone aged 80 who is fully vaccinated essentially is at the same risk from Covid-19 as an unvaccinated person of around 50.
The most recent vaccination figures, as of 1 July, show that 44.8 million people in the UK have received their first vaccine dose, and 33 million have received their second.
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A post circulating on social media falsely claims actor Denzel Washington said he’s “had it” with the Democratic Party’s “lies” and now supports former President Donald Trump. The fictitious quote attributed to Washington originated on a self-described satirical website. A representative for Washington confirmed “this post is a complete fabrication.”
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Actor Denzel Washington has repeatedly been the target of bogus stories about his political views.
As we reported in 2018, a fabricated article incorrectly attributed a string of quotes critical of former President Barack Obama to the actor — even though Washington supported Obama and said Obama did a “great job” as president. False claims about Washington praising former President Donald Trump also were widely shared online in 2016.
More recently, a social media post falsely claims that Washington left the Democratic Party to help Trump and his allies. One version of the post, uploaded to Instagram on June 23, has amassed more than 1,000 likes.
The post appears to be a screenshot of a satirical article titled, “Denzel Washington Leaves Democrat Party: ‘I’ve Had it With the Lies.’” The post continues: “Denzel Washington, who has never stepped outside the realm of acting to engage in politics, has taken a stand. It won’t be very popular with Democrats. In an Interview with America’s Last Line of Defense, Denzel said that he couldn’t handle the constant lies and that he’s turning his attention to helping team Trump:”
The made-up article first appeared in 2019 on bustatroll.org, a website that describes its content as satire meant to provoke conservatives. It is one of several such websites operated by America’s Last Line of Defense, which is cited in the post as the source of Washington’s quote.
The “About Us” page for bustatroll.org provides several disclaimers regarding the outlet’s content, including, “Everything on this website is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real.”
The site calls itself a “subsidiary of the ‘America’s Last Line of Defense’ network of parody, satire, and tomfoolery.” We previously wrote about America’s Last Line of Defense in our list of websites that post deceptive content.
In response to the post, Alan Nierob, a representative for Washington, told us via email: “Without confirming his political affiliation, this post is a complete fabrication.”
Although Nierob did not comment on the actor’s political affiliation, a search of Washington’s political donation history shows multiple past contributions to Democrats. The actor donated $28,500 to help elect Obama and gave $27,000 in support of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org is one of several organizations working with Facebook to debunk misinformation shared on social media. Our previous stories can be found here.
Sources
Hale Spencer, Saranac. “Fake Denzel Washington Story.” FactCheck.org. 19 Jan 2018.
Shaw, A.R. “Denzel Washington talks the legacy of President Barack Obama.” YouTube. 8 Dec 2016.
“Denzel Washington hit by Facebook fake news story on Trump.” BBC. 15 Nov 2016.
Nierob, Alan. Representative for Denzel Washington. Email to FactCheck.org. 24 Jun 2021.
Eagleton-Patriot, Flagg. “Denzel Washington Leaves Democrat Party: ‘I’ve Had it With the Lies’.” Bustatroll.org. Accessed 25 Jun 2021.
“About Us” webpage. Bustatroll.org. Accessed 25 Jun 2021.
“Misinformation Directory.” FactCheck.org. Updated 12 Nov 2018.
Center for Responsible Politics. “Donor Lookup.” OpenSecrets.org. Accessed 25 Jun 2021.
Federal Election Commission. Page by Page Report Display (Page 12328 of 13200). Accessed 25 Jun 2021.
Federal Election Commission. Page by Page Report Display (Page 50507 of 73025). Accessed 25 Jun 2021.
The post Social Media Post Spreads Bogus Claims About Denzel Washington’s Political Leanings appeared first on FactCheck.org.
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The government has issued what appears to be confusing and contradictory statements over whether health ministers, including former health secretary Matt Hancock, used personal email accounts to conduct government business.
We’ve taken a look at the reports that have emerged so far, why this matters and what guidance ministers actually have to follow when it comes to using non-official channels of communication.
On 27 June, a Sunday Times article claimed that Mr Hancock and health minister Lord Bethell had breached government guidelines by using their personal email addresses to conduct government business during the pandemic. But this was denied by the prime minister’s official spokesperson the next day.
The official statement from Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said: “Both the former health secretary and Lord Bethell understand the rules around personal email usage and only ever conducted government business through their departmental email addresses”. It was also clarified that use of personal email accounts would have been “related to things like diary acceptances”.
However, the documents seen by the Sunday Times, shared on Twitter by the author of the article, paint a different story. What are reportedly leaked minutes of a meeting between senior Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) officials specifically state that Mr Hancock and Lord Bethell used private email accounts.
The Good Law Project has also published an email about Covid-19 testing kits sent by former Conservative Party chair Lord Feldman, now managing partner of lobbying firm Tulchan, copying in Lord Bethell’s private email address.
A day after the government’s denial, the prime minister’s official spokesperson was asked about the communications published by the Good Law Project and confirmed that Lord Bethell had used his personal email.
They said: “We’ve been clear that ministers are able to communicate through a variety of different ways as long as they adhere to the guidance that’s set out.”
In answer to a question about alleged use of his private email, Lord Bethell told the House of Lords on Tuesday that he is “absolutely rigorous” in conducting government business through official channels. He clarified that he did sometimes receive emails to his personal address, but said “that is not the same as using a personal email for formal departmental decision-making.”
He also appeared to reference the information published both by the Sunday Times and the Good Law Project, asking people to “judge it extremely sceptically, because distorted fragments of evidence do not provide sufficient grounds to rush to judgment on how ministers do their business”.
A DHSC spokesperson later told Full Fact: “All ministers are aware of the guidance around personal email usage and government business is conducted in line with the guidance.”
Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner has written to Mr Johnson to ask him to correct the statement his spokesperson made. While a lot of questions still remain, it’s important that government ministers and their spokespeople are clear in their communications, particularly when it comes to matters of transparency, and correct the record if necessary.
What guidance do ministers have to follow on private email accounts?
It is important that clear records of governmental business are kept in order to allow government business to be properly scrutinised. Without them, it is much harder to track how decisions are made, and could lead to issues such as conflicts of interest going unnoticed.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, anyone has the power to access information held by public authorities. But if records of communication are not carefully maintained, it could become impossible for requests to be fulfilled as the information is not available.
The most recent government guidance on the use of non-government email addresses to conduct government business appears to have been published in 2013.
It does state that “other [non-governmental] forms of electronic communication may be used in the course of conducting government business”, but in doing so “the originator or recipient of a communication should consider whether the information contained in it is substantive discussions or decisions generated in the course of conducting government business and, if so, take steps to ensure the relevant information is accessible”, for example by copying it to a government email address.
Crucially, departments such as the DHSC should maintain public records so information can be accessed if it is required under the Freedom of Information Act. This is regulated by the Lord Chancellor’s Code of Practice on the management of records.
The code of practice stipulates that “authorities should know what records they hold and where they are, and should ensure that they remain usable for as long as they are required”.
While the code doesn’t go into detail about private email accounts, it does state: “The whereabouts of records should be known at all times and movement of files and other physical records between storage areas and office areas should be logged.”
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Nine in 10 girls experienced sexist name-calling or were sent explicit photos or videos
Nine in ten girls experience sexist name-calling and unwanted pictures
9 in 10 girls are sent explicit photos
The findings of a government review of sexual abuse in schools have been widely misreported in the media—including by the Mirror, Metro, Times, Telegraph, Mail, the i, BBC and ITV.
The review found that sexist behaviour and sexual abuse were common among young people, in the opinion of the teenagers at the schools that were visited by Ofsted, the education regulator. However, it did not measure the prevalence of these issues at these schools, or nationally.
The Ofsted survey asked students how common they thought sexually abusive behaviour was among people their age—not whether they themselves, or even their friends, had experienced it.
What did Ofsted do?
Ofsted was asked to review whether schools and colleges were properly protecting students from sexual abuse, after a large number of anonymous testimonials were published on the Everyone’s Invited website in the spring of 2021.
On 10 June, it published the review, which included links to existing research along with a summary of its own findings from visits to 32 schools and colleges. Some, but not all, were chosen because they had been mentioned in reports of sexual abuse on Everyone’s Invited.
The review specifically says: “This should not be assumed to be a fully representative sample of all schools and colleges nationally.”
Nevertheless, the review included a table and a number of statistics drawn from a questionnaire that students completed. These showed that several forms of sexually abusive behaviour were familiar to many students, and a majority of girls in particular.
This included the statistics about sexist name-calling and unwanted pictures that were widely, but often incorrectly, reported in the media.
What were the students asked?
During the visits, Ofsted inspectors ran single-sex, same-age focus groups. In these, they spoke to “over 900 children and young people about the prevalence of peer-on-peer sexual harassment and sexual violence, including online, in their lives and the lives of their peers”. Parents were allowed to opt out if they did not want their children to take part, and students were allowed not to take part on the day.
During these focus groups, just over 800 students older than 13 also completed a questionnaire. Ofsted has not published this questionnaire, but confirmed to Full Fact that the relevant question was: “How often do you think these happen between people of your age”.
Ofsted also told us: “The questionnaire did not ask young people to comment on their personal experiences of sexual harassment or online sexual abuse.”
In places, however, the Ofsted review said that students’ answers to its questionnaire described things that happen “to them or their peers”. For instance, at one point it says: “92% of girls, and 74% of boys, said sexist name-calling happens a lot or sometimes to them or their peers.”
This changed wording could cause confusion or be misleading, because students may have responded based on their own experience, or the experience of their friends or peers in their school. But they might have been thinking more generally about “people my age”, across the UK, at a time when sexually abusive behaviour in schools was a frequent topic in the media.
We also do not know whether the groups of boys and girls were answering about their own gender, or about young people in general.
Is sexual abuse common in schools?
We know from the Ofsted survey that nine out of 10 girls who completed the questionnaire said that “sexist name-calling” (92%) and “being sent pictures or videos they did not want to see” (88%) happened a lot or sometimes among people their age.
Most girls said that other forms of sexually abusive behaviour also happened at least sometimes among people their age, including “rumours about their sexual activity” (81%), “unwanted or inappropriate comments of a sexual nature” (80%), “being put under pressure to provide sexual images of themselves” (80%), “sexual assault of any kind” (79%) and “unwanted touching” (64%).
However, this does not mean that these girls experienced it themselves, as many media outlets claimed.
The Guardian used Ofsted’s wording, and reported these figures as happening “to them or their peers”, but it also said that “girls suffer disproportionately”, which the Ofsted evidence does not support.
The review specifically says: “The scope of this review was such that we cannot say anything about which children and young people are most likely to be targeted for sexual harassment.” (Although other evidence about students’ own experience from the last 10 years suggests that girls do report higher rates of this type of abuse than boys.)
What do we really know?
Representative data about the personal lives of children is extremely difficult to collect, and data about sexually abusive behaviour is often hard to interpret or compare, because people define it in different ways.
A not fully representative survey for Girlguiding published this month found that 67% of girls aged 13-18 had experienced some form of sexual harassment from other students at school. This includes 24% who said they had seen sexually explicit photos or videos.
Research in a non-representative sample of secondary school students by Warwick University in 2017 found that about 58% of girls had either witnessed or experienced sexual harassment at school.The study’s authors told us that this figure was around 27% for boys. The research also found that about 37% of girls and 6% of boys saying they had experienced it personally.
In the same survey, the researchers told us that about 18% of girls at mixed-sex schools reported that they had been sent or shown pornography or had seen other students looking at it, compared with about 8% of male students.
In 2015, a small non-representative survey of teenagers around Europe, including in the UK, found that 22% said they had been shown or sent unwanted pornographic photos or videos at least once.
From this mixture of sources, it seems very likely that sexual harassment and abuse are a common problem among schoolchildren, and especially among girls.
However, the Ofsted survey does not tell us how common the problem is.
It is vital that data on such a serious and widespread problem should be collected and reported accurately.
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