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NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week

In this Dec. 29, 2020, file photo, Pat Moore, with the Chester County, Pa., Health Department, fills a syringe with a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before administering it to emergency medical workers and health care personnel at the Chester County Government Services Center in West Chester, Pa. On Friday, May 28, 2021, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting that the variants of the coronavirus that have been found in the global population were created by COVID-19 vaccines. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
In this Dec. 29, 2020, file photo, Pat Moore, with the Chester County, Pa., Health Department, fills a syringe with a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before administering it to emergency medical workers and health care personnel at the Chester County Government Services Center in West Chester, Pa. On Friday, May 28, 2021, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting that the variants of the coronavirus that have been found in the global population were created by COVID-19 vaccines. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File) In this Dec. 29, 2020, file photo, Pat Moore, with the Chester County, Pa., Health Department, fills a syringe with a Moderna COVID-19 vaccine before administering it to emergency medical workers and health care personnel at the Chester County Government Services Center in West Chester, Pa. On Friday, May 28, 2021, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly asserting that the variants of the coronavirus that have been found in the global population were created by COVID-19 vaccines. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

By Associated Press 12 min read

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:

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CLAIM: The variants of the coronavirus that have been found in the global population were created by COVID-19 vaccines, because the vaccines caused people to develop antibodies and forced the virus to evolve.

THE FACTS: An article quoting a virologist known for spreading conspiracy theories about the coronavirus is pushing the false claim that COVID-19 vaccines were the catalyst that caused new variants of the virus to emerge around the globe.

“Bombshell: Nobel Prize Winner Reveals – Covid Vaccine is ‘Creating Variants,'” reads the headline of the article, which has been shared thousands of times on Facebook.