Correction: A previous version of this article referred to a 'meta-analysis from 'John Hopkins University.' In fact, the analysis was conducted by individual researchers from Johns Hopkins University, the Center for Political Studies in Copenhagen, and Lund University.

The meta-analysis was also widely criticized, with the American Journal of Managed Care noting in February that the paper was controversial for reasons including discrepancies around the varied definitions of 'lockdown.' The article has been updated to reflect this.

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2021 was a great year for “conspiracy theorists.” For the past two years, Democratic politicians, the corporate media, and Big Tech have embarked on the largest censorship campaign in American history to shut down any speech that contradicted the guidelines from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci. In the first few months of the pandemic alone, Facebook censored more than 7 million posts with “Coronavirus misinformation.” However, time tends to benefit the truth. In the end, it turned out that the so-called “conspiracy theories” were right all along. Now, the “conspiracy theorists” will go down as being on the right side of history. Here are seven times that the Covid “conspiracy theories” turned out to be correct: 

COVID-19 was leaked from a lab in Wuhan 

New York Times global health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli said the Lab Leak Theory was not just implausible, but also “racist.” After Senator Tom Cotton raised questions about Covid’s possible lab origins, The New York Times and The Washington Post labeled Cotton’s remarks a “conspiracy theory.” Many other corporate media outlets such as The Associated Press, NPR, Forbes, The Guardian, Vox, Slate, PolitiFact, Business Insider, and Scientific American used the same term to describe any suggestion that Covid-19 was man-made. 

In May 2021, Anthony Fauci, who had spent more than a year denying the theory, finally admitted that Covid-19 probably came from a lab. Fauci’s leaked emails indicate that he was aware of Covid’s probable lab origins as early as January of 2020, but he spent two years trying to cover up the scandal to hide that his agency had funded the gain-of-function research that led to Covid-19’s lab leak.

The vaccine is not safe and it doesn’t prevent transmission 

Daring to question the safety or efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccine was considered blasphemy to the Covid cult. Developer of the mRNA vaccine technology Dr. Robert Malone and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene were permanently suspended from Twitter for demonstrating skepticism about the Covid-19 vaccines’ safety and effectiveness. New York University professor Jay Van Bavel accused Dr. Malone of being “framed in the conspiracy-theory world” and “spreading misinformation.” Rutgers professor Jack Bratich called any “concerns about [the] safety” of the vaccine a “QAnon conspiracy theory.” 

The “QAnon conspiracy theories” were correct and there are several risks associated with the Covid vaccines, including death, myocarditis, Bell's Palsy, anaphylaxis, and paralysis. The CDC and FDA halted the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in response to multiple cases of blood clotting and other serious side effects. The World Health Organization has documented more than 2 million cases of adverse reactions. The vaccine can also interfere with women’s menstruation cycle, and potentially their fertility. The vaccine dramatically increases the chances of serious heart illnesses. Studies show that low-risk groups are up to 6 times more likely of having a severe adverse reaction to the vaccine than to be hospitalized with Covid. 

The CDC recently admitted in January of 2022 that while the vaccines can make symptoms less severe, “what they can’t do anymore is prevent transmission.” Israeli researchers said that even a 4th dose of the Covid vaccine is “not good enough” to stop the spread of Covid-19.

COVID deaths and hospitalization numbers are being inflated 

Many people whose deaths were classified as Covid deaths had actually died “with Covid” rather than “of Covid,” which was artificially inflating the Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations numbers. Claims such as those were censored by Big Tech and called “conspiracy theories” by numerous corporate media outlets and fact-checkers such as the New York Times, Washington Post, NBC, USA Today, Snopes, PolitiFact, The Guardian, Scientific American, Yahoo News, Rolling Stone, Detroit Free Press, and many others. 

Statistics show that over 40% of “Covid patients” in New York City had actually been admitted for “Non-COVID reasons.” For the initial two years of the pandemic, Massachusetts (and many other states) didn’t differentiate between “primary” and “incidental” Covid-19 hospitalizations, which made the state drop its Covid death count by 37,000 after adopting the new criteria. A report found that Washington state was “overreporting Covid-19 cases by up to 13 percent by counting anyone who ‘tests positive for Covid-19 and subsequently dies’ as a coronavirus death.” Colorado was counting gunshot victims as Covid deaths if they had “tested positive for Covid-19 within the last 30 days.” Florida counted a man who died in a motorcycle crash as a Covid victim. 

The CDC and Anthony Fauci eventually admitted that many “Covid patients” were actually being “hospitalized with Covid, as opposed to because of Covid.” Recently, the CDC silently retracted more than 72,000 Covid deaths from its Covid death count with little explanation. 

Cloth masks are not effective 

At the beginning of the pandemic, Americans were strongly instructed not to wear masks. Dr. Anthony Fauci said there was “no reason to be walking around with a mask.” The CDC explicitly stated they did not recommend the use of face coverings. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams accused mask buyers of “[putting] our communities at risk.” After they conveniently changed their minds only a few weeks later with no clear scientific justification, questioning the effectiveness of masks suddenly became a dangerous “conspiracy theory” worthy of censorship. Fox News host Dan Bongino was permanently banned from YouTube for suggesting that masks are not effective in stopping the spread of the virus. NBC called similar remarks “conspiracy theories.” 

A University of Louisville study found mask mandates didn’t slow the spread of Covid-19. After vehemently denying that masks were just political theater, Fauci eventually admitted that he was only wearing a mask not to “give mixed signals.” In January of 2022, the CDC finally conceded that cloth masks don’t offer significant protection against the virus. Even CNN medical specialist Leana Wen and Biden’s Covid advisor Michael Osterholm admitted that “cloth masks are little more than facial decorations.”

Lockdowns don’t work 

Governors who refused to lockdown their states were called “sociopaths pursuing genocide” and accused of having “blood on [their] hands” by the corporate media. Anthony Fauci pushed for more lockdowns and claimed that they “saved millions of lives.”

A meta-analysis from researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the Center for Political Studies in Copenhagen, and Lund University concluded that lockdowns only reduced Covid mortality by a mere 0.2%. 

The meta-analysis was widely criticized, with the American Journal of Managed Care noting that the paper was controversial for reasons including discrepancies around the varied definitions of 'lockdown.'

Natural immunity is more effective than vaccination

The Guardian called natural immunity a “far-right conspiracy theory.” The Washington Post called natural immunity “fantasies of pure blood” at the “centerpiece for anti-vaccine ideology.” Mother Jones said that natural immunity was a “dangerous idea” promoted by “anti-vaxxers” and “fringe groups.” U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said that natural immunity is "not nearly as strong" as the vaccine. 

After originally insisting that vaccinations offered more protection than previous infection, the CDC recently released a new study in January of 2022 contradicting its original claims. An Israeli study suggested that this protection can be 13 times more effective than vaccination. A Project Veritas investigation showed multiple Pfizer scientists confessing to an undercover journalist that “your [Covid] antibodies are better than the [Pfizer] vaccination.” Natural immunity has always been a scientific fact. In 2020, it became a dangerous conspiracy theory. Now it is being hailed as a new scientific discovery. 

The vaccines interfere with menstruation cycles 

ABC’s News Dr. Jen Ashton said there was “zero evidence” that there was any relationship between vaccines and menstrual cycles and said that suggesting so “defies science.” Stanford Children’s Health gynecologist Dr. Paula Hillard said “it’s biologically implausible that the vaccine can impact menstrual cycles or fertility.” Political commentator Candace Owens was called a “conspiracy theorist” for suggesting the vaccine could interfere with women’s menstruation cycles and therefore affect their fertility. 

Studies from the NIH and the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology published in January of 2022 revealed that the vaccine can indeed lead to delays in the onset of menstrual periods.