Facts Matter: Pelosi didn't fake COVID-19 vaccination

Members of Congress were among the first to receive the coronavirus vaccine earlier this month, and some, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Mike Pence, posted photos of the event to social media.

When speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi posted photos of herself receiving the vaccination, some online users falsely claimed she staged the scene.

"How do you use a syringe with the cap still on?" questioned a Facebook user in a Dec. 18 post, which included photos making it appear the needle was covered when Pelosi received the shot. This post was shared more than 1,400 times.

Pelosi received the vaccine Dec. 17 in her office, according to Snopes.com.

"Today, with confidence in science and at the direction of the Office of the Attending Physician, I received the COVID-19 vaccine," Pelosi wrote on Twitter.

In photos with her Twitter post, it looks like the tip of the syringe is covered by an orange cap. But other pictures of her receiving the shot show the needle protruding past an orange stopper, which is not a cap, Snopes said.

Pelosi also posted a photo of her vaccination record card, showing she received the COVID-19 immunization.

Inauguration won't be held at Mar-a-Lago

President Donald Trump, who lost his bid for a second term to Democrat Joe Biden, has not said where he'll be for Biden's inauguration Jan. 20, but a Facebook post falsely claims he will be holding an "inauguration" for himself at his private Florida club Mar-a-Lago.

"(The Trump administration will) look forward to the January 20th Inauguration of their continuation of power and Second Term! This celebration of our president will take place at the President's residence at Mar-a-Lago, or the winter White House," the post stated.

There is no planned ceremony at the Florida club, according to PolitiFact.com.

"Anonymous sources who claim to know what the president is or is not considering have no idea," White House spokesman Judd Deere told PolitiFact. "When President Trump has an announcement about his plans for Jan. 20, he will let you know."

The false Facebook post said, "Any attempt to remove the Trump administration will require force."

But on Thanksgiving, Trump told reporters he would leave the White House if the Electoral College elected Biden.

"Certainly I will, and you know that," the president said. "But I think that there will be a lot of things happening between now and the 20th of January, a lot of things. Massive fraud has been found."

Traditionally, the departing president hosts the incoming leader at the White House and then attends the inauguration.

Nurse didn't die after receiving vaccine

After health care workers were given the first COVID-19 vaccines Dec. 15 in Alabama, social media posts began circulating false claims that a nurse had died as a result of the injection.

"And so it starts ... A 42 y/o nurse in Alabama found dead 8-10 hours after the va((ine," one Facebook post read.

No one has died from the vaccine, according to The Associated Press.

Officials from the Alabama Department of Health checked with hospitals that gave the injection and told the AP there have been no deaths as a result of the shot. The department also issued a statement on social media to say, "The posts are untrue. No persons who received a COVID-19 vaccine in Alabama have died."

Santa wasn't arrested at Wisconsin mall

A recent Facebook post falsely claims a mall Santa Claus in Wisconsin beat up a child molester after a young girl confided in him.

The post claimed Santa "and four of his elves attacked the guy, who was waiting nearby, and pummeled him unconscious."

The story is a hoax that has been circulating since it was first being published by a satirical website in 2016, according to USA Today.

The fake story attributed the information to Milwaukee police spokeswoman Holly Delgado and included a blurry mug shot and a photo of Santa being arrested.

Milwaukee police Sgt. Tim Guarke told The Associated Press he had never heard of Delgado. The mug shot is from a 2012 arrest in Jacksonville, Florida, and the photo of Santa was taken during a 2013 arrest of protesters outside a Walmart in Ontario, California.

• Bob Oswald is a veteran Chicago-area journalist and former news editor of the Elgin Courier-News. Contact him at boboswald33@gmail.com.