Viral claims are blaming a surge in excess deaths in Europe on vaccines. But experts say that's not the case
ABCCheckMate is a weekly newsletter from RMIT FactLab which recaps the latest in the world of fact checking and misinformation, drawing on the work of FactLab and its sister organisation, RMIT ABC Fact Check. CheckMate September 2, 2022 This week, CheckMate investigates whether excess deaths among children have increased by more than 1,000 per cent in Europe, which some have linked to COVID-19 vaccines. "In children aged 0-14 there has been a horrifying 542 per cent INCREASE in excess death this year compared with last year in Europe," he tweeted, sharing a link to his longer article. The blogger referred to "excess deaths", which are any deaths in addition to what would normally be expected given past trends, including those directly and indirectly related to COVID-19. An assertion made by deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley that "no one in the world is making an electric ute" has been taken for a spin by RMIT ABC Fact Check, which this week labelled the claim as "wrong".