By: Rahul Adhikari
June 7 2023
No, George Monbiot did not pen piece in The Guardian saying he got COVID 23 times
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
George Monbiot did not write an opinion piece stating that he contracted COVID 23 times despite taking boosters. The viral screenshot is fabricated.
Claim ID c7ddbf54
Context
A screenshot of an opinion piece published by The Guardian circulating on social media claims that writer and environmental activist George Monbiot stated he contracted COVID-19 23 times despite receiving multiple boosters.
The screenshot features a picture of Monbiot and resembles The Guardian's op-ed format. The headline in the screenshot reads, "I've caught Covid for the 23rd time despite having had dozens of boosters (I've lost count). Thank heavens for the vaccine." The sub-headline of the piece states, "Literally billions of kids are dying from long Covid everyday, but evil anti-vaxxers - e.g the hated Bridgen - don't care." The dateline claims that it was published on May 11, 2023.
Anti-vaccine activist Steve Kirsch shared the photo on Twitter on May 11, receiving 175,000 views and over 1,800 likes, tweeting, "There are fewer than 8 billion people on Earth. According to this article, billions of kids are dying every day from long COVID. That means in just two days, all our kids will be dead. Please hug your kid today and tell them how much you love them. It may be your last chance."
However, the claim is false. The Guardian has clarified that they did not publish any such opinion piece.
In Fact
The Guardian website shows that Monbiot published pieces for the newspaper on May 3, May 12, May 18, May 26, and most recently, on June 1. No article attributed to him and dated May 11 was found. The headlines of these columns do not remotely resemble that of the viral screenshot, and none of them pertain to COVID-19.
A Twitter advanced search of The Guardian's social media accounts on May 11 showed no evidence that they shared any such story. Furthermore, our search for archives of any such articles published by The Guardian also yielded no results.
Monbiot addressed the tweet on Twitter and clarified that the screenshot is fake. Sharing a tweet that carried the viral image, he wrote, "Another one who fell for this fake headline. Is there anything such people won't believe?" He also called out other social media users for sharing the fabricated screenshot and reiterated that the image was false.
The Guardian told Logically Facts, "We can confirm that the link shared has never been a published Guardian headline or story."
The Verdict
A fabricated image was falsely shared, claiming that George Monbiot wrote in a piece for The Guardian that he contracted COVID-19 multiple times despite receiving booster doses. However, the columnist clarified that the headline is fake and several sources of evidence show no such article was published. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.