What to Know About the Debt Limit Fight

Congressional Democrats and Republicans find themselves in yet another standoff over whether to raise or suspend the limit on federal borrowing so that the government can pay its bills.

What is the disagreement now? What is the deadline for Congress to act? And what happens if the issue is not resolved soon?

Those are some of the questions that a FactCheck.org team answered for readers to have a better understanding of the current political dispute.

For the facts, read "Debt Limit Q&A."

Reader: Can a vaccinated person pass on Covid to either vaccinated or unvaccinated people?

FactCheck.org Director Eugene Kiely: Good question.

The CDC says: "Fully vaccinated people with Delta variant breakthrough infections can spread the virus to others. However, vaccinated people appear to spread the virus for a shorter time: For prior variants, lower amounts of viral genetic material were found in samples taken from fully vaccinated people who had breakthrough infections than from unvaccinated people with COVID-19. For people infected with the Delta variant, similar amounts of viral genetic material have been found among both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated people. However, like prior variants, the amount of viral genetic material may go down faster in fully vaccinated people when compared to unvaccinated people. This means fully vaccinated people will likely spread the virus for less time than unvaccinated people."

For more about the delta variant, you can read our story, "Vaccines Remain Largely Effective Against Delta Variant, Counter to Claims From Fox News Guest."

And here's a list of our stories debunking COVID-19 misinformation and providing background science.

Wrapping Up

Here's what else we've got for you this week:

• "Posts Spread Dubious Claim About Ivermectin and Male Fertility": The Food and Drug Administration says male infertility is not a known side effect of the antiparasitic medication ivermectin. Dubious claims that the drug sterilizes 85% of male users were incorrectly attributed to a questionable 2011 study of the drug’s effect on a small sample of Nigerian men with onchocerciasis, a tropical disease also known as “river blindness.”
   
• "Debt Limit Q&A": Democrats and Republicans are once again in a standoff over a looming debt limit crisis. Congress must raise or suspend the limit on federal borrowing soon or the U.S. government won’t be able to pay its bills. Here we provide the facts on the political dispute.
   
• "COVID-19: The Unvaccinated Pose a Risk to the Vaccinated": An unvaccinated person who is infected with COVID-19 poses a much greater risk to others who are also unvaccinated. But vaccines are not 100% effective, so there is a chance that an unvaccinated person could infect a vaccinated person — particularly the vulnerable, such as elderly and immunocompromised individuals.
   
• "Social Media Post on Use of Ivermectin for Refugees Lacks Context": The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the use of ivermectin as a treatment for arriving refugees to treat parasitic infections. But a social media post by Dr. Simone Gold, a proponent of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19, references the CDC guidance without accurately explaining the reason why refugees are given the drug. The CDC has warned against using ivermectin to prevent or treat COVID-19.
   

• "El controversial plan de Biden para reforzar la vacuna contra el COVID-19": La administración de Biden anunció que una tercera dosis de las dos vacunas de ARNm contra el COVID-19 estará disponible para personas sanas a mediados de septiembre. Pero muchos científicos dicen que aún no está claro si las dosis de refuerzo son necesarias.
   
• "Mensaje de Instagram omite contexto de estudio israelí sobre inmunidad natural al COVID-19": Un mensaje en Instagram destacó un titular sobre un estudio israelí, no revisado por otros científicos, el cual determinó que las personas no vacunadas previamente infectadas con el SARS-CoV-2 tienen mayor inmunidad contra la variante delta que personas sin infecciones previas pero plenamente vacunadas contra el COVID-19 con las dos dosis de Pfizer/BioNTech. Pero el mensaje omitió el otro hallazgo del estudio: que una dosis de la vacuna aumenta la protección para quienes han sobrevivido a la infección.
   
• "Expertos: No hay relación entre vacunas contra el COVID-19 y disfunción eréctil": Funcionarios de salud pública en todo el mundo han explicado que la disfunción eréctil no es un efecto secundario de las vacunas contra el COVID-19, pero un tuit de la rapera Nicki Minaj divulgó la afirmación infundada de que lo es. No hay evidencia que respalde esa declaración.
   
• "Investigador distorsiona datos sobre aprobación y responsabilidad legal de vacuna contra el COVID-19": La vacuna contra el COVID-19 de Pfizer/BioNTech fue aprobada por la Administración de Alimentos y Medicamentos de Estados Unidos, pero la autorización de uso de emergencia permanece vigente. El Dr. Robert Malone dijo erróneamente que a los estadounidenses solo se les está ofreciendo la vacuna bajo ésta última, lo que conlleva diferentes tipos de responsabilidad legal. Las protecciones de responsabilidad, otorgadas por una ley de salud pública, son las mismas para las dos.