Our Guide on the Groups Behind the Ads

Who are the people and outside groups behind the TV and online ads that you may see during the election cycle?

FactCheck.org has written about several of the organizations that have been active, or are expected to be active, in raising and spending millions of dollars to influence voters in many of this year's elections. It's our seventh year providing a guide -- called "Players Guide" -- on the groups seeking to sway voters.

Each profile includes details about the group's political leanings, how much it has raised and spent, and which candidates it's supporting or opposing. We also provide information about the key people running the groups, as well as those funding the groups -- if we can determine who they are.

Some of the groups, like super PACs, can accept unlimited donations but must disclose their donors to the Federal Election Commission. But there are other "dark money" groups that can accept just as much cash without having to identify their financial backers.

We've already posted profiles of groups such as Priorities USA Action, Senate Leadership Fund and Americans for Prosperity. But we plan to write more, so check our page throughout the campaign season.

Go to "Players Guide 2022" to read about each of the groups.

Reader: I would like to know what qualifies a person to be able to get the colonal antibody treatment for covid?

FactCheck.org Science Editor Jessica McDonald: Good question. There are two monoclonal antibody COVID-19 treatments, GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology’s ​​sotrovimab and Eli Lilly’s bebtelovimab, that work against the omicron variant. The omicron variant currently accounts for all coronavirus infections in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized both drugs for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in people who are at least 12 years old and weigh at least 88 pounds, and who are at high risk of developing severe COVID-19. (Bebtelovimab is only authorized in scenarios when other treatment options are “not available or clinically appropriate.”)
 
To be eligible, you must have tested positive for COVID-19 and had symptoms for no longer than seven days (for bebtelovimab) or 10 days (for sotrovimab). This means if you’re already in the hospital for COVID-19, these drugs are no longer an option for you.
 
The key question you likely have is what qualifies a person as “high risk.” This can include any medical condition listed on the CDC website that increases a person’s COVID-19 risk, such as obesity or being overweight, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and heart or lung diseases -- along with older age, as a government website explains. 
 
Importantly, though, the CDC list isn’t exhaustive, so even if you don’t have one of the listed conditions, that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily disqualified. But to receive treatment you do need a referral from a health care provider, who can assess whether the treatment is right for you. If you don’t have a provider to make that referral, you can call the Combat COVID Monoclonal Antibodies Call Center (1-877-332-6585).
 
It’s worth noting that monoclonal antibodies aren’t your only treatment option. Oral antiviral pills, such as Pfizer’s Paxlovid, can also be taken by those at high-risk soon after symptoms begin. And there is another monoclonal antibody drug, Evusheld, that is available for prevention purposes (rather than treatment) for people who are immunocompromised or are unvaccinated because of a known allergy. None of these, of course, is a replacement for vaccination for those who can get vaccinated.

Wrapping Up

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

• "Megachurches in U.S. Are Supporting Ukraine Relief, Contrary to Social Media Posts": Several megachurches in the U.S. are actively raising funds to support Ukrainians in light of the Russian invasion. But social media posts have falsely claimed that "we haven’t seen a single American mega church offer anything to the Ukrainians."
• "Old, Mislabeled Video Circulating Amid Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine": A video from 2019 showing Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been circulating recently with the false claim that it shows Putin meeting with the South Korean president.
• "Examining U.S. ‘Energy Independence’ Claims": When politicians say that the United States was “energy independent” under former President Donald Trump, some people may get the false impression that the U.S. was 100% self-sufficient. The country still relied on foreign sources of energy, including oil.
• "Rothschild & Co. Has Office in Russia, Contrary to Conspiracy Claim on Social Media": Rothschild & Co. has an office in Moscow and has been operating in Russia since the mid-1990s. Yet posts on social media falsely claim that Russia has barred the Rothschild banking family from doing business in the country. The claim is the latest adaptation of an old conspiracy theory about the family.
• "What We’ve Learned About So-Called ‘Lockdowns’ and the COVID-19 Pandemic": Plenty of peer-reviewed studies have found government restrictions early in the pandemic, such as business closures and physical distancing measures, reduced COVID-19 cases and/or mortality, compared with what would have happened without those measures. But conservative news outlets and commentators have seized on a much-criticized, unpublished working paper that concluded “lockdowns” had only a small impact on mortality as definitive evidence the restrictions don’t work.
• "Post Misconstrues Public Health Awareness Campaigns About Blood Clots": The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Pfizer tweeted in February about the dangers of blood clots in veins, which are relatively common and affect as many as 900,000 Americans each year. A story shared on social media, however, misleadingly linked those public health reminders to the COVID-19 vaccines.
• "Hunter Biden Left Ukrainian Company in 2019, Contrary to Ted Nugent Post": Hunter Biden served on the board of the Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma Holdings from 2014 to 2019. But Ted Nugent posted a Facebook meme falsely insinuating that Hunter’s payments from the company ended with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

• "Los beneficios de la vacunación contra el COVID-19 superan los riesgos muy infrecuentes de miocarditis, incluso en varones jóvenes": Casos muy infrecuentes de miocarditis han sido notificados tras la aplicación de vacunas de ARNm contra el COVID-19, particularmente en varones jóvenes tras una segunda dosis. La mayoría de los casos se resuelven rápidamente sin necesidad de tratamientos avanzados, aunque las investigaciones de los posibles efectos a largo plazo continúan. No obstante, los beneficios de la vacunación superan los riesgos en todas las poblaciones, incluso en los varones jóvenes.
• "Las vacunas contra el COVID-19 han prevenido muertes, contrario a lo que dice un gráfico engañoso en las redes sociales": Estudios han demostrado que las vacunas contra el COVID-19 han prevenido enfermedades graves y muertes. Pero en internet siguen circulando afirmaciones falsas de que no funcionan. Una de ellas se basa en un gráfico engañoso que muestra las muertes acumuladas en Estados Unidos, pero omite información sobre el número de muertes entre los vacunados y los no vacunados desde que las vacunas están disponibles.