CLAIM: A preprint paper by the prestigious Oxford University Clinical Research Group, published Aug. 10 in The Lancet, found vaccinated individuals carry 251 times the load of COVID-19 viruses in their nostrils compared to the unvaccinated. AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The study is being misrepresented. It found vaccinated health care workers with breakthrough infections caused by the coronavirus delta variant had higher viral loads — the amount of virus detected in a person — compared to patients infected with earlier strains of the virus. Furthermore, other studies that compare the viral loads between vaccinated and unvaccinated delta patients found similar amounts … Read more