Bhakdi's claims, in particular in his YouTube videos and in the book
Corona Fehlalarm?, have been extensively fact-checked and found to be variously unsubstantiated, misleading, or false.
[31][32]
In Germany, fact-checking activity has included articles at
dpa,
[33] SWR3[34] and the German non-profit
correctiv.org.
[22] On the basis of fact checks by Correctiv, ZDF, die Welt, Der Spiegel and Bayerischer Rundfunk, the Süddeutsche Zeitung summed up: "What
Wodarg and Bhakdi say is not completely wrong, but they mix facts with speculation and disinformation."
[35]
Correctiv fact-checked one of Bhakdi's YouTube videos, and found a number of problematic claims, including the claim that any
COVID-19 vaccine would be "pointless", and that the virus posed no more threat than
influenza.
[22]
Writing for
Foreign Policy, Tyson Barker (Head of
DGAP's Technology & Global Affairs Program)
[36] described Bhakdi as a prominent example from a "crop of debunked but credentialed so-called experts minting conspiracy theories and undermining fact-based information".
[37]
In October 2020 the University of Mainz issued a statement to the effect that it does not support Bhakdi's views.
[5][38]