A look at what didn’t happen last week
Here’s a look at false and misleading claims circulating as the United States rolled out the newly authorized Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:
ALABAMA NURSE DID NOT DIE FROM RECEIVING COVID-19 VACCINE
CLAIM: A 42-year-old nurse in Alabama died after she received the COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday.
THE FACTS: No health care workers died after Alabama began administering COVID-19 vaccines to them on Tuesday. Yet posts online began falsely claiming a nurse had died after receiving the vaccine.
The posts circulated on Facebook and Twitter, with some users suggesting it was their aunt who had died or they had received the information from a close friend. Social media users shared screenshots of text messages that said, “omg just found out my aunt dead,” and also said the woman’s family did not want her name revealed. Some online posts suggested a nurse who died of COVID-19 had instead died after receiving the vaccine.
The posts were shared by accounts that had previously shared anti-vaccine misinformation. “And so it starts… A 42 y/o nurse in Alabama found dead 8-10 hours after the va((ine,” one post on Facebook said.
After being contacted by the AP, Alabama Department of Public Health officials checked with the hospitals that administered the COVID-19 vaccine to confirm the information being shared online was false. The department released a statement on social media to combat the misinformation. “The posts are untrue,” the department said. “No persons who received a COVID19 vaccine in Alabama have died.”
The posts online claimed the nurse had died from a severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis. Those with a history of allergic reactions are being told to not get the vaccine after two health care workers in England suffered reactions. Those two people have since recovered.
— Beatrice Dupuy
BBC FOOTAGE SHOWS COVID-19 VACCINATION WITH RETRACTABLE NEEDLE
CLAIM: Video shows health care worker faking giving the COVID-19 vaccine in England with a “disappearing needle.”
THE FACTS: The video does not show a staged shot. As video footage of COVID-19 vaccinations floods news channels and social platforms, some social media users are misrepresenting those videos to create a false narrative that health care workers are not actually being inoculated.
The posts are being shared by people who oppose vaccines in order to spread doubt about the vaccine and the pandemic. Social media users are amplifying these false claims by sharing a nine-second BBC clip from Wednesday that shows a health care worker administering a vaccine into the arm of a patient. The needle retracts after the vaccine is injected.
One Twitter video that falsely suggests the medical worker is faking the inoculation has been viewed more than 420,000 times. “Disappearing needles!! There soo desperate, come on!!” one tweet said. Another said, “So far I have yet to see a real vaccine given to a patient. All fakes. May I present to you, the disappearing needle…Remember those collapsible toy knives we used to play with as kids?”
In reality, the videos show a health care worker using a safety syringe, which is retractable to prevent needlestick injuries that can spread diseases like hepatitis. Safety syringes have no impact on the amount of vaccine someone gets and are no different from receiving the vaccine through a traditional needle, said Dr. Craig Spencer, director of Global Health in Emergency Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. Spencer received the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday.
BBC debunked the claims earlier Thursday. A BBC spokesperson told the AP that the footage was genuine and showed a health care worker using a safety syringe.
— Beatrice Dupuy
COVID-19 VACCINE DOES NOT CONTAIN LIVE VIRUS
CLAIM: The vaccine contains the virus. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this.
THE FACTS: A clip of Johnson mistaking the word “virus” for “vaccine” is being misrepresented online to falsely claim that the vaccine contains the live virus.
During a press conference on Dec. 2, Johnson announced the British government had accepted the vaccine created by Pfizer and BioNTech for distribution. As he was discussing the logistical challenges of distributing the vaccine, including the temperature required to store the vaccine, Johnson misspoke.
“The virus has got to be stored at -70 degrees,” he said while talking about the vaccine. Posts online sharing the clip claimed that Johnson “slipped up and told the truth” that the government wanted to inject its citizens with the virus and encouraged British citizens to reject the vaccine. “It’s time to wakey wakey people! The vaxxine is the virus! Boris Johnson tells you straight up! When are you going to believe your eyes & ears? Retweet!!!!!” said one tweet that included the video of Johnson’s gaffe.
All the vaccines developed in the U.S. do not contain the live virus and will not cause anyone to test positive for the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vaccines work by helping the immune system identify the virus to fight it.