Topic: Covid vaccine: ‘Disappearing’ needles and other rumours debunked
BBC News footage is being passed off as “proof” on social media that Covid-19 vaccines are fake, and that press events showing people being injected have been staged.
The clip, from a report which aired on BBC TV this week, is being shared by anti-vaccine campaigners. They claim fake syringes with “disappearing needles” are being used in an attempt by the authorities to promote a vaccine that doesn’t exist.
One version posted on Twitter has had more than 20,000 retweets and likes, and half a million views. Another major spreader of the video has been suspended.
The posts use genuine footage showing healthcare professionals using a safety syringe, in which the needle retracts into the body of the device after use.
Safety syringes have been in widespread use for over a decade. They protect medical staff and patients from injuries and infection.
It’s not the first time claims of fake needles have appeared since vaccine roll out began.
One showed an Australian politician posing with a syringe next to her arm, the needle clearly covered with a safety cap, with claims that her Covid-19 vaccination had been faked.
But in reality, it showed Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk posing for the cameras after receiving a flu vaccine in April. The video has had close to 400,000 views on Twitter.
Photographers had asked for more photos because the real injection happened too quickly.
Public Health authorities in Alabama released a statement condemning “misinformation” after a false story that a nurse died after taking the coronavirus vaccine spread on Facebook.
The state had just started injecting its first citizens with the jab.
After being alerted to the rumours, the department of public health contacted all vaccine-administering hospitals in the state and “confirmed there have been no deaths of vaccine recipients. The posts are untrue.”
Topic Discussed: Covid vaccine: ‘Disappearing’ needles and other rumours debunked
