Claim: Two claims about COVID-19 conspiracy theories
Source: WhatsApp video
Verdict: Two claims FALSE
Researched by Gifty Tracy Aminu
A 10 minutes and 44 seconds long video being circulated on WhatsApp is promoting several unverified claims and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tagged by WhatsApp as a video that has been “forwarded many times”, the author of the video claims the coronavirus vaccine deployed in Africa is a “systematic plan” to wipe out Africans.
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The video shows a Caucasian lady saying the COVID-19 vaccine being sent to Africa is “fake” and poisonous.
Claim 1
According to the woman, the deployment of the COVID-19 vaccine in Africa is a systematic plan to kill Africans.
“By the year 2050 the population of China is going to be so much so that there is not going to be enough room left in China for them, they want your country, and they don’t want you in it. We are talking about people who hold their noses when you walk past, and they are sending a vaccine? What vaccine? They have not created a vaccine. No country has created a vaccine yet. There is none… What they have done is a systematic plan. They want to wipe you guys out because they want Africa,” She partly said.
Fact-Check
“COVID-19 vaccines save lives and protect people from severe illness and death from the virus. The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines globally and in Africa, including through the COVAX facility, is designed to save lives, protect people and help bring an end to the pandemic,” the World Health Organization (WHO) told GhanaFact.
According to the WHO Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (AIRA) Secretariat, immunization is a global health and development success story. “It’s also one of the best health investments money can buy. We now have vaccines to prevent more than 20 life-threatening diseases, helping people everywhere live longer, healthier lives.”
Immunization currently prevents 2-3 million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza, and measles. In Africa, mass vaccination campaigns helped the continent get rid of the wild poliovirus just last year.
The roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines builds on this long history of saving lives and protecting people through immunization, the WHO emphasized.
Verdict
The claim that the COVID-19 vaccine was developed to kill Africans is rated FALSE.
Claim 2
According to the woman, no country has produced a coronavirus vaccine yet and that those sent to Africa are “fake” and poisonous.
“No country has developed a vaccine for coronavirus yet. It does not exist. So, they did not send one to you. They have sent poison. Poison. Ebola has just been discovered again in the Democratic Republic of Congo, so now we are going to have another outbreak of Ebola while coronavirus is going and a white man is sending a fake vaccine. As I said no country has developed the vaccine for coronavirus yet. It doesn’t exist.” She partly said.
Fact-Check
“As of April 12th, 42 African countries have started vaccinating people for COVID-19 and nearly 13 million doses have been administered on the continent.” The WHO told GhanaFact.
According to the WHO Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (AIRA) Secretariat, as of April 12th, 33 African countries have received COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility, which is a global initiative to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for up to 20% of people in African countries.
COVAX only distributes vaccines that have received the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL). EUL is the WHO gold standard to confirm the quality, safety, and efficacy of vaccines used in a public health emergency.
So far, three COVID-19 vaccines have received WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL), the Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Other vaccines are under review for EUL including the Novavax, Moderna, Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.
Verdict
The second claim is rated as FALSE.
