Needles “Disappearing”
BBC News footage is being used as proof on social media to prove that Covid-19 vaccines, which are fake, are not real and that press events displaying people being injected were staged.
Anti-vaccine campaigners are sharing the clip from a BBC TV report. Anti-vaccine campaigners claim that fake syringes with “disappearing” needles are being used by authorities to promote a vaccine they don’t know exists.
One version that was posted to Twitter has received more than 20,000 retweets, likes and half a millimeter views. Another important spreader of this video was suspended.
These posts feature real footage of healthcare professionals using a safety needle. The needle retracts into its body after being used.
Safety syringes are widely used for more than a decade. They are used to protect patients and medical personnel from injury and infection.
Since the beginning of vaccine rollout, there have been numerous claims about fake needles.
One photo showed an Australian politician holding a syringe to her arm. The needle was clearly covered with safety glasses.
In reality, however, the video showed Annastacia Palaszczuk, Queensland premier, posing for cameras after she received a flu shot in April. This video has been viewed close to 400,000 times on Twitter.
Because the injection was too fast, photographers asked for more photos.
Alabama has not seen a single nurse die.
Alabama’s Public Health Authorities issued a statement condemning misinformation after the false claim that a nurse died from taking the coronavirus vaccination.
Just a few days ago, the state began injecting its first citizens with this 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. These posts are false.
A Facebook post claimed that one of the first nurses to be given the Covid vaccine in Alabama was found dead. There is no evidence that this happened.
One user claimed it happened to her aunt, and she posted text messages conversations in which she stated she had exchanged texts with the friend.
Although some of the original posts regarding the nurse have been removed from the internet, screenshots can still be shared and commented upon. One of the screenshots suggests that the incident occurred in Tuscaloosa (Alabama).
According to the city hospital, the first Covid vaccine was administered in the morning of 17/12/12 – just after Tuscaloosa was mentioned via Facebook.
The US Centers for Disease Control reported that they had not received any reports of deaths in the United States as a result of the coronavirus vaccine.
Although the posts were deemed “false” by Facebook, some users claim that the “powers-that-be” are trying to hide it.
Video by ‘Experts contains many false claims
This 30-minute video, which was posted as the first UK citizens received the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in April, makes a number of unsubstantiated and false claims about the pandemic.
The film is called “Ask experts” and features 30 contributors from many countries including the UK, USA, Belgium, Sweden, and Sweden. One of the contributors to the film, “Ask the experts”, describes Covid-19 as the “greatest hoax ever”.
It starts with claims that there is no real medical pandemic and that the coronavirus vaccine has not been proven safe or effective due to lack of time.
These claims are false.
BBC wrote extensively about the fact that any vaccine approved to be used against coronavirus will have undergone rigorous testing for safety and efficacy. Although Covid-19 vaccines are being developed at an incredible pace, safety has been maintained through all steps.
“The only difference between the phases is that some stages overlapped so phase three of the trial, when tens to thousands of people get the vaccine, started while phase two was still being conducted,” Rachel Schraer, BBC Health reporter, says.
Others in the video make the same unfounded claims.
There are also a lot of incorrect theories regarding the technology behind Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine. Because of the pandemic, Pfizer has given the pharmaceutical industry permission to “skip animal trials…we humans are the guinea-pigs.”
This is false. Before they were licensed, the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna vaccines had been extensively tested on animals.
Olga Robinson, a BBC Monitoring disinformation expert, said that the video was uploaded to a platform that aims to be an alternative YouTube.
Sites like these, which promise low content moderation have become a popular choice for users who are being kicked off of major social media platforms to spread misinformation.