A piece of fake news has been doing rounds on different social mediums mainly on WhatsApp and Twitter, claiming that Bharat Biotech Vice President Dr. V.K. Srinivas has taken the Covid-19 vaccine as part of the vaccine’s clinical trial. The image post went viral after ICMR has released a letter saying that the research for the novel coronavirus vaccine in partnership with Bharat Biotech is under progress and it is envisaged to launch the vaccine latest by August 15.
Several social media users have posted the image with the caption, “Dr. V.K Srinivas, Vice President, Bharat biotech, taking Corona vaccine… Clinical trial immediately after taking the first dose he said that he is the first person in India to take vaccine developed by him and his team in Bharat Biotech Look at the confidence that they have in their product.”
We at News Sense found the claim to be misleading and thus contacted Bharat Biotech, who has denied that the image is of clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine. Moreover, they clarified that the viral picture is of “routine procedural blood draw for testing all production staff”.
Soon after Bharat Biotech also clarified through twitter, refuting the claim. “Certain images and messages being circulated on WhatsApp and other social media platforms have NOT been disseminated by Bharat Biotech. The image being circulated is a routine procedural blood draw for testing all production staff”, the statement from Bharat Biotech said.
Thus, we can say that the image with the claim that is doing round as VP of Bharat Biotech taking the COVID vaccine test is Fake.
Claim: Bharat Biotech, Vice President taking COVID Vaccine Test.
Conclusion: The image is of the routine procedural test of Bharat Biotech’s production staffs.
The whole world is anxiously waitng for a vaccine that will put an hold on the deaths and devastation caused by the COVID19 for past 7 months. But until that happens, uncertainity and fear are generating a long list of falsehoods about this topic. Therefore we at News Sense take extra caution in releasing any story related to COVID-19 vaccines.
NB: Don’t share or forward any misleading information on your social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, by doing so you are also becoming someone, who is creating panic and confusion among the larger mass and this is a punishable offense.
