Amid surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, India on Sunday marks 100 days since the start of its vaccination drive which began on January 16 this year. In just 99 days, India has become the fastest country to administer 14 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare. In the phase 1 of the Covid-19 immunisation programme which was launched on January 16 this year, all health and frontline workers were eligible to take the shot. In phase 1 of the vaccination drive, immunisation was initiated in two parts on March 1 and on April 1. All people above the age of 60 years and those over 45 years with comorbidities were allowed to take the vaccine in this phase.
With the aim to control the second wave of Covid-19 in the country, India will expand immunisation to include its entire adult population, i.e, all citizens above the age of 18 years under the phase 3 of the vaccination strategy from May 1. Meanwhile, a viral clip from Mexico showing an old man being administered a vaccine using an empty syringe has been shared on social media with false claims.
In April, India approved Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, the country is so far administering two vaccines, one developed by Astra Zeneca and Oxford University and the other by Hyderabad based firm by Bharat Biotech. The 30 second viral clip shows a closer look of the health worker administering the vaccine with an empty syringe to an elderly man.
The video was shared by several users on Twitter with the claim, “Watch closely. The injection is withdrawn without administering the vaccine! So be alert big racket in hospital in India”
On performing a reverse image search of one of the keyframes of the viral video, a report by a Colombia-based newspaper El Tiempo was found, which stated that the incident took place in Mexico. Several news articles were there too, which also stated the viral video is from Mexico.
Aristegui Noticias, an independent news site in Mexico, stated that the video shows a “volunteer vaccinator” with the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), a government body that assists public health. She had reportedly injected the adult with an empty syringe and was removed from her services when the matter came to light.
The IMSS had also tweeted about the incident, which took place on 3 April, clarifying that the vaccine was later applied correctly to the adult, “without major complications, in the presence of his family.”
Zoé Robledo Aburto, general director of the Mexican Institute of Social Security (or Instituto Mexicano del Seguro in Spanish) (IMSS), considered that it could be “a human error” that an older adult was vaccinated against COVID-19 with an empty syringe in the Zacatenco Unit of the National Polytechnic Institute ( IPN) for which, he indicated, an investigation of the case has already been initiated, reported El Universal on April 5, 2021.
Evidently, a video from Mexico is being falsely shared as an incident in India
