Many claims are being made on social media about the vaccine many days before the Kovid vaccination program started in India from January 16.
The government has asked people to take the vaccine, ignoring the ‘rumors and misinformation’. Here is the truth behind some of these widely spread claims.
Claim: the vaccine will make you impotent
A Uttar Pradesh leader made such an allegation without giving any proof. Samajwadi Party leader Ashutosh Sinha says, “I think there is something in the vaccine that can cause harm. You can become impotent or do anything at all.”
Party president Akhilesh Yadav has expressed doubts about the vaccine earlier. He called the vaccine after the ruling party BJP as ‘BJP vaccine’.
But there is no evidence to prove that the vaccine will make you impotent. This claim has also been described by India’s largest drug regulator as ‘utter nonsense’.
The vaccine has been described as completely safe, although it has been said that it may cause mild fever and pain. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan also rejected this claim.
This is not the first time that the rumor of impotence has become a roadblock to vaccination program in India. Such rumors spread even when vaccination started in India a few decades ago on eradication of polio.
Many people refused to take the vaccine because of it. Then there was no truth in this claim and this time also no evidence exists about this claim.
Claim: Vaccine to be expensive in US and England
There is another widely circulated false claim, comparing India with the United States and England, saying that the vaccine is free in India, but in the United States and England, you have to pay the price for it.
A Twitter user has posted that in the US, 5000 will have to be paid for the vaccine and Rs 3000 in England, while in India it will be available for free.
The tweet was taken by the Hindi news channel ABP News but later removed. The prices stated in it were not correct at all.
The US government has said that no cost will be levied for the vaccine for Kovid, although there may be a fee for these.
But a large number of Americans will not have to pay this fee due to health insurance. And those who do not have health insurance will be covered under the Special Kovid Relief Fund. So they will not have to pay any money.
Even the claim made about England is not correct. There is no money for vaccines under UK healthcare. This service is run by tax money and the treatment of patients is free.
It is true that in the initial phase the vaccination program will be run in India for free. In this round the vaccine will be given to health workers and frontliners. But the government has not yet clarified what will happen next.
The Indian government along with vaccine spellers has tried to keep the vaccine price low. At least in the early stages.
Claim: Pork in India’s Covid Vaccine
Some Islamic scholars in India have said that no Muslims should take the Kovid vaccine as pork may have been added to them. But the truth is that pork has not been used in both the vaccines being manufactured in India.
Although pork gelatin is used as a stabilizer in vaccines of some diseases. In Islam, things made with pork are considered haram.
This issue has caught a lot of emphasis on Twitter. A lot of posts are being shared about this on Twitter, in which Muslims are being told that the Kovid vaccine is not ‘halal’ although it is not discussing any specific vaccine.
Currently, two Corona vaccines have been approved in India, including Covishield, which is the local name for the vaccine created in the UK with the help of Oxford-AstraZeneca. The second vaccine is called covicin. This has been developed by Bharat Biotech. Pork is not used in both of them.
One of the two other important Kovid vaccines is made by Pfizer and one by Moderna. Pork gelatin has not been used in either of these vaccines.
The items used in the vaccine have been mentioned by the Chinese companies, but no Chinese company has been allowed to use the vaccine in India yet.
Controversies have also arisen in some other countries regarding the Chinese vaccine. For example, a dispute has arisen over its use in Muslim-majority Indonesia. It is permitted to use the Synovac vaccine prepared by the Chinese company.
Claim: The vaccine has microchip
Like other countries, India’s social media is also making such false claims that microchips have been kept in the vaccine.
In a short video, a Muslim religious leader is seen saying that there is a chip in the vaccine that will control your mind. The video went viral on Facebook and Twitter earlier this month.
Microchip is not part of any vaccine, although this claim has been repeatedly spread by conspiratorial thinking groups all over the world.
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