Why do some folks think that seven children have died in a mass COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Senegal?
The usual suspects…
About That Mass COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign in Senegal…
Although 115 COVID-19 vaccines are in development right now, only 5 are in early Phase I clinical trials.
- mRNA-1273 (Moderna)
- Ad5-nCoV (CanSino Biologicals)
- INO-4800 (Inovio)
- LV-SMENP-DC and pathogen-specific aAPC (Shenzhen Geno-Immune Medical Institute)
Not surprisingly, none of these clinical trials are in Senegal.
And if you understand anything about vaccines, you know that early Phase 1 clinical trials don’t even include mass vaccination campaigns. They are very small trials.
What else should you know?
The first COVID-19 clinical trials are focusing on adults, not children.
So even though there is no COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial in Senegal, anti-vax folks are spreading ‘news’ about a mass vaccination campaign in which “the first 7 children who received” a COVID-19 vaccine “died on the spot.”
Why?
Are they trying to get a jump on scaring folks away from vaccinating and protecting themselves once the COVID-19 vaccine is available?
It is also possible that the meme about vaccine deaths in Senegal appeared as a reaction to the suggestion of doing BCG vaccine trials against COVID-19 in Africa.
“Two French doctors have been accused of racism after a TV debate in which one suggested trials in Africa to see if a tuberculosis vaccine would prove effective against coronavirus.
During the debate on TV channel LCI, Camille Locht, head of research at the Inserm health research group, was talking about a trial in Europe and Australia.
Jean-Paul Mira, head of intensive care at Cochin hospital in Paris, then says: “If I can be provocative, shouldn’t we be doing this study in Africa, where there are no masks, no treatments, no resuscitation?”
Coronavirus: France racism row over doctors’ Africa testing comments
Although some thought the suggestion was racist, it is important to note that the doctors weren’t saying that they should only be done in Africa, but that countries in Africa should also be included in trials that are already starting in Europe and Australia.
However it started, the meme about vaccine deaths is clearly anti-vaccine propaganda and should be ignored.
More on the COVID-19 Vaccine
- Senegalese children did not die from a coronavirus vaccine (which does not yet exist)
- False Claim of Deadly Coronavirus Vaccine Trial in Africa
- [Watch] A test of the Covid-19 vaccine on children in Senegal? What does this video really show?
- What Has Dr. Fauci Said About a COVID-19 Vaccine?
- What You Need to Know About a COVID-19 Vaccine
- The AV Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Get All of Your COVID-19 Questions Answered
- The Second COVID-19 Wave Might Not Be COVID-19
- CEPI publishes analysis of COVID-19 vaccine development landscape
- WHO – DRAFT landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines –20March2020
- HHS Accelerates Clinical Trials, Prepares for Manufacturing of COVID-19 Vaccines
- ‘Why I’m Participating In One Of The First Human Trials For A COVID-19 Vaccine’
- 2nd coronavirus vaccine trial begins in the U.S., with a pinch and a zap
- Coronavirus: France racism row over doctors’ Africa testing comments
- How Far Are We From a Coronavirus Vaccine?
- COVID-19 vaccines – rampant myths as annoying as Del Bigtree’s claims
- Developing a COVID-19 Vaccine is Only Half the Battle
- COVID-19 conspiracy theories: Vaccines and 5G (along with Bill Gates) are responsible!
- Coronavirus vaccine testing – pro-vaxxers want to “take a risk” with testing
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the willingness to blatantly invent things that aren’t true to demonize vaccines. But I am.