On December 3, the European Commission’s Democracy Action Plan report was published, stating that Russia and China were conducting disinformation campaigns on the coronavirus. The document mentioned about 550 facts from “pro-Kremlin sources” that revealed false news.

This is not the first time the West has officially announced the spread of false news by the Kremlin or sources close to the Kremlin. Numerous such cases have been reported since the coronavirus outbreak.

The Russian side categorically denies the accusations, calling them misinformation, and in turn, speaks on various occasions about the falsifications spreading from the west.

Over the past day or two, we have reported misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine in both the Western and Russian media.

Deaths from Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine trials, according to Russian media

On December 10, Russian media reported that six people had died after testing the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 in the United States. The media referred to the report published by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Be reminded that the vaccine was created by the American Pfizer and German BioNTech companies.

Some Kazakh and Ukrainian sources went further and mentioned that 6 people died due to the Pfizer-BioNTech test.

The mentioned sources distort the content of the report in the headlines and create the impression that 6 deaths were registered due to the American vaccine.

Let’s try to evaluate the headlines by studying some very important undiscovered facts:

? Six volunteers really did die during Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine trials, but the FDA report did not say the deaths were linked to vaccine administration.

? The report clearly states that only 2 of the 6 people who died were vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the other 4 were in the placebo group, ie they were injected with a substance without obvious healing properties, the effect of which is related to the patient’s belief in the drug.

? One of the deceased patients had atherosclerosis and obesity and died on the third day after vaccination. The other patient had a heart attack 62 days after receiving the second vaccine. Both were over 55 years old.

? The third possible fact is that 38,000 people took part in the experiments, of which six died, which is 0.0157% of the total number. Deaths recorded during the vaccination (reporting) period cannot speak to the effectiveness of the vaccine, as it is necessary to go through all the stages for the final evaluation and finally consider the result.

Turkey has not refused the Russian vaccine

On December 9, Western news sources, citing Turkish Haber Turk, widely reported that Turkey had officially refused the Russian vaccine. Articles about this were prepared by Reuters, The star.com, nationalpost.com and other news outlets. It was mentioned that Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Kocan announced the refusal of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, citing its non-compliance with laboratory standards. The media also mentioned that this announcement was posted on the official website of the ministry.

This statement was followed by the denial of the “Russian Direct Investment Fund.”

“The news of Turkey’s refusal of Sputnik V is an attack by rivals or false information spread for political motives,” the statement said.

The words attributed to Fahret Kojan were followed by the statement of the spokesman of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov that the results of the testing of the Russian vaccine testify to its reliability.

The news of the refusal of the Russian Sputnik V was also denied by Turkey. In an interview with RIA Novosti, the Turkish Ministry of Health said that what happened was the result of a misunderstanding. The representative of the ministry called on Fahret Kojan’s latest statement on this topic to be taken as a basis.

Let us remind you that on September 2, the latter announced that the use of Russian vaccines would be allowed in the near future. As for the dissemination of the announcement by official sources, it should be noted that such information was not published on the website of the ministry.

Although this news was officially denied by Turkey, the Armenian media continue to write that Turkey refuses to buy the Russian vaccine against coronavirus.

It should be noted that the development of a vaccine against COVID-19 has begun in dozens of countries, more than a hundred samples have been developed. At the moment, one of the leaders is the drug of the American company Moderna, the effectiveness of which is estimated at 94.5%. In recent days, the final round of clinical trials was completed by the coronavirus vaccine, co-developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which is 70% effective against the coronavirus.

Experts, however, continue to insist that the advent of the vaccine does not mean victory over the deadly virus. The basic rules of protection against infection, which have been effective to date, must remain in force: observance of the rules of social distancing, hygiene and wearing masks.

Ofelia Simonyan