{"id":29712,"date":"2021-09-22T15:43:09","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T15:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/media.am\/?p=29712"},"modified":"2021-09-28T17:36:57","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T17:36:57","slug":"coronamyths-september-1-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/verified\/2021\/09\/22\/29712\/","title":{"rendered":"CoronaMyths: September 1-15"},"content":{"rendered":"

September was full of new vaccination initiatives, the organizers of which did not fail to spread old and new myths and false rumors about the coronavirus during their campaigns. The new <\/span>draft<\/span><\/a> of the Government created fertile ground for the activation of anti-vaccination movements, according to which public servants and employees of a number of spheres are obliged to submit to their employers either a negative result to COVID-19 PCR tests or certification of vaccination.<\/span><\/p>\n

The press began to <\/span>give a voice<\/span><\/a> to lawyers, who gave advice on how not to get vaccinated or tested and avoid losing jobs. A <\/span>petition<\/span><\/a> began on pages carrying out anti-vaccination propaganda calling for the dismissal of the Minister of Justice Anahit Avanesyan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Media.am summarizes the misinformation and myths related to coronavirus infection and vaccinations in the first half of September.<\/span><\/p>\n

Will immunoglobulin G “free” you from having to take the vaccine?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u274c Earlier this month, discussions began on Facebook that it is possible to avoid the obligation of getting vaccinated in educational institutions or taking a PCR test every two weeks by taking an immunoglobulin G test.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ministry of Health <\/span>referred to<\/span><\/a> those who disseminated the information, calling their assertion misinformation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f There are two types of antibodies: IgM (or immunoglobulin M) and IgG (or immunoglobulin G). The presence of the former means that the person is currently infected, while the presence of immunoglobulin G indicates that he has been infected in the past. To date, however, <\/span>it is not known<\/span><\/a> how much a person is protected from the risk of re-infection with a coronavirus if they test positive for antibodies. Having antibodies does not rule out the possibility of coronavirus infection. FIP.am <\/span>touched upon<\/span><\/a> the topic in detail.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is the vaccine in the third phase of testing?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u274c Marina Khachatryan, a pioneer in anti-vaccination campaigns and now working at the Mikaelyan Institute of Surgery, <\/span>posted<\/span><\/a> on her YouTube channel on September 11 that the\u00a0 Minister of Health Anahit Avanesyan had announced in <\/span>April<\/span><\/a> that vaccines were not being registered at the moment because they were still in the 3rd phase of testing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f Marina Khachatryan did not mention that the video is 6 months old.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f Avanesyan’s speech was incompletely presented: In the <\/span>full video<\/span><\/a>, the Minister says that it is important to differentiate the stages of clinical trials.<\/span><\/p>\n

“\u2024\u2024\u2024 The third stage is the stage of mass use, which is a normal procedural stage. Due to the nature of the pandemic, the use of the vaccine is allowed by such a mechanism,” Avanesyan said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The more we get vaccinated, the more the disease increases?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The short answer is no.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u274c Pastark.am <\/span>published<\/span><\/a> an article with such a headline, “Anahit Avanesyan stated that the more we vaccinate, the more the disease increases.” Pastark.am also attached a <\/span>video<\/span><\/a> to the news, in which the Minister of Health spoke during the September 16 sitting of the government.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f Watching the video, we understand that Avanesyan did not say such a thing. Instead, she spoke about the increase in the proportion of deaths due to the Delta strain and its extremely severe course, emphasizing that 97-98% of hospitalizations are made up of citizens who have not been vaccinated or have not been fully vaccinated.<\/span><\/p>\n

The coronavirus, according to Ara Zohrabyan<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The President of the Chamber of Advocates Ara Zohrabyan <\/span>posted<\/span><\/a> on his Facebook page about coronavirus vaccinations and the new rules introduced by the government. A number of mistakes and manipulations were noticeable in those publications.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u274c Zohrabyan claimed that the coronavirus was an artificial virus created for a specific purpose. According to him, the vaccines against the infection have not been properly tested, and the doctors do not have a common attitude towards the vaccines: some consider them harmful to human health.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f In August 2021, US intelligence released the <\/span>results<\/span><\/a> of a study that confirmed the scientists’ initial claim that there was insufficient evidence to claim that the coronavirus was artificially created.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f Vaccines used in Armenia, with the exception of Sputnik V, are approved by the World Health Organization (<\/span>Reference 1<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Reference 2<\/span><\/a>). <\/span>Sputnik V<\/span><\/a> is approved by a number of countries in <\/span>South America<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Asia<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Europe<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The authoritative scientific journal Nature <\/span>notes<\/span><\/a> that there are several reasons for the speed with which the vaccine was created: research which had already been done in previous years was used, huge financial resources were invested, which allowed for several experiments to take place in parallel, reducing the testing time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Media.am touched upon Ara Zohrabyan’s false allegations in a separate <\/span>article<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hydrogen peroxide will also not save you<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u274c Facebook user Asta Aria’s <\/span>post<\/span><\/a> with 128 shares claimed that hydrogen peroxide “can be taken not only orally, but also intravenously, mixed with physiotherapy.” According to the user, this should be done after the coronavirus vaccination, because the vaccine turns people into “controllable robots” and it is necessary to “wash” their veins.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f This information is not only wrong but also dangerous\u2024 Internal use of hydrogen peroxide is not permitted and may be dangerous. It can break down and destroy not only harmful organisms on the skin but also healthy skin cells. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers hydrogen peroxide safe to use on non-living surfaces. The Health Ministry <\/span>notes<\/span><\/a> that hydrogen peroxide can damage the living cell membrane, its DNA, and other vital components of the cell.<\/span><\/p>\n

The “Army of Light” and the new myths about vaccines<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On September 7, Live News <\/span>hosted<\/span><\/a> Karen Arayan, a member of the “<\/span>Army of Light<\/span><\/a>” NGO, and lawyer Emil Markosyan. They made a number of false statements about the infection and vaccines in the interview. Let’s review them in order:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u274c The vaccines are marked “experimental.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f No, it is not marked. Vaccine activists have probably confused the EXP (EXPIRYDATE) label on the vaccine with experimental. EXP means expiration date.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u274c PCR testing is free for tourists.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f No, it is not free. The state provides free testing in case a person with coronavirus symptoms needs immediate hospitalization, whether a citizen of the Republic of Armenia or a foreigner.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u274c The Ministry does not warn about side effects.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f It does give a warning. You can read the details about the side effects <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can get acquainted with the false statements of Karen Arayan and Emil Markosyan and their denials in detail in this Media.am <\/span>article<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Has the World Bank set a deadline for the virus?<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The guest of LIVEnews.am’s “Second Opinion” program was Dmitri Harutyunyan, an infectious disease doctor and member of the “Free Will” initiative, who is also against vaccinations. During the <\/span>interview<\/span><\/a>, he repeated the rather unfounded information that the World Bank announced that the pandemic would end on March 31, 2025.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u274c “Are you going to keep telling people to go and get vaccinated? Because the World Bank has already announced that the pandemic will end on March 31, 2025.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2714\ufe0f The World Bank has not made such a statement. Instead, in April 2020, it published a report on strategic plans, which reflects a number of measures to be implemented by 2025. Measures include repairing damage caused by COVID-19.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Ophelia Simonyan<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

September was full of new vaccination initiatives, the organizers of which did not fail to spread old and new myths and false rumors about the coronavirus during their campaigns. The new draft of the Government created fertile ground for the activation of anti-vaccination movements, according to which public servants and employees of a number of Read the full article…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-verified","author_posts-ophelia-simonyan-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29712"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29712\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29713,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29712\/revisions\/29713"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/media.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}