As India reels under the second wave of Covid-19, several false claims and myths have been going viral on the internet. One such false claim is – India’s indigenous Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, manufactured by Bharat Biotech, has been approved for emergency use authorisation for children above the age of 12 years. The Centre has busted the viral claim as fake news.
What is the claim?
On May 8, 2021, a tweet had claimed that the government has approved Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children above the age of 12. The tweet said, “Great News: Bharat Biotech’s (Made in India) Covaxin Approved for Children.”
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A screenshot of the tweet showed it had been retweeted more than 6,500 times and received over 27 thousand likes on Twitter.
Government busts fake claim:
On May 9, 2021, the Centre rubbished the claim and called it fake news. The clarification by the central government came via the Press Information Bureau (PIB) official fact check handle on Twitter.
The government tweeted a screenshot of the fake news message, over which it wrote: “Government has not approved Bharat Biotech’s vaccine children above 12 years”.
PIB Fact Check tweeted saying, “A tweet has claimed that Bharat Biotech’s vaccine, Covaxin, has been approved for children above 12 years. #PIBFactCheck: This claim is #Fake. No such approval has been given by the Government of India. Currently, citizens above the age of 18 are eligible for #COVID19Vaccination.”
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The Centre has expanded its Covid vaccination drive to all adults but not for anyone under 18 currently. In phase 3 of the vaccination drive that is currently underway across India, people between the age of 18 to 44 are eligible to get their vaccine jabs. Before this, people above the age of 45 were cleared for vaccination in Phase 2, and Phase 1 was for frontline workers.
Neither Covaxin nor any vaccine in India has been approved for children. Even in the US, the Pfizer vaccine is yet to receive approval for 12 to 15-year-olds.above 12 years”.
A screenshot of the tweet showed it had been retweeted more than 6,500 times and received over 27 thousand likes on Twitter.
Government busts fake claim:
On May 9, 2021, the Centre rubbished the claim and called it fake news. The clarification by the central government came via the Press Information Bureau (PIB) official fact check handle on Twitter.
The government tweeted a screenshot of the fake news message, over which it wrote: “Government has not approved Bharat Biotech’s vaccine children above 12 years”.
PIB Fact Check tweeted saying, “A tweet has claimed that Bharat Biotech’s vaccine, Covaxin, has been approved for children above 12 years. #PIBFactCheck: This claim is #Fake. No such approval has been given by the Government of India. Currently, citizens above the age of 18 are eligible for #COVID19Vaccination.”
Advertisement
The Centre has expanded its Covid vaccination drive to all adults but not for anyone under 18 currently. In phase 3 of the vaccination drive that is currently underway across India, people between the age of 18 to 44 are eligible to get their vaccine jabs. Before this, people above the age of 45 were cleared for vaccination in Phase 2, and Phase 1 was for frontline workers.
Neither Covaxin nor any vaccines in India have been approved for children. In fact, even in the US, the Pfizer vaccine is yet to receive approval for 12 to 15-year-olds.
