A viral claim stating that six people have died after taking the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine is found to be untrue. The vaccine was recently rolled in the US and a black nurse from New York City became the first person to receive the early dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, on Monday.
As previously reported, the Food and Drug Administration has asked to look out for possible cases of Bell's palsy. The recommendation is issued for those who have either received the Pfizer or Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine.
What is the Truth behind the Viral Claim?
In a viral post made on Facebook, a user wrote a post stating, "6 people dead so far from the covid vaccine, plus another 4 have developed Bells Palsy, a paralysis of the face......but hey, this vaccine is "safe".
To prove the authenticity of the claim, the user also posted a screenshot from a TV news broadcast, reporting that six people died during the trials. The heading in the image read, 'Six People Die During Pfizer Vaccine Trials, FDA is not Concerned.'
However, the claim being made is not entirely true. According to Reuters, six people did die during the trials conducted for the vaccine by the pharma giant, but not all were related to the vaccine. The trial included 44,000 people. Out of the six who died, only two had received the vaccine, while the four were injected with a placebo of salt and water.
'Of the vaccine recipients, one had a cardiac arrest 62 days after a second dose of the two-dose vaccination and died three days later, while the other died from arteriosclerosis three days after a first dose of the vaccination,' reported the outlet.
Among the placebo recipients, one died from myocardial infarction, another from a hemorrhagic stroke while the cause of death for two others remains unknown. In its briefing documents, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wrote, "None of these deaths were assessed by the investigator as related to study intervention. All deaths represent events that occur in the general population of the age groups where they occurred, at a similar rate." The document also included the four incidents of Bell's palsy which occurred during the trials.
Social Media Users Worry About Taking Shots of Vaccine
Even though the viral claim carried traces of hoax, it was enough to send social media into a frenzy. "Think about this, we've not even completed a week yet. Can you imagine how many more will die or get injured over the coming months? More people will die from this than the bloody virus itself. Horrendous !! The media won't tell us the truth either, they will start covering stuff up," an user commented on the viral post.
"God help us I wouldn't have it done anyways," wrote another. "Have you scrutinised the FDA peer-review of the Pfizer vaccine efficacy? Can you explain the 6 deaths and 13 adverse effects during the trial that are recorded on table 3?" tweeted a user.
"#pfizersays one of the deceased covid vax trial participants was "immunocompromised". Yet, one could not be included in the trail unless one was healthy and therefore not immunocompromised," wrote another.
"With two deaths counted so far, this means that the Pfizer vaccine kills at least 0.0001 of all healthy vaccinated subjects, not counting harm that is serious but not lethal. For 1 billion vaccinated, that is 100,000 deaths, and 50,000,000 who suffer the known max 5% harm rate," wrote another.
