An image created in jest showing Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine as a vaporizing cartridge or 'vape' is doing the rounds of social media with several people believing it to be true.
The image shows a vaporizing cartridge that is used in electronic cigarettes and is inhaled which is packaged exhibiting Pfizer-like branding. The packaging in itself has signs which clearly suggest that the product is not the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Pfizer has even told Reuters that this product is fake.
While, the image was first created as satire, several social media users started questioning if the vaccine was truly made in China as shown on the package.
The image was first shared on December 19. Several Indian users also picked up the image and shared it on their social media. It is noteworthy to understand that Pfizer has not submitted its data to the India drug controller and regulator, yet even though it has sought emergency use.
Another Facebook user, however, believed that this is actually the COVID-19 vaccine. His caption reads: Get ready, the medicine for Corona is here (Transliterated from Hindi: Taiyar ho jao, corona ki dawai aane waali hai)
Fact Check
As mentioned earlier, the packaging has three errors to identify that this is a fake product and not the vaccine.
Firstly, a quote below the Pfizer logo reads, "makers of the boner pill". Pfizer does manufacture 'Viagra" but does not use it anywhere in its branding. This quote highlights that this product is not produced by the pharmaceutical.
Secondly. the packaging shows a Made in China mark. The vaccine has been manufactured by Pfizer and BioNTech in the US. Finally, the packaging mentions a single dose vaccine. The Pfizer mRNA vaccine is a two-dose vaccine wherein the second dose is to be given 21 days after the first.
Furthermore, the Pfizer vaccine is injected intramuscularly. The product in the image is a vaporizer cartridge used in electronic cigarettes and has to be inhaled.
BOOM contacted the Indian representatives of Pfizer who redirected us to a statement the company gave to Reuters. In an emailed statement, Pfizer told Reuters that the vaporiser cartridge was fake.
This is not the first time that misinformation about the Pfizer vaccine is circulating on social media. Earlier, there were claims that the vaccine could lead to female sterilisation as well as that it contained nanocomputers to collect data of the people the vaccine is being administered to.