Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel Faked Taking COVID-19 Vaccine? A FactCheck

A photo of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel posing for the cameras after taking the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine is being shared with the false claim that he did not take the jab and faked taking it.

In the viral photo, a nurse can be seen administering Baghel the jab with the needle cap on the syringe which has not been removed which led to misleading claims.

The photo was tweeted by Neetu Dabas, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Spokesperson with the caption when translated reads, "The Congress government of Chhattisgarh has invented a new technology in which the vaccine can be administered directly to the Chief Minister without removing the "needle cap" from the syringe. This wonderful idea must have been given by Rahul Gandhi to the Chief Minister."

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(In Hindi - छत्तीसगढ़ की कांग्रेस सरकार ने नई तकनीक इजात की है जिसमें सिरिंज से "निडिल केप" निकाले बिना सीधे मुख्यमंत्री को वैक्सीन लगाई जा सकती है!! यह अद्भुत आईडिया जरूर राहुल गांधी ने मुख्यमंत्री को दिया होगा।)

Viral on Facebook

On searching with the same caption on Facebook, we found that the viral photo was being shared with the misleading claim.

Also Read: Clip Of Vaccine Administered With Empty Syringe Is From Mexico

FACT-CHECK

BOOM found that Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had received the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and post that he was posing for journalists in the viral photo, where the nurse is seen holding a syringe with the needle cap intact..

Baghel was administered the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by staff Nurse Kavita Nirala at Pt Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College in Raipur on May 27, 2021, reported Patrika. On the occasion, the Chief Minister was accompanied by several others including the Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Yadav, Dean of Raipur Medical College Dr. Vishnu Dutt and Raipur Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr. Meera Baghel.

We contacted Raipur Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Meera Baghel who was present when the dose was given to Chief Minister Baghel confirmed to BOOM that he had received the second dose. CMHO Baghel stated that the viral photo was taken after that as photo journalists present at the spot had requested CM Baghel to pose for the cameras as they wanted another photo.

"He (CM Baghel) had already taken the second dose which some photo journalists present there who could not capture, after which they had requested him to pose again. So he posed for them with the nurse holding another syringe with had a needle cap on as can be seen in the viral photo," Baghel told BOOM

We also found a clip tweeted by Chhattisgarh Congress leader Idris Gandhi, where we can spot Baghel being administered the jab and the syringe being injected in his arm by the nurse.

The same photo was also posted by CM Baghel on Facebook stating that he had taken the second dose.

BOOM had previously fact-checked a video showing two Karnataka government health officials pretending to receive COVID-19 vaccine shots for the purpose of a photo-op which was shared with misleading claims that they had faked getting inoculated.

Also Read: We Took The Vaccine Earlier: Tumkur Officials Call Viral Video Misleading