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Microbiologist Elisa Granato was the first human to be injected for the human testing phase of a possible COVID-19 vaccine by a group of scientists from the University of Oxford, UK, on April 23.
Following this news, online reports have circulated claiming that Dr. Granato died shortly after being injected with the vaccine.
“Elisa Granato, the first volunteer to use a prick in Oxford for the first human trial in Europe of a vaccine to protect against the coronavirus pandemic, has died. She died two days after the vaccine was administered, authorities said and added that an investigation into the cause of death has been launched, “reads one of the reports published in News NT.
Another report with the same claim was published on a website called “The Nigerian News”.
The viral claim was also distributed on social media platforms.
Claim:
The first participant in a UK COVID-19 vaccine trial died.
Review of facts:
The claim is false.
Dr. Granato is alive and well. The reports are false.
BBC medical correspondent Fergus Walsh, who had previously covered the vaccine trial, has denied the false news through a series of tweets on the microblogging site.
“False news has circulated on social media that the first volunteer in the Oxford vaccine trial has died. This is not true! I spent several minutes this morning talking to Elisa Granato on Skype. She is very much alive and told me that it feels ‘absolutely fine’, “Walsh wrote.
She later posted a video of Dr. Granato saying she was “very much alive” and “having a cup of tea.”
False news has circulated on social media that the first volunteer in the Oxford vaccine trial has died. This is not true! I spent several minutes this morning chatting with Elisa Granato on Skype. She is very alive and told me that she feels “absolutely fine” pic.twitter.com/iWAtYaSkRZ
– Fergus Walsh (@BBCFergusWalsh) April 26, 2020
The head of the Oxford Vaccine Group, Professor Andrew Pollard, who heads the trial, said, “This kind of false news could harm our ability to deal with a pandemic. We cannot allow that to happen.”
– Fergus Walsh (@BBCFergusWalsh) April 26, 2020
On April 26, Dr. Granato went to Twitter to announce that she is fine. He also called on people not to share the false report.
Since then he has protected his Twitter account.
In addition, the official account of the Department of Health and Social Assistance of the United Kingdom has described the news as “completely false”.
The University of Oxford released a statement on its website, acknowledging the fake news and clarifying that all official updates on the trial will be posted on the website.
“We are aware that there have been and will be false rumors and reports about the progress of the trial. We urge people not to give credibility to these and not distribute them. We will not offer any comment on the trial, but all updates will appear on this site, “the statement read.
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Also read: Fact Check: Are Viral Photos of Social Alienation Really from Mizoram?
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