Fact check: COVID-19 vaccines are not lethal to two-thirds older than 65 years; British post-mortem has not been suspended

False allegations about deaths and corpses after vaccination in the UK are currently being shared by two Facebook pages that are widely followed.

Reuters fact check. REUTERS

Almost identical posts with the claims were added to two profiles and each garnered hundreds of shares and reactions (here, here). According to reports, ‘circumstantial evidence’ is that COVID-19 vaccines could be lethal to the majority of 65-year-olds, and that one of the shots kills Captain Tom Moore, a 100-year-old war veteran who raised millions of pounds for British health care has. services. They then say that post-mortem examinations were conducted ‘indefinitely’ to spark an argument about the severity of the pandemic.

None of these allegations are true. Other claims made in the 1,500 word placements fall outside the scope of this check.

For the first allegations about vaccines, the report reads: ‘There is also circumstantial evidence to suggest that the current number of shots could kill as many as two-thirds of the 65-year-olds if the endless stream of deaths confirmed after growth in nursing homes around the world it terrible. ”

There is also no ‘circumstantial evidence’ indicating that two thirds of 65-year-olds die as a result of COVID vaccinations. The latest weekly data from NHS England at the time of publication show that more than five million people over the age of 65 in England received at least a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine by 31 January 2021 (here).

There is also no evidence of an “endless stream” of deaths in nursing homes related to the shot. On 19 January, England recorded a 46% increase in coronavirus death care from the previous week – but this increase is thought to be due to the rapidly spreading COVID variants during the latest wave of the pandemic (here) . This has led to leaders in care centers across the country calling for a shorter gap between the first and second vaccine doses, as there is already a delay when the effects turn in (here, here).

A series of deaths reported in a care home in Norway after residents received a dose of Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine briefly expressed concern about a possible link (here), but the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) has later said that no statistical relationship was so. far found (here).

“In order to interpret this information, it is important to see the full picture,” said Dr Sara Viksmoen Watle, a senior physician at the NIPH. “Nursing home residents are at very high risk of serious illness or dying of COVID-19, and are therefore pre-empted for vaccination. A large proportion of those living in nursing homes have severe underlying conditions or are in the last stages of life. The life expectancy in nursing homes is relatively short and on average more than 300 people die every week in Norwegian nursing homes. Watle added that the in-depth analysis would continue.

The second claim in the Facebook entry, which relates to post-mortem examinations, is also untrue. It claims that all patients who die after being tested positive for COVID-19 should be subjected to a post-mortem examination, but says this is currently not possible due to an ‘illegal suspension of autopsies’.

“The only legislative measure to prevent this is the completely illegal and definitively void Coronavirus Act 2020, which effectively suspended autopsies indefinitely, even when people die in suspicious circumstances,” it said.

The Coronavirus Act, a piece of legislation passed to give the British government emergency power in the pandemic, did not suspend the autopsy at all. Some changes have been made to offset the pressure on the system by removing the requirements for a post-mortem (here) under certain circumstances, but this is not the same as suspending it completely (here). The assessment of the chief coroner of the law also does not refer to a suspension (here), and further published advice contains guidance on post-mortem examinations. It takes the pressure into account and offers advice on how to proceed (here).

The post also contains a false allegation referring to Captain Tom Moore, who died on Tuesday: ‘Our opponents are now so worried that the masses are waking up to the deadly nature of’ vaccination-unfavorable events’ that they are even pretending to be sadly deceased hundred-year-old did not have the COVID sting shortly before he died of the symptoms, it is known to cause or worsen [pneumonia]”.

Moore did have pneumonia, but it was not aggravated by a COVID vaccine because he could never get the jab in the first place. His daughter confirmed days before his death that his vaccination was not scheduled due to his poor health. She also said he contracted the virus (here, here, here).

VERDICT

Untrue. There is no evidence to suggest that COVID vaccines are lethal to the majority of the 65-year-old population, nor has the post-mortem examination been suspended indefinitely by legislation.

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