Social media users share reports claiming that a video of people having their hand scanned when they enter a market and a concert proving that vaccines mark people with the ‘mark of the beast’. This claim is untrue: the video shows temperature scans unrelated to the vaccine, and Reuters earlier denied the allegation that vaccines mark people or microchips.
The reports show a Reuters video where a series of people have their right hand scanned by an officer in a high-vision jacket before entering a market, and then a few in another place have their right hand scanned by a black-clad official here, here). The video also shows and talks about the new ‘green passes’ being given to those vaccinated in Israel so they can attend events and more (here).
The caption on the reports indicates that the people in the video will be scanned to see if they have been vaccinated, as those who have been vaccinated will have the ‘mark of the beast’ on their right hand: ‘From a market in Israel. Look at their right hand. It’s from today. Friday 26 February 2021. […] This is how it ends. Jesus returned to remove his people from the earth. […] The prophecy from the Bible: […] ‘He causes all, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to have a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except someone who has the mark of the beast or the number of his name. ‘”
The message is linked to a Christian conspiracy theory that coronavirus vaccines contain the “mark of the beast”, which points to the biblical end time, when the Antichrist will allegedly force people to get his mark and worship him (here, here , here).
The video in the social media posts is a real Reuters video, visible here. The two cases of people scanned in the cut were taken on two different occasions, and neither of them was on 26 February 2021 as posted on social media: the footage of the market was taken on 24 December 2020 market in Tel Aviv and the footage of people having their hands scanned by a black man were taken at the entrance of a Nurit Galron concert in Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv, on February 24, 2021.
MARKET
Temperature controls were put in place in Israeli markets when they reopened in May 2020 after the first lockout, as explained in local news reports here, here, here. The photos in these local news reports and these videos from other media, including Associated Press, here and here, show the same scanners seen in the social media posts and explain that they are used for temperature control.
When the footage was taken on December 24, 2020, there was nothing in the guidelines of the Ministry of Health that said people should be vaccinated before entering a market (here, here): vaccinations in Israel are only on December 19 start. 2020 (here). Even in February 2021, where the footage of the Reuters market was recorded, people do not have to be vaccinated to go to a market, so the people will not have to check the vaccination status of people with the scanners (here).
CONCERT
On February 21, Israel launched a “green pass” system. Among them, patients with coronavirus and vaccinated get a ‘green pass’ as an access permit for certain places or facilities, as explained in more detail here.
People do need a green pass to attend the event (here), but in the video posted on social media, it appears that the scan is the back of people’s right hand.
Green Passes is a QR code that can only be displayed in an app or as a printed version, as outlined here, here and here. Photos of people showing green passes at the same event can be seen on Reuters’ photos here, here and here.
It appears that the video shared in the social media posts shows temperature controls that were mandatory during the event: the sign visible here on the Reuters photo has a photo of a temperature scanner that looks like the machines that used in social media posts. , and the text below the photo says: ‘You must show your temperature at the entrance. Access is prohibited with a temperature of more than 38 degrees. ”
NON-CONTACT METEROMETERS
Manual switches, without contact, similar to those in social media posts, are common and easily available for purchase, as seen here, here and here.
No contact thermometers are frequently used during the COVID-19 pandemic to help protect against the spread of infections, as explained by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration here.
Although it is more common for people’s temperature to be taken on their forehead (here), the temperature can also be taken from the back of the hand or from the wrist (here, here, here). Dr Tina Ardon of the Mayo Clinic (here) confirmed to Reuters that some non-contact thermometers can be used on the bottom or top of the wrist, but these are less common than those used on the forehead or ears.
Reuters has earlier refuted false allegations that COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips (here, here, here) and other false claims related to the COVID-19 vaccine (here, here).
VERDICT
Untrue. The video shows how scanners check people’s temperature, not their vaccination status, using a code or microchip. Green-pass vaccination certificates used in Israel come in the form of a QR code that is visible or printed on an app, not as a sign on the right hand side.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.
Update March 3, 2021: Including comments from Mayo Clinic in paragraph 14