Fact check: No evidence SARS-CoV-2 is an HIV-based bioweapon; trials show that vaccines against the virus are effective

An extensive YouTube video contains numerous unsubstantiated or false allegations surrounding COVID-19, mainly suggesting that it was deliberately created as a weapon, using the same genetic material as HIV, and that it is therefore not possible to vaccinate effectively. have not.

Reuters fact check. REUTERS

The claims were made in a YouTube video (here). There are several other claims in the video of more than 48 minutes that fall outside the scope of this fact check.

At various points in the video (7.40, 13.46, 14.30) the speaker claims that COVID-19 was designed as a biological weapon.

The virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, is thought to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, possibly from bats in a live animal market. Chinese scientists have been doing research on its origin and how it jumped the species barrier.

As Reuters reported here in November, an international team led by the World Health Organization is developing plans for long-term studies, based on China’s findings, according to the published mandate.

The majority of virologists and experts in infectious diseases believe that the new virus is likely to develop (here) naturally.

The U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated (here) that it agrees with “the broad scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified”.

Later in the video (31.00) the host says: “What I want to ask you is this: so, in other words, as you said before, regardless of this vaccine, it is not going to cure anyway, because it is is it not some kind of virus type? ‘

The speaker replied: ‘No, it is a biological warfare – it is a life-threatening bioware weapon. Of course a vaccine is not going to cure it, no ”.

Vaccines are not designed to cure diseases, but rather to provide protection or immunity against them.

Studies of the candidate BioNTech and Pfizer vaccine (here), the only one still approved for use in the UK, show that the vaccine was 95% effective in preventing Covid-19.

The same vaccine is currently being tested on a highly contagious new strain of the coronavirus found in Britain (here).

The interviewer followed up (31.24) by asking, ‘They did not even isolate the virus, did they?’

The interviewer replied: ‘They are still lying about what happened and where it came from and what is in it. We just do not know. ”

The virus was identified by Chinese authorities on January 7, 2020 (here), and China shared its genetic sequence with other countries days later (here). The virus has also been isolated in patients in other countries (here and here) and the reference genome (here) is available on the USNational Institute of Health website.

The speaker further says that the best explanation for the virus was that someone with the Wuhan laboratory ‘went to Australia and was genetically engineered HIV with SARS along with the Australian Health Board DNA’.

The rumor that Covid-19 has important genetic similarities to HIV has been going on since at least early February (here), probably due to a preliminary article that has since been withdrawn (here). The theory was quickly refuted by the Wuhan Institute of Virology (here) as well as several other experts (here).

A mid-February analysis (here) of genetic sequences found that, HIV-1, the most common form of HIV does not contribute to the COVID-19 genome.

The speaker also suggests (10.40) that no one knows if the new vaccines can change a person’s DNA. He says: “The vaccines themselves, these Frankenshots from Pfizer and Moderna. It involves a whole new technology – biotechnology – messenger RNA that is injected into your system. Well, if you follow a basic course in genetics, you know that messenger RNA is extremely powerful. It can do anything to you. It can rearrange your genetic makeup. And this has never been done before. It’s like putting a bomb in your body, we have no idea what’s going to happen. ”

Reuters has already claimed that COVID-19 vaccines will genetically alter humans (here).

VERDICT

Partly false. There are different demands in this long video. Of those discussed here, experts say that SARS-CoV-2 was probably transmitted to humans of another species, and that there is no evidence that it was created as a weapon with HIV. The virus has been isolated and its genetic sequence is available online. Tests of COVID-19 vaccines have shown that they can provide effective protection against the virus.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.

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