A video of a man claiming that health workers administering the COVID-19 vaccine are ‘war criminals’ has gone viral on Facebook.
The 15-minute video has 6,800 shares and 4,900 preferences at the time of publication. It shows a man saying, “No one can possibly know if the vaccine is safe and effective because the trial is still ongoing.” (5:05) (fb.watch/3qA_JoObuo/, re-posted fb.watch/3qB2LImHhI/, here and here).
He cites a record on the U.S. government website that reads that the vaccine trial will end on January 31, 2023 (here), adding, “This is an experiment, it’s not over yet” (5:33).
However, it is standard practice for safety monitoring to continue after a vaccine has been approved and rolled out. The process of testing, licensing and monitoring vaccines is outlined by Oxford University’s Vaccine Knowledge Project (here), the European Medicines Agency (bit.ly/2YLLros) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (here ).
After the final Phase III clinical trials were cleared, a COVID-19 vaccine from US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech was approved for emergency use by US regulators in December 2020, as well as a vaccine from UK drugmaker AstraZeneca and his partner. The University of Oxford has been approved for use in Britain.
Pfizer reported in December 2020 that the safety monitoring of participants in its Phase III trial will continue. (here, see ‘adverse events’), meaning: “all trial participants will continue to be monitored for long-term protection and safety for another two years after their second dose” (here).
This is a normal procedure. Government bodies are also monitoring a vaccine as it is given to the population, with the UK government using the Yellow Card scheme (here) and the US government operating VAERS (vaers.hhs.gov/reportevent.html).
Reuters has dismissed previous false allegations about COVID-19 clinical trials here.
The man in the video, described by Politico last year as a ‘known anti-vaccine influencer’ (here), continues: ‘The Nuremburg Code of Medical Experiment, written in 1947, said that explicit, voluntary consent of patients was required for human experimentation. This means that patients must be informed that they are participating in a trial and that they must be warned of all possible adverse events. This is what informed consent means.
‘How many doctors and nurses who stabbed people with this stuff tell patients it’s a trial? How many people provide the necessary information to make a valuable judgment? I would guess somewhere near no one. And so legally, all the people who give vaccinations are war criminals. I will repeat it. Legally, all the people who give vaccinations are war criminals. ”(6:20)
He continues: “Let me be clear. Anyone who gives the COVID-19 vaccines without explaining that it is an experiment and without mentioning all possible adverse events is a war criminal. ”(7:34)
The Nuremberg Code of 1947 does require human participants in experiments to give informed consent (here) and was accepted as part of the 1949 Geneva Conventions (here), so violating the code would be a war crime (here) .
Those who take the vaccine do give informed consent. The UK Government’s Green Book (here) explains that ‘consent must be obtained before starting any treatment or physical examination or before a patient provides personal care’, including ‘all vaccines’.
‘Permission must be given voluntarily and freely. The individual must be informed about the process, benefits and risks of vaccination and be able to convey his decision ”(bit.ly/3jlgkcX, pages 7-8). The chapter adds that information can be communicated via pamphlets, posters, videos, information packets, information leaflets and websites.
Unlike the UK, the US has no federal requirement for informed consent regarding vaccination (here), but some countries do have laws on informed consent (here).
However, the CDC states that patients receiving licensed vaccines, such as against tetanus, must obtain a statement of vaccine information (VIS) to outline the risks and benefits (here). For COVID-19 vaccines, recipients are provided with fact sheets ‘to make an informed vaccination decision’ that are similar to VIS but differ in the sense that they are specific to each authorized COVID-19 vaccine developed by the vaccine manufacturer and authorized by the FDA (here).
VERDICT
Untrue. Health workers administering approved COVID-19 vaccines are not war criminals. All vaccinations are subjected to rigorous clinical trials before being approved by regulators and given to the public, and it is normal for governments and pharmaceutical companies to continue the safety monitoring after vaccination approval. Vaccine recipients in the UK and US are told of the benefits and risks before receiving the jab.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.