Facebook users claim that pharmaceutical company Merck has said that it is better to catch COVID-19 and recover naturally than to vaccinate. This is false. This is a misrepresentation of a statement by Merck.
Several posts on Facebook shared this claim in different ways, whether in written posts, memes or screenshots. One such report reads: ‘The vaccine manufacturer Merck is scrapping COVID vaccine and says studies show that it is more effective to get and repair the virus than to get the vaccine’ (here). Another says: ‘According to Merck, they have determined that it is better to just pick up the virus and develop antibodies than to take a vaccine. They have abandoned the development of vaccines in favor of alternative therapies ”(here).
These reports apparently led to a recent statement from Merck, who announced on January 25 that he had misinterpreted research on V590 and V591, his two candidate vaccines for COVID-19, to focus on therapy instead (here).
The American pharmaceutical giant cited the reasons for the halt in development: ‘This decision follows Merck’s investigation into findings from Phase 1 clinical trials for the vaccines. In these studies, both V590 and V591 were generally well tolerated, but the immune responses were inferior to those seen after natural infection and those reported for other SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 vaccines. ”(Here)
Therefore, Merck referred to trial data showing that its own vaccine candidates had an inferior result compared to a natural immune response to COVID-19. It is not advisable to deliver other COVID-19 vaccines. As noted in his statement, other candidate vaccines have resulted in recipients having a stronger immune response.
VERDICT
Misleading. Merck did not say that it is better to catch COVID-19 than to be vaccinated. The company’s statement about an inferior response compared to a natural immunity only referred to tests on its own two vaccine candidates.
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