Akeed – Dana Al Emam

Social media users recently shared a video suggesting that Australian Prime Minister had appeared in public to receive a coronavirus vaccination, encouraging others to take the vaccine, from a syringe that was covered, suggesting that she did not actually receive the dose. Akeed verified the video and found it to be incorrect.

Akeed investigated the matter after receiving a verification request, at which point it became clear that the woman featured in the video is in fact Annastacia Palaszczuk, premier of Queensland, a state in Australia, and that the video dates back to April 2020. It was nevertheless widely shared among WhatsApp users amid the growing discussion around coronavirus vaccines.

The Australian official is specifically shown appearing in front of TV cameras for the alleged purpose of receiving a dose of the vaccine, while a close-up suggests that the syringe was covered with a plastic cover and hence that she did not actually receive the vaccine.

In tracking the issue, Akeed found that the Australian official had actually received the seasonal flu vaccine, not a coronavirus vaccine. One of the photographers at the event, however, had asked her to re-act taking the shot as he had not taken the picture at the right time. It was thus the reenactment that had led to the confusion and deception of public opinion.

The video clip circulated widely in Jordan and various countries throughout the world over the course of December, amid a growing campaign to refuse the administering of coronavirus vaccines. The video, however, was filmed long before a vaccine for the novel coronavirus had been produced.

A number of Australian media outlets published the full footage from the event, which in complete and unbroken detail shows the official receiving the vaccine and then re-acting taking the shot for publicity purposes.

Akeed urges social media users to verify information and video before publishing them or forwarding them.