A video, claiming to show an ANM discarding COVID vaccine-filled syringes, is being shared on social media. It claims to show an Auxilliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) in Uttar Pradesh throwing away COVID vaccine-filled injections after inserting the needle in a patient's arm but not discharging the vaccine.
We found that the incident was reported from a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Aligarh, but the video being shared with the claim was actually from Ecuador, where a similar incident occurred in late April earlier in 2021.
CLAIM
The video was shared by Hindi news channel Zee Hindustan.
This video was then circulated by multiple people, including former BJP spokesperson for Rajasthan Laxmikant Bhardwaj. While sharing the video he claimed that the nurse, Niha Khan, from UP was inserting the needle but not discharging the vaccine. BJP Delhi spokesperson Neetu Dabas also shared the video with a similar claim in English.
The video was also shared in an article on RSS mouthpiece Organiser.
Similar posts on Twitter can be found here and here while those on Facebook can be found here and here. The video on the Facebook page 'I Support Yogi' was viewed over 23,000 times.
WHAT WE FOUND
Using a keyword search, we came across a tweet by Ecuadoran news channel Ecuavisa, which was posted on 26 April 2021, with text that translates to – “The Minister of Health, Camilo Salinas, announced an investigation into the nurse who did not vaccinate adequately. Salinas said that the nurse was identified to take action.”
We also found media reports that stated that the incident occurred in Mucho Lote in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
The country’s Health Ministry also tweeted about the incident, in which it stated, “Given what happened today at the #MuchoLote vaccination point, we inform the public that the health professional was identified and will be investigated by the relevant authorities. Stay informed through official channels.”
An ANM in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh has been booked for allegedly throwing away 29 syringes filled with COVID vaccine, but the video being shared with the viral claim is unrelated.
The clip is originally from a vaccination centre in Ecuador, where a nurse was found to be faking vaccinations for the elderly in late April 2021.
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