Researchers from Oxford University are offering Ksh100,000 to Kenyan volunteers for a COVID -19 vaccine trial.
The article also quotes BBC’s medical correspondent, Fergus Walsh, who suggested in an interview that the Oxford team would carry out the trials in Kenya if it failed to get quick results in the UK., According to the article, Kenyans make good candidates for the trials due to their ‘strong white blood cells’ and ‘resistance to some of the world’s most deadly pandemics’. It does not cite a source for these claims., Additionally, the article does not state when or where the monetary incentive for Kenyan volunteers was announced, and there is no information about this on Oxford University’s COVID-19 vaccine trials website either., While it is true that the Oxford team expressed the intention to approach the government of Kenya for permission to carry out vaccine trials in the country, there is no mention that this will include monetary incentives to volunteers as claimed., The University of Oxford News Office told PesaCheck that the institution was yet to initiate deliberations with the Government of Kenya and scientists at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) on the matter but would do so once the trials in the UK are deemed successful., In his address to the nation on April 25, President Uhuru Kenyatta said that the government would communicate if and when it approves human trials for COVID-19 vaccines in Kenya., PesaCheck has looked into the claim that scientists from Oxford University are offering Ksh100,000 to volunteers for a COVID-19 vaccine trial and finds it to be FALSE., This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms., By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds., Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content., This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker Simon Muli and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Rose Lukalo., The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi., PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water/sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org., PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local media and other civic watchdog organisations in 14 African countries., Written by, Written by
FALSE: UK scientists are not offering cash to Kenyan volunteers for COVID-19 vaccine trials