Israeli scientists at the MIGAL Research Institute have developed a vaccine for COVID-19.
The article, which was published on March 1, appears to be based on a statement published by Israel’s MIGAL Research Institute, announcing that they had made a breakthrough in the development of a vaccine against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)., The MIGAL Research Institute is a research organization based in northern Israel, and is recognized for its work in agro-innovation and biomedical research projects., The statement issued on February 27 by the institute goes into detail about the discovery of a vaccine for Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), which is a coronavirus, belonging to the same family of viruses as the one behind COVID-19. This research is expected to contribute to the development of a vaccine against COVID-19., The MIGAL researchers discovered that the poultry coronavirus has high genetic similarity to the human COVID-19, and that it uses the same infection mechanism. The researchers said they have now made the required genetic adjustments to adapt the vaccine to COVID-19., According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) there is currently no vaccine against COVID-19, and The World Health Organization (WHO) states that possible vaccines and some specific drug treatments are being tested through clinical trials. The WHO is coordinating efforts to develop vaccines and medicines to prevent and treat COVID-19., There are no reports of the development of a vaccine against COVID-19 from the MIGAL Institute, the World Health Organization, and the government of Israel, indicating that the claim is false., The researchers at MIGAL Institute are currently working to achieve the safety approval that will enable in-vivo testing to enable the production of a vaccine that will counter the novel coronavirus epidemic., PesaCheck has looked into the claim that Israel has announced a vaccine against the novel coronavirus 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 Fact-Checker Linda Ngari and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Ann Ngengere with research input from Sylvia Makinia., 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 a joint initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with additional funding support from the International Budget Partnership (Kenya) and Twaweza, in partnership with a coalition of local media organisations, and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)., Written by, Written by
FALSE: There is currently no vaccine against COVID-19