COVID-19 is the name of the vaccine against the novel coronavirus.
While the headline of the article is misleading, the article itself contains accurate information., COVID-19 is the name designated by the World Health Organization for the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak which originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. COVID-19 is a contraction of ‘Coronavirus Disease — 2019’., The name was officially announced by WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom, on February 11, the same day that the article was published., The article states that on February 11, the number of reported infections was more than 40,000 in over 25 countries that had confirmed reported cases of the virus, with more than 1,000 death cases in Mainland China., According to WHO’s situation report on February 11, there were 42,708 confirmed infections in China (2,484 of them new) ,1,017 deaths in China, and reported cases in 24 countries., The article also states, World Health Organization (WHO) have confirmed that the vaccine to counter the virus would be ready in 18 months., However, the World Health Organization has stated that there is no specific vaccine for the novel coronavirus outbreak. The article appears to be based on a press briefing by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, where he called for basic interventions available at the moment to fight the epidemic, and estimating that a vaccine could be ready in 18 months. However, this is an estimate, and not a definitive timeline., PesaCheck has looked into an article claiming that COVID-19 is the name of vaccine to counter the novel coronavirus outbreak and finds it to have a FALSE HEADLINE., 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 organizations 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 Najma Juma 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 innovate African fund, with additional funding support from the International Budget Partnership (Kenya) and Twaweza, in partnership with a coalition of local media organizations, and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ)., Written by, Written by
FALSE HEADLINE: COVID-19 is not a vaccine against novel coronavirus