Man in Video is Not Thailand’s Minister of Health
The Claim
Thailand’s Minister of Health seen on video afraid to take the Coronavirus vaccine.
News posted on
Emerging story
A video circulating on social media of a man afraid to take an injection, claiming it is a Coronavirus vaccine and that he man is the Health Minister of Thailand. The viral clip has been circulating on social media including being uploaded on YouTube of a man crying out in fear and recoiling as a nurse tries to administer an injection. The claim is that this is the Health Minister of Thailand, Anutin Charnvirakul, there is even on video text that reads “He is Health Minister of Thailand” in both English and Arabic languages. The posts relate the injection as being a COVID-19 vaccine and that the minister is afraid of taking it possibly implying that it is unsafe.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar's investigation found that the video has been uploaded in February 2018. The video found here on the South China Morning Post page and has over one and a half million views.
It shares the real story of the Chinese man scared of having his first-ever injection. The video has nothing to do with COVID-19 given it was released in 2018 when the virus was not commonly heard of. A Google translation of the audio uncovered that the man is actually speaking Mandarin. The video was also shared by public figure Tarek Fatah, a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, who has been known to share fake news in the past. Furthermore, the Coronavirus vaccine program in Thailand is only being rolled out on the 14th of February so it is unlikely that their Health Minister has taken the vaccine as yet in any case.
