Posts Mislead the Meaning of AstraZeneca
The Claim
AstraZeneca means “weapon that kills.”
News posted on
Emerging story
A Facebook post shared hundreds of times claims that AstraZeneca, the name of a pharmaceutical company, means "weapon that kills."
Misbar’s Analysis
AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical business headquartered in the United Kingdom. Misbar has discovered that the Facebook posts are most likely in response to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines that have been administered worldwide.
The company's name was developed in two parts, according to a Tweet issued by the company in 2019. Astra has its roots in the Greek language, loosely meaning star, and Zeneca was an invented name that contained the first and last letter of the alphabet with no offensive meaning in any language.
According to Bloomberg, the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine has come under scrutiny due to severe and sometimes deadly side effects of a small percentage of the population. Starting next week, Germany will ban the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for those under 60 years of age.
The name AstraZeneca was developed in 1993 due to a demerger of the business and was made up by a branding company. It is designed not to have a negative meaning in any language.
