Senegalese authorities have denied a rife speculation on social media that some seven children died from a coronavirus vaccine.
Several social media platforms have been filled with this report of seven children dying on the spot after taking a vaccine to cure coronavirus.
There is already a video in circulation actually showing people gathering for a purported vaccination of locals.
In the said video, a voice is heard saying in French that “Scandal in Senegal. There’s a guy who came to a house to vaccinate seven children against COVID-19. They dropped dead instantly”.
But there is evidence that the said video is an old recorded footage in March after a misunderstanding between some locals which was never over coronavirus vaccination.
Fake News
Senegal’s health ministry has denied those claims of children dying from vaccination describing them as fake news, according to AFP reporting.
A spokeswoman for the Senegal health ministry was quoted as saying that “There is no vaccine. We have medical experts at the Institut Pasteur (a medical research institute, editor’s note) in Dakar working to create and certify a vaccine according to procedure. They will be completely transparent about their findings.”
There has been a huge outcry among Africans over potential trail of coronavirus vaccines in Africa first after two French doctors made such a suggestion on TV.
The comments by the two French doctors have been described as racist and a signal of colonial mentality among some Westerners.
The doctors have now apologized and Senegal’s health ministry spokeswoman said “Senegal is a sovereign country and even if there was a vaccine, nobody could oblige us to vaccine our citizens”.
The World Health Organization has already declared that Africa will not be a testing ground for any vaccine.
Globally at least 1.4 people have been infected by the virus with over 94,000 deaths so far as at April 10, 2020.
There are no vaccines yet for the virus although several efforts are being made by scientists to get one.
Source: Africafeeds.com
