Fact Check: Did 7 children die in Senegal due to COVID-19 vaccine?

Claim: COVID19 vaccine killed 7 children in Senegal..

Rating: False

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What is the rumour about?

• Many social media forwards stated that 7 children died in Senegal after they were given COVID-19 vaccine forcefully. 
• In the video, one can find a crowd of people standing outside a building where a police vehicle is present. This is the video that is being circulated. Many people are forwarding the video with various types of captions. 

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Who started the rumour?

• The claims were made by many sources on social media.
• Take a look at the type of forwards that are being sent by people on social media. 

Image courtesy: Twitter

Image courtesy: Twitter

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Google Trends 

After an analysis of the Google Trends with respect to the COVID19 vaccine killed 7 children rumour, one can see that people have been hugely interested to know about the same. The maximum number of searches has been done on April 10, 2020. 

Image courtesy: Google Trends 

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Republic World did a fact check on the "Senegal children dying due to COVID-19 vaccine" rumour

• Republic World did a fact check to dig deeper into the claims stating that COVID vaccine had killed 7 children in Senegal, and found it to be False.
• Reportedly, a spokesperson from Senegal's health ministry clearly rejected these claims. She clarified that there is no vaccine for COVID-19 yet, even when the findings are still going on in Dakar's Institut Pasteur. Even WHO hasn't mentioned any specific antiviral medicine for Coronavirus infection as of yet. 
• The video showing a chaotic scene around a house is actually an old news clip from March. The video is about a rumour of a Canadian and a Senegal man claiming to be health officials. who tried to vaccinate people for COVID-19 forcefully.
• On March 26, there was a report of the two getting arrested in Dakar. Apparently, they had been accused of forcefully vaccinating people. But that news has no connection to 7 children dying. 
• The people who were arrested after the March 26 incident were found to be cosmetic salesmen and were mistaken for health officials due to the logo on their shirt. People nearby had actually misinterpreted and assumed that they have come to vaccinate them by force.
• They were soon arrested and then released due to the misunderstanding as even the police officials couldn't find any vaccines with these two men after searching them and their bags. 

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