THAT'S BANANAS
Russian fake news outlets claim Oxford coronavirus vaccine turns people into MONKEYS
RUSSIA’S fake news factories are churning out bananas claims that the Oxford University Covid vaccine turns people into monkeys.
Memes, posters and videos depicting the British-made vaccine — set to be distributed by AstraZeneca— as dangerous have been found flooding the internet.
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It’s thought to be a ploy targeting countries such as Brazil and India, where Russia wants to sell its own Putin-backed Sputnik V vaccine.
One poster featuring an image of King Kong wielding a syringe says: “Don’t worry, monkey vaccine is fine.”
Another shows Boris Johnson walking into Downing Street - but it has been edit to make him look like a yeti, with the caption: "I like my bigfoot vaccine."
A third meme shows a chimpanzee in a lab coat from pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca - who is manufacturing the Oxford vaccine.
The animal is smiling with a syringe in hand, as a poster in the background seems to imply the vaccine will reverse evolution.
The disinformation campaign claims that the vaccine could turn people into monkeys - which many fear will encourage conspiracy theorists and the anti-vaccination movement.
Pascal Soriot, chief executive of Astrazenca, told : “Misinformation is a clear risk to public health.
“I urge everyone to use reliable sources of information, to trust regulatory agencies and to remember the enormous benefit vaccines and medicines continue to bring to humanity.”
The harmful campaign, which has featured on Vesti News, Russia’s version of Newsnight, has dubbed Oxford’s work the “Monkey Vaccine” because it uses a chimpanzee virus as a vector.
THAT'S BANANAS
Viruses are often used as vectors - because they can deliver genetic information to a cell in the human body.
A vector transports the genetic material from coronavirus to the cells, giving them the information they need to create material to fight off future encounters with the virus.
Using a chimpanzee adenovirus-based vector in vaccine development is a common - and usually successful - occurrence in virus research.
However, this does not, and cannot, turn people into monkeys - as the Russian memes wrongly claim.
Professor Pollard, who is professor of Paediatric Infection and Immunity at the University of Oxford, said today: "The type vaccine we have is very very similar to a number of other vaccines, including the Russian vaccine, all of which use the Common Cold virus from humans or from chimpanzees.
'To our bodies, the viruses look the same.
"We don't actually have any chimpanzees involved at all in the process of making the vaccine, because it is all about the virus, rather than animals it might more commonly infect."
According to The Times, the Russian fake news outlets have already tried to spread the disinformation across the world.
A linked site in Brussels, which records 20,000 unique visitors per month, is still displaying one of the harmful coronavirus memes.
Doctor Hilary Jones told Good Morning Britain today the attempts at disinformation were "utterly ridiculous and shameful."
He said: "Oxford have a very reliable team, remember, that's where penicillin was worked-up and produced for the Second World War.
"Oxford have a fantastic reputation, they are doing this thoroughly and are looking at thousands of people from all different groups and ages.
"They are doing this safely and effectively and for the Russians to try to besmirch what they are trying to do because parts of the vaccine comes from chimpanzee material is utterly ridiculous and shameful."
Russia has already been accused of launching a cyberattack on the Oxford labs to try and obtain western intellectual property.
FAKE NEWS
British intelligence officials were also concerned that the hackers would try and spread their disinformation through the attacks.
Earlier this year, foreign secretary Dominic Raab condemned the Russian cyberattacks on the coronavirus vaccine labs as “completely unacceptable.”
He added: “While others pursue their selfish interests with reckless behaviour, the UK and its allies are getting on with the hard work of finding a vaccine and protecting global health.”
General Sir Nick Carter, chief of the defence staff, also accused Russia last month of engaging in “political warfare” - which just plays into the hands of conspiracy theorists.
Back in April, Russian news outlets wrongly reported that Boris Johnson was on a ventilator when he contracted coronavirus.
A report by RIA Novosti then claimed the PM was on “artificial lung ventilation" - which was false.
Part of Vladimir Putin’s state-run media, the report was at the time slapped down by No 10 as fake news.
Meanwhile, Professor Pollard has warned even if vaccine trials are completed at the end of this year, the jab might not be ready until well into 2021.
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Even then it would only be initially rolled out to key groups such as frontline NHS workers.
Professor Pollard said the UK has no hope of returning to normality until mass immunisation is well underway, meaning restrictions will be needed until next summer.
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