CLAIM: As prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe went against orders from the World Economic Forum and declined to mandate COVID-19 vaccines, rejected 1.6 million doses of the drug and gave citizens ivermectin.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Abe was no longer prime minister when Japan’s COVID-19 vaccinations began in 2021. While it’s true the country did not mandate the shots, it did not provide the parasite drug ivermectin instead. Due to contamination, more than 1 million doses of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine were recalled in September, but Japan continued to vaccinate people against the virus.
THE FACTS: Following Abe’s assassination on July 8, social media users began sharing a meme that falsely ties the killing to the country’s vaccine policies. It’s not clear yet what the motive of Abe’s suspected gunman is. Police and media reports suggest that it wasn’t political, The Associated Press reported.
“Assassinated Japanese P.M. didn’t follow WEF orders. Didn’t mandate vaccines, sent 1.6 million doses back and gave citizens ivermectin,” stated one false tweet using the acronym for the World Economic Forum.
Japan began offering vaccinations against COVID-19 after the February 2021 approval of Pfizer’s vaccine. That was months after Abe announced on August 28, 2020, he was resigning as prime minister after his ulcerative colitis recurred.
Although Japan did not mandate the vaccine, Japan had administered more than 280 million doses of the vaccine by July.
For months social media...
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