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The Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa (CAPRISA) has rejected the latest wave of misinformation circulating on social media, asserting that false claims about COVID-19 vaccines are misleading the public and undermining trust in scientific research.
According to the organisation's Head of Communications, Minoshni Pillay, a video making the rounds on social media and other communication applications wherein its director, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, is purported to be spreading fake news about Covid-19 vaccines and their related side effects.
Professor Karim wished to reiterate that the COVID-19 vaccines are indeed safe.
Neither CAPRISA nor Professor Karim has endorsed any medicines for any company, Pillay said.
“Standing by our commitment to protecting the safety and well-being of the public based on accurate and trusted scientific research, CAPRISA urges members of the public to verify all health claims, and to refrain from sharing misinformation, and report it as fake immediately,” Pillay said.
The CAPRISA also provided the public with guidance:
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent body that reviews scientific evidence to recommend which groups should receive vaccines and when, rarely makes headlines. Bu...