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Facebook and Twitter posts shared more than 5,000 times since the end of December claim that the syringe used in the COVID-19 vaccination of US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris did not include a needle. This is false: it is perfectly visible on high definition images taken by the Associated Press agency.
“There is no need [sic]”, writes the author of a post Facebook shared over 3,200 times. “I checked the video well and I can tell you that the needle is nonexistent“, abounds a surfer on Twitter under the same video.
The poor quality 40-second video cannot distinguish a needle at the end of the syringe handled by the nurse. A zoom in on the image even seems to show a plastic cap instead of the needle.
Facebook screenshot taken on 01/05/2021–
However, high definition images showing the same scene (and spotted by our colleagues from the Italian site Open) allow you to see the syringe better, and to distinguish the needle used to inject the vaccine.
Taken by the Associated Press on December 29, 2020, the video was posted on YouTube by the Los Angeles Times. The syringe is clearly visible there at the 13th and 29th seconds.
YouTube screenshot taken on 01/05/2021–
YouTube screenshot taken on 01/05/2021–
As for the plastic cap clearly visible at the 31st second, which the nurse flips over the needle after the injection, it is actually a fairly common safety mechanism, as several Internet users have pointed out in the reports. comments under the Facebook post.
Facebook screenshot taken on 01/05/2021–
This is perfectly visible on a photo AFP taken during Kamala Harris vaccination.
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In a statement released in 2015, the WHO recommended this kind of “cap” who “runs down the needle and covers it completely after the injection“, and this in particular”to prevent the user from accidentally injuring himself and thus exposing himself to a risk of infection “.
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