Amid widespread misinformation about COVID-19 and the vaccination, another post has been circulating on social media claiming that a United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee concluded that COVID-19 vaccines “are not sufficiently safe or effective for people under 65.” But an analysis from Check Your Fact said that the image circulated online has false information.
The Post
The post was uploaded via Instagram from the account with the handle trueearther3. The image had the following statement: “Them: Trust the experts!; Me: The FDA advisory committee has concluded that the vaccine isn’t sufficiently safe or effective for people under 65.; Them: Nah, not those experts, the ones on Channel 7.” The post has been flagged by Instagram as false information but remains on the social media platform.
Check Your Fact said that there is no evidence presented by the person who uploaded the photo proving that any FDA advisory committee gave such a conclusion. Further, Check Your Fact noted that the FDA has fully approved Pfizer’s vaccines for use in individuals 16 and up.
The Moderna and Johnson & Jonson vaccines, on the other hand, have been authorized for emergency use for individuals 18 or older.
Check Your Fact also said that millions of Americans under the age of 65 received their shots over the last ten months.
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Aside from the FDA, the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Johns Hopkins University say on their websites that all the approved vaccines are safe and effective.
The FDA also recently authorized the booster shots for Pfizer-BioNTech for certain people over the age of 65, individuals 18 to 65 and are at high risk from the disease, and people 18 to 64 and have occupations that put them at exceptional risk from contracting the deadly COVID-19.
COVID-19 has so far infected 44,314,424 people and claimed 716,847 lives in the United States, according to worldometer data.
Despite vaccine hesitancy among several people in the United States, experts continue to emphasize the importance of getting vaccinated as it reduces the risk of contracting a severe infection, hospitalizations, and deaths.
