Fact Check: Viral video claiming WHO chief was not vaccinated for Covid-19 is False
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus was elected WHO Director-General for a five-year term by WHO member states at the Seventieth World Health Assembly in May 2017.
Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus was elected WHO Director-General for a five-year term by WHO member states at the Seventieth World Health Assembly in May 2017. He is the first person from the WHO African region to head the world’s leading public health agency.
A video clip of Tedros Ghebreyesus from a documentary, speaking in an interview, with a claim that the ‘Head of WHO is not vaccinated against COVID-19’ is being widely shared on Twitter.
Fact Check:
The claim is False.
When we searched using the keywords “Tedros Ghebreyesus covid vaccination”, we found a tweet by him published on May 13, 2021, showing him getting vaccinated, with the caption: “Today it was my turn to get vaccinated @Hopitaux_unige against #COVID19. Vaccines save lives. It’s critical to get them to all counties A.S.A.P. If like me you live in a country where vaccines are available, please get vaccinated when it’s your turn. “
When searched further, we found that the viral video clip is part of an HBO documentary “How to survive a Pandemic” which is about the race to develop and distribute COVID-19 vaccines.
It was an interview of Tedros Ghebreyesus with Jon Cohen on June 12, 2021, the full transcript of which can be seen on the ‘Science’ website. He states that he waited to get vaccinated till May 2021 to protest against the inequity of the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in low-income countries.
Therefore, the claim that the head of WHO is not vaccinated for COVID-19 is False. He had been vaccinated against COVID-19 on May 12, 2021.