Bizarre Russian Disinformation Campaign Claims UK Covid Vaccine Will Turn You Into A Monkey
A Russian fake news campaign aiming to undermine the Oxford University Covid-19 vaccine is claiming that it could turn people into monkeys.
The bizarre reports and images were uncovered by a special investigation by The Times and claim patients can develop ape-like characteristics because the British-made vaccine uses a chimpanzee virus as a vector.
One state TV channel even ran images of a suit-clad prime minister Boris Johnson with the hirsute features of a chimp. A Whitehall source told the newspaper the propaganda was “reckless and contemptible” and could damage people’s health.
The campaign is aimed at influencing nations to purchase the Russian frozen vaccine (Gam-Covid-Vac – known as Sputnik V), which has been trialled in the Burdenko Hospital in Moscow, involving both civilian and military volunteers.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Any attempt to spread lies about coronavirus while we are trying to come together to find a vaccine is utterly deplorable.”
They added that the UK has made its position “very clear to Russia” and “we know their track record in this area.”
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s a shabby piece of disinformation but it is very serious because it is an attempt to disrupt the attempts to find a safe vaccine.
“We know that Russia has a track record of using disinformation as a foreign policy tool [...] but actually any attempt to spread lies about Covid-19, and the vaccine in particular, when we’re trying to come together as an international community to resolve a global pandemic is utterly deplorable.”
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