A post claiming that President Trump has announced that the vaccine for COVID-19 is ready and will be launched “next Sunday” is doing rounds on social media.
The text read: “Great news! Carona virus vaccine ready. Able to cure the patient within 3 hours after injection. Hats off to US Scientists.
Right now Trump announced that Roche Medical Company will launch the vaccine next Sunday, and millions of doses are ready from it !!!
ALSO READ: FAKE Alert: Old picture of Brazilian Prez shared as Italian President…
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above post and found it to be misleading.
We ran a search and found the reports dated March 13, 2020, about Roche Diagnostics getting emergency approval from the FDA for coronavirus tests.
In a press release, Roche Diagnostics also said that FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the cobas® SARS-CoV-2 Test.
Using relevant keywords, we ran a search and found the longer version of the video of Trump’s press conference uploaded by The White House.
In the press conference, at 6:05, President Trump talks about Roche getting FDA’s approval for conducting tests and also the possible locations where the tests will be conducted.
“As a result of that action, today we’re announcing a new partnership with private sector to vastly increase and accelerate our capacity to test for the coronavirus. We want to make sure that those who need a test can get a test very safely, quickly, and conveniently. But we don’t want people to take a test if — if we feel that they shouldn’t be doing it. And we don’t want everyone running out and taking. Only if you have certain symptoms.
Using federal emergency authorities, the FDA approved a new test for the virus. We did this within hours after receiving the application from Roche — a process that would normally take weeks. We therefore expect up to a half a million additional tests will be available early next week. We’ll be announcing locations probably on Sunday night.” he said.
Also, in the longer version, at 18:39 TC, we can see the viral clip that is being circulated. Moreover, in the video, Roche Diagnostics Chief Executive Officer for North America Matt Sause only thanked the FDA and the CDC for the timely approval of emergency use authorization for coronavirus tests.
“Thank you, Mr. President. So, from Roche, we want to thank the FDA for their rapid approval of our coronavirus test. We really appreciate the partnership with the CDC and the FDA to get that to market as fast as possible because it’s critical for us to make that available to help patients in need, and working with laboratories to get it up and going in the near future, which will bring hundreds of thousands of tests available to patients in need in the United States. So, thank you,” Matt Sause said.
This new coronavirus test speeds up the ability to test suspected patients.
Thanks @RocheDiaUSA for sharing, and to all the manufacturing and logistics teams involved in making this happen. #coronavirus #COVID19 https://t.co/d8tloXcnAH
— Roche Diagnostics (@RocheDia) March 17, 2020
As for the picture of the viral medical kit, on putting the image through Reverse Image search, we found a news report stating that the medical kit was developed by a South Korean pharma major Sugentech. It is a portable diagnostic kit for testing coronavirus.
This proves that the viral message of president Trump announcing the vaccine to be launched ‘next Sunday’ is FALSE.
If you want to fact-check any story, WhatsApp it now on +91 88268 00707
Click here for Latest News updates and viral videos on our AI-powered smart news