Fact Check: Viral image showing infected lungs of COVID-19 patient before vaccination is false
A photo reportedly showing a CT scan report of an individual before and after the person has received the COVID-19 vaccine is circulating on social media.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 5 May 2021 4:02 AM GMT
Hyderabad: A photo reportedly showing a CT scan report of an individual before and after the person has received the COVID-19 vaccine is circulating on social media. The image shows the infected lungs of a COVID-19 patient before taking the vaccine and clean lungs after taking the vaccine.
According to one Twiter user who shared the photo, "Here is the 3D CT scan of COVID-19 positive patients!! One has been vaccinated and the other has not been vaccinated. That's why vaccine is safety. Go and get vaccinated.(sic)"
Kiran Bedi has also shared a video of the same false claim on Instagram. The video is captioned, "How #CoronaVaccine has reduced the effects of the virus on the lungs".
Click here and here to view the archives of the above posts.
NewsMeter found that the claim is FALSE. The image does not show the lungs of a COVID-19 vaccinated person.
Fact Check:
We performed a reverse image search and found the same image in several April articles from 2020. (Click here and here to read them).
It should be noted that in April 2020, vaccines for COVID-19 were not yet available. This indicates that the claim comparing the two sets of lungs before and after taking the vaccine is false.
The CT scan is related to an international study by Vancouver-based radiologists that aimed to predict the presence of COVID-19 using CT scans. Researchers and radiologists from Vancouver General Hospital, the University of British Columbia, and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute conducted the study to predict the presence of COVID-19 using CT scans.
The Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute also published the same image on its website explaining its research study on diagnosing COVID-19 infection using CT scans. The report states that radiologists, fellows, residents, and UBC medical students collected, analyzed, and labelled thousands of CT scans and in some cases chest X-rays, from COVID-19 patients around the globe, including Canada, the Middle East, South Korea, and Italy. Information gleaned from the scans would form the basis for an open source artificial intelligence (AI) model to predict the presence, severity, and complications of COVID-19 on CT scans. The model would integrate clinical data to help support and supplement existing tools to improve patient care.
Thus, it is clear that the image does not show the lungs of a COVID-19 person before and after taking the vaccine. The image is a part of study conducted in April 2020 to predict the presence, severity, and complications of COVID-19 using CT scans. Hence, the viral claim is FALSE.
