Video of woman pushing empty syringe without vaccine is from Mexico

A video of a woman administering a COVID vaccine jab on an elderly man with an empty syringe is circulating in India. The message advises people to keep an eye out for the person administering the dose.

“Be careful when you go to get a jab. Whether they are administering the injection without giving the vaccine. Why are they doing this? Is it a conspiracy as well?” reads the message shared on Twitter.

*टीका लगाने जाओ तो ध्यान से देखो ….*

*कहीं टीका लगाए बिना इंजेक्शन वापस तो नही ले लिया जाता*🤔🤔
ऐसा क्यों कर रहें हैं… ये भी कहीं साजिश तो नहीं….?? pic.twitter.com/icFf1UDH3C

— Kiran Sinha किरण सिन्हा (@KiranSi27813888) April 25, 2021

Alt News has also received several requests on its official WhatsApp number (+917600011160) to fact-check the video.

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One of WhatsApp forward says, “India has so many cheaters. She injected the needle and took it out without administering the vaccine. The man will stay deceived that he’s got vaccinated. If this is a government facility, the vaccines will be sold to private hospitals and if this is a private facility, they just stole Rs 250. How will India fight corona in this state?” The message makes a direct claim that the incident took place in India.

The message most used to share the video on Facebook reads, “Beware. Do not turn your head while getting vaccinated. Make sure that the medicine has entered your body. It has come to notice that a person who came to get vaccinated turned his head and an empty syringe was pushed on her arm. Corruption is at a high. Everyone needs to be aware. This video has come from somewhere, watch.”

(Translated from: *सावधान* वैक्सीनेशन करवाते समय मुँह न घुमाए, यह सुनिश्चित कर ले दवा अंदर गयी है। देखने मे आया है, वैक्सीनेशन करवाने वाले का मुंह दूसरी तरफ होता है और केवल सुई चुभा कर निकाल लेता है। इस समय भ्रष्टाचार पराकाष्ठा पर है। सभी को सावधान करें। विडियो आया है कहीं से, देखा तो )

Video from Mexico

With the help of the digital verification tool InVid, Alt News broke the video into multiple keyframes, then performed a Google reverse image search of one of the keyframes. We found that the video is from Mexico. A report published by the Mexican newspaper El Universal stated that the incident occurred in Macro Vaccination Unit based at the National School of Biological Sciences Zacatenco Unit of National Polytechnic Institute (IPN).

A press release issued by the Secretariat of Health of Mexico City informed, “This event was reported by a family member accompanying the elderly adult, who was offered an apology and proceeded to apply the vaccine correctly, without major complications in the presence of his family, who in turn witnessed the procedure and reported on their social networks that the situation was corrected. It is reported that the volunteer vaccinator was removed from the corresponding vaccination cell. [Translated from Google translate]”

⚠️ TARJETA INFORMATIVA⚠️
Con relación a los hechos ocurridos en la jornada de vacunación de ayer en la Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, la #Sedesa y @Tu_IMSS lamentan lo ocurrido e informan lo siguiente: pic.twitter.com/PYnWtea2rL

— Secretaría de Salud de la Ciudad de México (@SSaludCdMx) April 4, 2021

The Ministry of Health of the Government of Mexico and the Mexican Institute of Social Security also expressed regret at the incident.

A volunteer administering an empty syringe without the vaccine in Mexico was falsely shared as an incident that took place in India.