A Facebook page and its corresponding Youtube channel claim that coronavirus vaccination is an attempt to make people infertile so that people stop reproducing. When there is nobody to inherit the land, the land will be acquired by the government.  

By Sahil Bali

From the last two months, thousands of farmers have camped at the border of India’s capital Delhi to protest against farming bills. In the backdrop of the ongoing farmers protest a Facebook page, ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਕੋਰੋਨਾ ਜਾਗਰੂਕਤੀ - Punjabi Corona Awareness is spreading misinformation on coronavirus vaccines and linking it to the farmer’s protests.

In this video, the narrator claims that the vaccine makes people infertile and vaccine companies are “free from all types of legal action” if any catastrophe occurs by using their vaccine. It further claims that “when you are unable to give birth, they will take away your land and food easily” linking it to inheritance.

So the conspiracy theory in a nutshell says that once the individual is infertile by vaccination and has nobody to inherit the land, the land will be acquired.

The narrator goes on to explain that this is the government’s agenda to acquire land from farmers “the government will acquire the land anyhow if not through farming bills, they will acquire via Covid-19 vaccination”.

There is no evidence so far to suggest that the coronavirus vaccine can cause infertility. We have debunked this myth in our earlier story which can be read here. Also, Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan in one of his tweets mentioned that there is no evidence that the Covid-19 vaccine could cause infertility.

This Facebook page has a Youtube channel as well and similar conspiracy videos are being promoted on their YouTube channel as well. In one such video, the narrator claims that the “international organizations such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund are creating fear among people through coronavirus and want to make them slaves”.

This is not true. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are not creating fear of pandemic but are supporting countries to address this crisis. The World Bank is allocating up to $160 billion till June 2021 and the emergency support operation is helping over 100 developing countries to save lives and detect, prevent, and respond to the pandemic.

Similarly, IMF is also providing policy advice and financial support with an aim to protect the most vulnerable.

The narrator also claims that this is just normal flu and that masks aren’t required. None of the farmers protesting for farm bills are wearing masks. The mask has been mandated as a strategy by the government to keep the public inside their houses so that they can acquire their land by implementing such bills.

However, according to the World Health Organization, COVID-19 and influenza are caused by two different viruses, and the speed of transmission is an important point of difference between the two viruses.

An individual develops symptoms of influenza in 1 to 4 days after being infected but in the case of coronavirus, symptoms appear as early as 2 days after infection or as late as 14 days after infection and the time range can vary.

The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends masks as it works as a barrier and helps protect individuals breathing in the virus because COVID-19 spreads mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets.

The claims in the above Facebook post and the Youtube video saying that the farm bills and Covid-19 vaccine are co-related actions to reduce the human population with an aim to snatch people’s land are false.