[MISLEADING] Did TVB News report the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine was very safe because it made no difference between those vaccinated and unvaccinated?

Screenshot of the Facebook post.

The Claim and Our Verdict

• The claim: A Facebook post published Dec. 2, 2021, claims TVB News reported the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine was very safe because it made no difference between those vaccinated and unvaccinated.
• Fact-checking:
  • The screenshots published with the post were captured from a TVB news clip broadcast Dec. 2, 2021.  Interview comments in the news clip by Dr. Patrick Ip, president of The Hong Kong Paediatric Society, translate into English as, “The Pfizer vaccine might increase the risk of myocarditis among young people, whereas the Sinovac vaccine is very safe, so the incidence in adolescents and children of myocarditis made no difference between those vaccinated and unvaccinated.”
  • Ip was saying the incidence rate of myocarditis among adolescents and children given the Sinovac vaccine is not different with the population-based background incidence rate of myocarditis (i.e., the incidence rate of those unvaccinated). However, the claim omitted the key information of Ip’s comments and it appears some readers of the post misinterpreted it that the Sinovac vaccine is ineffective.
• Our ruling: Therefore, we rate the claim as MISLEADING.

News Brief

Two screenshots were shared Dec. 2, 2021, on Facebook. The Chinese-language captions translate in English as, “Sinovac is very safe,” and “there is no difference between those vaccinated and unvaccinated.” The post claims, “it is unbelievable…” The post appears to  indicate that the Sinovac vaccine is ineffective.

As of the issuance of this report, the post had been shared three times, and had received 13 comments and 137 likes or reactions.

Fact-checking

A keyword search found the screenshots published with the post were from a news report broadcast Dec. 2, 2021, by TVB News, a news channel operated by Hong Kong’s Television Broadcast Limited. In the full video report, Dr. Patrick Ip, president of The Hong Kong Paediatric Society, said during an interview, “the Pfizer vaccine might increase the risk of myocarditis among young people, whereas the Sinovac vaccine is very safe, so the incidence in adolescents and children of myocarditis made no difference between those vaccinated and unvaccinated.”

Text screenshot of the TVB News report.

Video screenshot of the TVB News report.

According to the full news report, the incidence rate of myocarditis among adolescents and children given the Sinovac vaccine is not different from the population-based background incidence rate of myocarditis (i.e., the incidence rate of those unvaccinated). However, the claim omitted the key information of Ip’s comments and it appears some readers of the post misinterpreted it that the Sinovac vaccine is ineffective. According to some comments left on the Facebook post, some people believed that the TVB News report claims the Sinovac vaccine is ineffective. One person commented that the Sinovac vaccine is just normal saline. The claim presented Ip’s speech in part, and thus mislead the public.