For a crisis that seemed unending in 2020, we may have finally arrived at the light at the end of the tunnel the mass rollout of Covid-19 vaccines has kicked off the biggest inoculation campaign in history.
Covid-19 vaccines from a variety of manufacturers such as Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna and Sinopharm have been authorised for rollout in various countries while the shot by AstraZeneca has been authorised for use by the UK government. Close to three million Americans have been vaccinated since the rollout began with China, the origin of the outbreak, also vaccinating one million people.
Pakistan also keenly awaits wide availability of the vaccine. Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar has said that Pakistan has authorised procurement of one million vaccine shots which will cover all frontline health workers as soon as they are approved. He said the target for their release was the first quarter of 2021 .
(Photo : Manuel Balce Ceneta-Pool/Getty Images) SPC Angel Laureano holds a COVID-19 vaccine at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on December 14, 2020 in Bethesda, Maryland.
Several videos on social media claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine might contain chips that track and control recipients. Vaccine distribution did involve chips, but what is it used for?
In one of the viral videos in May 2020, a narrator talked about the COVID-19 vaccines containing chips that could possibly change a person s behavior. It became viral again in December when distribution started.
BBC recognized these claims as something people feared since the videos said the chips could change a person s DNA.