FACT CHECK: Has A Vaccine For The Novel Coronavirus Been Used On Cows âFor Yearsâ?
An image shared on Facebook more than 1,900 times claims a vaccine against the novel coronavirus has been used on American cattle âfor years.â
Verdict: False
The pictured vaccine is for a different coronavirus that affects cows. No vaccine against the novel coronavirus is currently available.
Fact Check:
Featured in the image is a medicine vial with the words âBovine Rotavirus-Coronavirus Vaccineâ printed on its label. The post uses this cattle vaccine to suggest the novel 2019 coronavirus, known as COVID-19, has been known about âfor years.â
âJust in case you are wondering how much the media controls people, America has been vaccinating cattle for coronavirus for years,â reads the post. âYet the news tells you itâs new and gunna (sic) kill you all so go buy a mask.â (RELATED: Did Trump Call The Coronavirus A âHoaxâ At His South Carolina Rally?)
The pictured vaccine, however, isnât for COVID-19. Itâs actually for âhealthy, pregnant cows and heifers as an aid in preventing diarrhea in their calves caused by bovine rotavirus (serotypes G6 and G10), bovine coronavirus, and enterotoxigenic strains of Escherichia coli,â per the manufacturerâs website.
Bovine coronavirus is part of the coronavirus family but distinct from the novel 2019 coronavirus that had not been previously identified in humans before December. No vaccine for COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel virus, is currently available, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
âMore than 20 vaccines are in development globally, and several therapeutics are in clinical trials,â World Health Organization spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told the Daily Caller in an email. âWe expect the initial results within a few weeks.â